Have you ever tried dyeing eggs with natural ingredients? All you need is water, vinegar, salt, spices, tea, coffee, berries, vegetables or onion skins(!). This works best with white eggs, with both raw and cooked eggs – just make sure there are no cracks in the shells so the color and flavor doesn’t seep in.
For the spices, I didn’t really measure but I probably used about 2 tsp of blueberry powder, turmeric and matcha per cup of water. I simply added hot water to the spices in a jar, a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt, let it cool and then I put the eggs in. The cabbage and onion skins boiled for about 10 minutes, then I added vinegar and a pinch of salt, let it cool and strained before putting the eggs in.
-To get the marbled effect above, I wrapped the eggs in yellow and red onion skins. I then wrapped them tightly in fabric (like old pantyhose or cheesecloth) with some bits of blueberries inside and then placed them in a dye bath with onion skins. The marbled ones dyed for about 2 hours.
-Blueberry powder (from freeze dried blueberries) makes colors ranging from light grey to a dark grey or purple grey color, depending on how long you leave them in for and what kind of powder you use. I used two different kinds – one that is dark purple and one that is a lighter red/pink color. You can of course use frozen or fresh blueberries instead if you don’t have blueberry powder!
-Red cabbage makes color ranging from light blue or teal (with baking soda added to the mixture) to deep blues, depending on how long you leave the eggs in.
-If you want to make the eggs marbled, you can pick them up from the dye bath every now and rub them gently with your fingers.
-Most of the eggs dyed for about 2-3 hours, some of them overnight. The longer you leave them in, the stronger the color.
-You can combine dyes too! For example, dye an egg in turmeric first and then in cabbage. This makes a green hue.
-You can also use coffee or tea, and I’ve seen some use spinach, parsley and even red wine!
Scroll down to see what colors the different ingredients create, and a recipe for red cabbage dye!
How to dye eggs with red cabbage
Ingredients
Red cabbage dye
- 2 cups (500 ml) chopped red cabbage
- 4 cups (1 litre) of water
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- Pinch of salt
- 1-2 tsp baking soda (for teal color)
Instructions
- Combine chopped red cabbage and water in a large pot. Let it come to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Add the vinegar and salt to the pot and leave it to cool, then strain the mixture saving the liquid. Divide the liquid between two jars. If you wish to make the eggs more of a teal color, add about 1-2 tsp baking soda to one of the jars, and an extra splash of vinegar.
- Place the eggs in the jars and leave them for 20 minutes up to overnight. The longer you leave them in the more color they will get. The darkest and most colorful ones here were left to dye overnight. I left them to dye at room temperature.
- If you want to make the eggs marbled, you can pick them up from the dye bath every now and rub them gently with your fingers. When you are happy with the color, gently pat the eggs dry with a paper towel. Leave to dry completely. The dye bath can be stored in the fridge for up to two days.
