Yellow Natural Egg Dye & Egg Coloring

Learn how to dye eggs with turmeric using this easy recipe for coloring Easter eggs naturally. Egg coloring made from turmeric dyes white eggs a beautifully vibrant yellow. For best results, soak your eggs in the dye for at least four hours, but not longer than 24 hours.Nutrition Notes

Is Turmeric Healthy?

Turmeric is a spice best known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Because of this it's been linked with a reduced risk of chronic disease, including Alzheimer's, cancer and depression. Turmeric may also help relieve arthritis pain. While you won't get these benefits from dyeing your hard-boiled eggs in turmeric, you can use turmeric in various recipes, like our Turmeric Latte or Chicken & Broccoli Curry with Turmeric Brown Rice.

Can I Eat These Dyed Eggs?

Yes, as long as they haven't been in the fridge for more than 7 days or left out for more than 2 hours, per the USDA.

Tips from the Test Kitchen

What's the Best Way to Hard-Boil Eggs?

To hard-boil, place the eggs in a single layer in a saucepan; cover with one inch of water. Bring just to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook at the barest simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, immediately pour out hot water and cover the eggs with ice-cold water. Let stand in the water until cool. You can refrigerate hard-boiled eggs for up to one week.

What Else Can I Do with Turmeric?

This orange spice is typically described as having an earthy, gingery, peppery flavor. It's a main ingredient in curry powder, so it's natural for soups and stews. Other ways to use it include sprinkling it on roasted vegetables and over wilted greens such as kale, chard and spinach. It's also good on eggs, rice and potatoes, and it can be added to marinades for fish, chicken or beef.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Other Spices Are Used in Natural Egg Dying?

While turmeric will give white eggs a vibrant yellow, there are recipes using other spices that will provide you with a range of oranges and browns, depending on how long you leave the eggs in the dye. Curry powder can be used for light orange, paprika for pale orange to terra cotta, ground cinnamon for tan to brown, dill seed for light brown and chili powder for a reddish brown. And if you want to explore natural egg dying outside the realm of spices, you can get green with spinach, blue from blueberries and pink from raspberries. If you wrap the eggs in onion skins and cover them in cheesecloth before dying them, they'll get an extra bit of decoration.

Additional reporting by Carrie Myers, M.S. and Linda Frahm

Ingredients

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

2 cups boiling water

3-4 white eggs, hard-boiled (see Tip)

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

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Directions

Place turmeric in a medium bowl. Pour boiling water over the turmeric and let steep for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours to extract the color.

Stir vinegar into the dyeing liquid; add the eggs. Refrigerate the eggs in the dye for at least four hours or up to one day. Longer soaking will give a more vivid color, but limit soak time to 24 hours.

Remove the eggs from the dye with a slotted spoon. Rinse off any excess spice residue, then let dry on a wire rack. If you plan to eat the eggs, refrigerate for up to one week.