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How To Make Easter Egg Dye With All Natural Ingredients
Whether you celebrate Easter for religious reasons or family tradition, odds are it will look different this year. But just because you're celebrating with a smaller group doesn't mean your festivities should be smaller-scale. Step up your egg decorating this year by making your own all-natural dye.
The basic formula.
For starters, make sure you have water, distilled white vinegar, and plenty of eggs to dye—plus extra for Easter brunch. For these four colors, we referenced a recipe from the Food Network and offered some ideas for repurposing the boiled veggies you used.
Red
For a bright red dye, use none other than the finger-staining beets. This recipe calls for about 2 pounds, peeled and chopped. Use what's left behind for this vegan beetroot curry.
Yellow
To get a more muted, pale yellow, use 1 pound of yellow onion skins. Now that you've got a perfectly peeled onion lying around, add this Spanish omelet with sweet onions to your brunch menu.
Blue/Purple
To make a bluish-purple dye, you'll need two small heads of purple cabbage, sliced. Once you strain the boiled cabbage, repurpose them into a gut-friendly cruciferous veggie stew.
Orange
It's tricky to add turmeric to anything without staining your dishware, countertops, and clothes. While not ideal in most situations, it works pretty well for dyeing Easter eggs. You'll need 1½ cups to get that beautiful, bright orange color.
Each color will dye 12 eggs
Directions
- Boil water with each vegetable (separately).
- Turn off the burner when water has become a vibrant color (about 30 minutes).
- Let the water cool, then strain the vegetables.
- Place hard-boiled eggs in the dye color of choice.
- Refrigerate overnight.
According to this recipe on Martha Stewart's website, boiling the eggs in the dyed water is also an effective method and might lead to a deeper color.
Chances are you already have most of these items in your kitchen. If not, here are some tips for safely navigating the grocery store right now. Just don't forget your mask.