Pickled Eggs are a perfect lip-smacking snack or condiment for salad, made from hard boiled eggs soaking in a sweet and tangy vinegar marinade. This old fashioned recipe is so easy and so good!
Many years ago, long before the ability to refrigerate things, canning and pickling foods was used as a way to preserve fruits and vegetables for longer term storage. Now people do it because it’s just simply delicious!
Usually around Easter time when everyone is decorating their eggs, I’m over here pickling mine. HA. I actually make pickled eggs all year round – my family loves them. Along with my soy sauce eggs and beet pickled eggs, they are such a great on-the-go snack.
What Do Picked Eggs Taste Like?
Pickled eggs have a mouth-watering sweet and sour taste. Sort of like salt and vinegar potato chips! If you like bread and butter pickles, pickled beets, or sauerkraut, you will love them.
How To Make Pickled Eggs
This pickled eggs recipe could not be easier! With just a few simple steps and pantry items, you end up with a super healthy and delicious snack. (Scroll down for the full printable recipe.)
- You’ll need 10 hard boiled eggs that have been peeled.
- Boil together a mixture of vinegar, water, sugar, pickling spice, and salt.
- Fill a clean 2-liter glass jar with your eggs.
- Tuck in some sliced red onion and fresh dill sprigs.
- Pour the brine over the eggs and seal.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Recipe Variations
- Apple cider vinegar is a staple in my house, so that’s what I always use. But you can replace it with regular white vinegar, if that’s what you have.
- Add some sliced up jalapeños to the liquid to give your eggs a little kick!
- Instead of using this dill and onion marinade, use leftover beet juice brine from pickled beets and make Beet Pickled Eggs. They’re awesome…and so pretty!
Do Pickled Eggs Need to Be Refrigerated?
Yes! This recipe for old fashioned pickled eggs is not canned, but instead requires refrigeration and should never be kept out at room temperature to prevent botulism (according to the National Center for Home Food Preservation.)
How Long Do Pickled Eggs Last?
Your eggs can be eaten after only a few hours of marinating, but for best results, allow your eggs to pickle for 5-7 days, which allows that salty-vinegar brine to penetrate the eggs and produce a deeper flavor.
Once they’re sealed in an airtight jar, your pickled eggs will last for up to 3 months in the fridge!
Today pickled eggs are commonly found at bars, convenience stores, and the market, but they’re so easy to make yourself!
Other Pickled foods we love!
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Pickled Eggs
Ingredients
- 10 large hard boiled eggs , peeled
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon pickling spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cloves garlic , peeled and crushed
- 1 large bay leaf
- a few slivers of red onion
- a few fresh dill sprigs
Instructions
- Make hard boiled eggs and peel them (<< that link is my preferred method.)
- In a medium saucepan, mix together vinegar, water, sugar, pickling spice, and salt. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat to low until the sugar has dissolved. Mix in the garlic and bay leaf; remove from heat.
- Fill a clean 2-liter glass jar with your eggs.
- Tuck in some sliced red onion and fresh dill sprigs.
- Pour the brine over the eggs and seal.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Your eggs can be eaten after only a few hours of marinating, but for best results, allow your eggs to pickle for 5-7 days, which allows that salty-vinegar brine to penetrate the eggs and produce a deeper flavor.
- Once they’re sealed in an airtight jar, your pickled eggs will last for up to 3 months in the fridge!
Nutrition
Other Notes
So much flavor! will be making many more times!
Very easy, I added a little red pepper flakes
Great snack! First time making pickled eggs and it was super easy.
Hi Amy. In homage to my mother and grandmother I used beet juice instead of water and reduced the sugar a bit. The use of the spices are spot on. I never uses garlic or bay leaf before. This recipe is the best!
Does the brine need to be cooled before pouring it over the eggs?
I usually poor it on hot, but you could let it cool a bit if preferred.
Can you reuse the liquid once the eggs are gone and just add more eggs?
You can reuse the juice again once without sacrificing the quality, although the flavors won’t be as strong/deep. After that, make up a new batch.
I reuse pickling marinade once!
Going to make a batch of this tomorrow, with 5 eggs in 2 smaller jars. In one of the jars I am going to add a Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper. I like a bit of a “bite” to my eggs. Will do a taste test and keep you posted in a week :-)
I used a 2 litre jar but the liquid didn’t cover the eggs so i made some extra to cover. Still only half filled the jar. Have I used the wrong liquid measures?
Amy, going to try your pickled egg recipe. Wondering if 2 cups of liquid is going to cover 10 eggs. I’m using 1.5 litre glass jar. Should the eggs be covered in the brine? Please advise. Thanks
Hi Sherry! Yes, the eggs should be covered in the brine. The size of your eggs and also the height/depth of your container can affect this.
Can you use the brine for other foods?
I had very big doubts about this recipe…I love to make pickles and I am a fan of pickled eggs. But pickling spices are not my favorite because I’m not a big fan of cloves….cloves sometimes are overpowering….I do love doing my cloved oranges at christmas. So to make this less painful with my ramblings…..This is the best pickled egg recipe I’ve tried to date and I’m 70. I’ve raised many chickens in my day….Thanks for sharing….love them
I’ve made this recipe a few times now. I’ve cut the sugar and pickling seasoning both in half. Other than that, it’s a beautiful, simple recipe.
This would certainly be a treat and a luxury what with the price of eggs these days! Thanks, Joe
Can’t believe how easy and delicious these were! My family can’t stop eating them – thanks for the recipe!
I started reusing pickle juice from pickled veggies to pickle eggs in the fridge while I was in the navy.
Lip smackin’ good! We loved this recipe. Great little afternoon snack or salad topper.
Thank you for this recipe
I usually just use the leftover pickled juice from the jar to make pickled eggs, but I was curious about this recipe. Have to say this brine was GREAT. Worth the little extra time.
I haven’t made it, but I’m sure it’s 5 stars… Question… Can I reuse the juice out of the jar on consecutive batches, or is it better to make a new batch from scratch every time?
You can reuse the juice again once without sacrificing the quality, although the flavors won’t be as strong/deep. After that, make up a new batch.
Love this recipe. Just curious how our ancestors made them without refrigeration. Is there a recipe out there to can them?
yummy we make this all the time with farm fresh eggs!!!!
I should have undercook my eggs a bit because I imagine that the hot brine further boils the eggs. Because I only had 7 eggs, I added carrots and jalapeños to fill up the jar. It added unanticipated color. This is an easy recipe but the real test will be in a week when I eat an egg. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
On my second batch of these delicious pickled eggs. My Grandmother would always make a jar for me every Easter and I loved them. Don’t have her recipe but this one is as good and just maybe a wee bit better. Have been experimenting over the years and this one is a keeper. Thanks for sharing!
Love, love, love these. So sweet and savory, everyone loves them. They are now a household staple. Thank-you
Can you reuse the same brine twice? Or do you have to make it from scratch again?
You can re-use the brine 1 to 2 more times as long as it doesn’t look murky or cloudy. After the second time, I find you’ve lost too much brine volume, flavor, and it’s developed an unhealthy cloudiness to it. (Also, this is only okay to do with refrigerator pickled eggs and not when canning because you can’t guarantee the acidity level once it has been heated up, hot water processed, absorbed by the eggs and refrigerated for an unknown amount of time.)
A little sweet and a little tangy – my family loves this recipe. Great snack for the lunchbox!
After pouring in the brine and sealing, do you put it in the fridge still hot?
You can. I usually let them cool for a couple hours and then transfer to the fridge.
Our enthusiasm shines through, I am inspired and will make these tomorrow, God willing!
Can you just use minced garlic instead of crushed?
Sure.