This is a fun and festive way to dress up deviled eggs for Easter or any special occasion. In addition to the recipe for these cute and delicious eggs I’ll share some tips on how to make easy to peel hard boiled eggs.
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Hard boiling eggs is easy, but peeling them can be another matter. If you are making deviled eggs you want nice, smooth eggs. The internet has almost as many tips for hard boiling eggs that are easy to peel as it has cat memes (almost). I tried just about all of them in an effort to determine which ones actually work. So here are the things I was able to confirm as actual facts.
Fresh eggs, when boiled, are harder to peel than eggs that are a week or two old. If you buy farm fresh eggs this is the one time you might be at a disadvantage. I couldn’t find much in the way of scientific explanation for this, but there is ample evidence from countless sources that confirms it. If you have more than one carton of eggs in the fridge, use the older ones for hard boiling.
Of all the tips and tricks I tested (adding cream of tarter to the water, adding vinegar to the water, starting with hot water, starting with cold water, etc. etc.) only one technique provided consistent results: the pressure cooker. I was skeptical about cooking eggs in an Instapot or pressure cooker, but it actually works. You need to use a rack so the eggs do not touch the bottom or sides of the pot, but you can stack eggs on top of each other. Add one cup of water, cook on high pressure for 10-11 minutes. Use the quick release to depressurize and immediately put the eggs into ice water (use tongs or a spoon) for 5 minutes. Times may vary slightly depending on the make of your pressure cooker, so try a couple of eggs before cooking the whole batch for this recipe.
One last tip, peeling the eggs under cold running water helps to slip the shells off and washes away any small pieces. OK, enough technical stuff, lets get to the fun part.
Once the eggs are cooked, cooled and peeled you will need to cut them in half longways. With a little gentle push from behind the yolks should pop right out. Gently use your finger or a spoon to scrape out any bits of yolk that cling to the egg. Save the yolks in a separate container to make the deviled filling (recipe below).
To color the eggs, place two cups of cold water in a glass or plastic bowl and add ten drops of liquid food coloring. Repeat this for each color you want to use. Place the egg halves into the colored water and let them soak for five minutes (or longer for more boldly colored eggs). You can make the filling while the eggs are being colored.
Remove the eggs with a spoon and place them on paper paper towels to absorb any excess water from the coloring process. I used separate bowls to avoid any accidental mixing of colors. Place the eggs into an egg tray to hold them and fill with the deviled mixture. For fancy eggs you can use a piping bag with a star tip, but you can also use a large sandwich bag with the corner cut off or simply spoon the filling into the hollows where the yolks were. The finished eggs should be immediately refrigerated until ready to serve.
Deviled Easter Eggs
Save to BigOven These festively colored deviled eggs will be the hit of any family gathering or party. This is a new twist on a classic favorite.
- 10 hard boiled eggs, peeled
- 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Prepared yellow mustard (like you put on hot dogs)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Paprika for garnish
- 8 Cups cold water divided into 4 bowls
- Food Coloring
- Cut the eggs in half lengthwise
- Remove the yolks, set aside in a small bowl
- Add 10 drops of food coloring to one bowl of cold water. Repeat with different colors. (I used red, blue, green, and yellow as these are the basic colors included in most boxes of food coloring).
- Place the egg whites into the bowls of colored water and soak for five minutes for soft pastel colors. Soak longer for more vibrant colors.
- Place the colored egg whites on paper towels to absorb any excess liquid. Set aside.
- In a small bowl combine the egg yolks, mayonnaise, mustard and salt to make the filling. Use a fork to mash the yolks and thoroughly mix everything together.
- Place colored egg whites into an egg tray or plate. Spoon or pipe about 1 Tbsp of the filling into hollow of each egg.
- Sprinkle paprika on each egg for garnish.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
The ratios of mayo, mustard and salt in this recipe are general guidelines. You may adjust to your personal preference. The only rule is the filling needs to be firm enough to stand up and not run, so add small amounts at a time if you want to tweak the flavor. For a little twist try smoked paprika for the garnish or adding about 1-2 Tbsp of sweet pickle relish to the filling.
