Learn how to make hard boiled eggs perfectly every time! With this easy method, they'll be easy to peel and have vibrant yellow yolks.
Here’s the good news: perfect hard boiled eggs are easy to make. …And the bad news: so are less-than-perfect ones. I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly cooked my fair share of the latter. When you try to peel away the shell, half the whites come along with it, or when you cut it open, the yolk is slightly green instead of brilliant yellow. Pretty disappointing, if you ask me.
See, cooking perfect hard boiled eggs is easy, but that doesn’t mean that the process you use doesn’t matter. After years of trial and error, I’m happy to say that this method for how to make hard boiled eggs works every time! The yolks are always sunshine yellow, and the shells slide right off. Whether you’re getting ready for Easter, prepping for Passover, or just on the hunt for a protein-packed snack, this easy hard boiled egg recipe is guaranteed to please.
How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs
Follow these simple steps to make perfect hard boiled eggs every time:
First, boil the eggs. Place them in a pot and cover them with cold water by 1 inch. Bring the water to a boil over high heat.
Then, let them sit in the hot water. As soon as the water begins to boil, turn off the heat and cover the pot. Leave the eggs in the hot water for anywhere from 10-12 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. The 10-minute eggs will have vibrant, creamy yolks, while the 12-minute yolks will be paler and opaque, with a chalkier texture.
Finally, move them to an ice bath. When the time is up, drain the eggs and transfer them to a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Leave them in the ice bath for at least 14 minutes before you peel the eggs.
If you’re not planning to eat the eggs right away, feel free to leave them in the shells and store them in the fridge. But even if this is the case, don’t cut the ice bath short! It’s crucial for stopping the cooking process and making the eggs easy to peel later on.
See below for the complete recipe!
Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs Tips
- Buy the eggs in advance. If I’m cooking sunny side up eggs, fresh eggs will yield the best results every time. But if I’m hard boiling them, the opposite is true! Boiled farm-fresh eggs are more difficult to peel than older eggs. If you want to make perfect hard boiled eggs, it pays to buy them in advance and cook them after a few days in the fridge.
- Store the eggs upside down. This tip comes from Jack’s mom, who makes the BEST deviled eggs for family gatherings. In order for the yolks to land right in the center of the hard boiled eggs, she recommends storing the raw eggs upside down before you cook them.
- Don’t skip the ice bath! Overcooked hard boiled eggs have an unappealing greenish ring around the yolks. We want our yolks to come out sunshine-yellow, so transfer the eggs to an ice bath to stop the cooking process as soon as they come out of the pot. This step is also crucial for making hard boiled eggs that are easy to peel. The ice bath helps separate the egg membrane from the shell, so you’ll be able to peel away the shell without ripping off chunks of egg white.
- Peel them carefully. The ice bath should set you up for success here, but that doesn’t mean the shell will all come off in one piece. Gently rap the egg on the counter to break the entire shell into small pieces. Carefully peel it away along the fractures, leaving the egg whites as intact as possible.
Storing and Serving Suggestions
Peeled or unpeeled hard boiled eggs will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Enjoy them as a protein-packed snack with salt and pepper or Everything Bagel Seasoning, slice them into salads, add them to grain bowls, or top them onto avocado toast. I also love to make hard boiled eggs to turn into deviled eggs, pickled eggs, or healthy egg salad!
How do you like to eat hard boiled eggs? Let me know in the comments!
How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place eggs in a medium pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let the eggs cook, covered, for 9 to 12 minutes, depending on your desired done-ness (see photo).
- Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water and chill for 14 minutes. This makes the eggs easier to peel. Peel and enjoy!
Did not work at all. I tried this recipe when I wanted to make egg salad for a picnic. Turning off the heat made the egg white come out squishy and impossible to peel, and the yolk runny, even after 12 minutes. My friend informed me that this is called “onsen tamago” in Japanese, and can be a good ramen topping, but did not work at all for hard boiled eggs for egg salad! This time, I will try cooking them in still-boiling water for that long!
Terrible results! Yolks were not hard boiled even after 12 minutes. Whites stuck to the shell. Incredibly difficult to peel.
I see you just did this yesterday…I just tried this technique myself, and had similar results. While my eggs were cooked after 12 minutes, they were all very difficult to peel, with only 3 of my dozen peeling cleanly from the eggs. The rest were a mess. I’m wondering if I need a larger bowl for my ice bath…with more ice. 🤔
I make a cream sauce, with whole milk and butter. I then cut up boiled eggs into the sauce and serve it on toast.
Perfect! ❣️
Farm Fresh eggs are not hard to peel, I can collect the eggs still warm from just being laid, pop them in a pot of boiling water and boil them for 10 minutes, put them into an ice bath for 5 minutes and easy peasy shells come right off in large pieces.
Wow, that sounds amazing, April! Thanks for sharing your method. We’ve had better luck with older eggs, but it’s great to know that you don’t have any issue with fresh ones.
I steam my eggs. Takes a lot less water. I steam them for the same amount of time as boiled, but it take less time because I use less water obviously. I do the ice bath. Since I have been steaming them, I have never had a egg that was hard to peel!
Great tip, Deb!
I followed the recipe exactly as directed, as I’ve been trying to find a way to make hard boiled eggs that actually peel without losing half the white. Disappointed yet again. I even gave half of them extra time in the ice bath.
The trick to pealing eggs:
Crack the shell
Put it back into cold water for a minute, remove and peel. Shell will release from the egg easily.
I do something similar. Give the shell a few taps in various places on the kitchen counter, then submerge in cold water to peel. The water gets under the shell between the shell and white so the peel just slides off when I use my thumb to dislodge it. I also only boil them for 10 mins as I use medium eggs.
Me, too. Instructions were easy, results weren’t as expected.
Steaming works great for hard-boiled eggs. I just learned this last summer and have had perfect results. https://www.seriouseats.com/steamed-hard-boiled-eggs-recipe
Make sure to have your hands and the egg in the cold water when peeling, it makes it come off WAY cleaner. And try to be super delicate with the eggs as well.
This recipe works way better than any other method. Boiling the water first cracks my eggs, so I’m glad to find one that doesn’t ruin them.
I’m happy to hear!
My eggs 12 minute eggs were raw yolks and would not peel. Had to toss all 6 out
Call me dumb but I never knew that you supposed to shut eggs off after boil trying it now.
I have an induction cooktop. Waited 12 minutes after boil. The eggs came out almost fabulous, but the yolks were like the 10 minute ones, not the 12 minute ones that you show. Reaching boiling on induction is definitely faster than conventional, but I think results are not quite the same, so I will wait 14 minutes next time. Overall, I love this recipe. No more cracked eggs!
Do you move the pot off the eye of the stove after you cover it? I ask because cooking with gas the heat goes away immediately when you turn it off, but with an electric stove th there is a lot of residual heat remaining on the eye.
I saw another article with the same instructions. It specifies to cover, remove the pot from the burner, and let sit.
Thank you for this recipe. The eggs came out great and peeled so easily. I will use this method every time.
I’m so glad your eggs were perfect!
this worked like a charm!
Hi Lyn, so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I love this new method of boiling eggs. One question though: When you say to take the eggs off the heat “as soon as the water starts to boil,” do you mean when the little tiny bubbles start forming in the water, or much later when it’s actually approaching a vigorous rolling boil?
Hi Kim, wait to take the eggs off the heat until the water reaches a rolling boil.
Plain with salt & pepper and in egg salad. I put hard boiled eggs in potato and macaroni salad as long as my kids aren’t around.
Ha ha 🙂
Followed these directions for making hard boiled eggs and they turned out perfect and were easy to peel. The eggs were a few days after the sell by date.
I’m glad your eggs were perfect!
How is cooking time impacted by using an induction stove?
I was taught to start with cold water as well, however if you want extremely easy to peel, beautiful, clean whites, then starting with your water at a rolling boil is the way to go! 1 large pot with enough space to cover eggs by an inch. Bring to a rolling boil, add eggs with a slotted spoon in a single layer turn heat off down after 3-5 min. Let eggs simmer in water for a total of 12-13 min for hard boiled, remove with slotted spoon to an ice bath and let rest for 5 min. Then, gently tap eggs and peel. You will think it is a miracle how the shell peels off in big pieces. Once the whole shell came off in one peel! Try it with a couple of eggs and see what you think 🤔 😏 😉?
Thanks for the suggestion, Rene!
Thank you for this! I love eggs; they work for me for protein and choline.. this recipe worked perfectly❤️❤️
So glad you had great results, Stephanie!