Dye Easter Eggs With Ingredients Found in Your Fridge

Create beautiful earth-toned eggs for Easter.

ByABC News via logo
April 3, 2012, 4:42 PM

April 3, 2012 — -- intro: I decided to experiment with what I had in the kitchen to dye Easter eggs using only natural ingredients, nothing artificial. The process takes a little longer but it's lots of fun and a great, interactive way to talk to your kids about nutrition, health, whole foods and the environment.

My first thought was "What stains instantly?" I immediately thought of pomegranates, beets, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, wine, turmeric, annatto, blueberries and grape juice. Nothing green in this list so decided to juice the kale that I had in the refrigerator and make some green tea. My kitchen looked like a chemistry lab. These gems came out beautifully. Try making them at home with the instructions below.

quicklist:1category: title: What You Will Needurl: text: Clear plastic cups
White vinegar
Water
Eggs
Colorings of choice
A few small saucepans
media: 16061057related:

quicklist:1category: title: Pick Your Shadesurl: text:Pick your shades - each of these combinations produced a different shade of the color. Go ahead and experiment using different liquids, spices, food and ingredient combinations. I would love to hear how they come out so please let me know.

Purple and Pink
1 cup beet juice and 2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 cup red wine and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup pomegranate juice and 2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/2 cup Concord grape juice and 1/4 cup deeply steeped black cherry herbal tea (use any red-ish tea)

Green
1 cup kale or spinach juice and 2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 cup deeply steeped green tea and 2 teaspoons vinegar

Yellow
1 cup water, 2 tablespoons turmeric and 2 teaspoons white vinegar

Brown
1 cup strong black coffee with 2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 cup Worcestershire sauce with 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Orange and Rust
2 cups water and 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 tablespoon annatto and 2 teaspoons white vinegar

Blue
2 cups pureed blueberries and 2 cups Concord grape juice

Red2 cups canned cherry pie filling (wanted to try fresh cherries but not in season in Jersey) and 2 cups beet juicemedia: related:

quicklist:1category: title: Dye the Eggsurl: text: For purple, pink, green, yellow and brown:Place mixture in clear plastic cup. Gently place hard-boiled egg in mixture. Let egg sit in mixture until the color is what you are looking for which can be from 30 minutes to overnight. The longer they soak, the deeper the color will be. If you want to leave overnight just place cups in fridge.

Remove from mixture and set on a rack with baking sheet underneath. Don't handle them until completely dry.

For orange, rust, blue and red:
Hard boil the eggs: Lay the eggs in the pan and cover with mixture adding more juice if needed to cover eggs completely. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover the pot, and let sit until cool.

Let egg sit in mixture until the color is what you are looking for which can be from 30 minutes to overnight. The longer they soak, the deeper the color will be. If you want to leave overnight just place cups in fridge. Remove from mixture and set on a rack with baking sheet underneath. Don't handle them until completely dry.
media: related: