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!
Always been mystified! Such a simple thing yet stumps so many of us LOL!
Long live hard-boiled eggs!
Love your site! So fresh and good,
Oh my! Thank you so much for this recipe. I am a good cook but I have never been able to fully master hard boiled eggs where the shell peels off perfectly?
My one suggestion, if you ever edit this maybe make a sidenote about range vs gas stove because I had the same question others did… Move to another burner? I did it a minute or two too late, eggs still came out great but more of the yellow versus the orange yoke which is what I was hoping for (This first batch will be for Easter egg dying. LOL, thank you again).
So good and easy to peel! Hard cooked eggs would seem simple and yet I have struggled for years. No more picking off tiny shell bits or gray green yolks! Thank you! Your instructions are clear and the added comments helped clarify the details.
Thank you for this info! My boiled eggs were slways hit or miss. Over cooked or under cooked. Your method helped me boil them perfectly every time.
Thanks for the great recipe for the perfect hard boiled eggs. I have a little tip for hard boiling fresh eggs ; add about a tablespoon or two of baking soda to the water you are boiling the eggs in. The shells will peel off easily.
This “recipe” is PERFECT for using fresh eggs. Usually boiled eggs are made with older eggs (near expiration or expired). I used this recipe with some old eggs and some fresh eggs in the same batch–not the same result at all.
You should specify in your recipe that fresh eggs are best.
Hi Tara, that’s interesting because I’ve most often found the opposite. I think it just totally depends on your specific eggs.
Looking forward to making perfect hard-boiled eggs for the holiday.
If I want to boil 6 eggs, would I still cook them for 10-12 minutes? Or is it 10-12 minutes per egg?
Hi Jackie, you can do 6 eggs at once!
Thank you for your help!
Wonderful. I actually kept in hot water for only 9.5min. Perfect yolks and whites.
I am with you PL. I am a 9-9.5 minute egg type of person. Will not buy hardboiled eggs from the supermarket. My mom overdoes them–she does not realize the grey is a bad color 🙂 I am doing tonight for a potato salad so I may do for the whole 10 so the potatoes don’t beat them up too bad!!
Totally appreciate the clarity in the directions but also in the follow up questions in comments, like…what exactly do you mean by boil…initial little bubbles rising or full rolling boil (answer was just in between, when top of water ripples)….as well as moving the pot off to another burner for the cover and set period. I think a mistake I’ve made in the past was not leaving them to sit in the ice bath long enough, 14 minutes felt so long but it really let the cold water set them and they peeked like a freaking dream. I feel like a higher level of adulthood had been finally unlocked at 41. Lol… Thank you!
This is really good – but I like my hard boiled eggs hot, so the ice bath method won’t work.
I work in a hospital and many of the shifts start early for nurses. I learned a trick from coworkers. They bring in their own hard-boiled eggs and put them in a glass of hot water to warm them and they still peel perfectly if they’re cooked right
I fill deviled eggs with creme fraische and real bacon bits and cilantro. tastes very fresh.
Decided to try your method out tonight after clicking through a few different blogs’ recipes on hard boiled eggs. I’ve never made them before and they came out PERFECT!!! I took the 12 minute route and they are a beautiful soft yellow, delicious and easy to peel! Thank you for teaching me how to hard boil eggs!! 🙂
yay! So glad they were perfect!
I always make a mess when peeling the hard boiled eggs, but I followed your recipe exactly and the shells came off so easily. I was amazed!
Twelve minutes as suggested for hard boiled eggs… Turned out perfectly. I was going to use the “blow the egg out of its shell” method for peeling but found out the eggs peeled flawlessly the conventional way. Now I have a half-dozen, hard boiled and peeled eggs in the refrigerator waiting to be used in a salad or as a quick snack.
This is hands down, the best way to make hard-boiled eggs. The shell comes off so easily and they are perfectly cooked each time. Never will use another method again.
Once the eggs are covered and the burner is turned off, is the pot left on that burner or moved to a cold one?
Hi Lucy, if you have a gas stove you can leave it on the same burner, if you have an electric stove I would move it to another one.
Thank goodness for this wonderful recipe at 1:15 AM. Love it.
Thank you for making this a simple task with perfect results. I like hard-boiled, so 11 minutes was perfect for me. For so many years I couldn’t boil an egg without it turning green. I think what happened was that I didn’t leave them in the ice-water bath long enough, but following your instructions made them perfectly hard but still creamy and sunny yellow. Thanks again.
So I have a dozen jumbo eggs. I saw you mentioned that cooking time would vary based on size of eggs. I assume that I would still cook them to the same boiling point. But would I leave them in the pot longer before the ice bath? Has anyone used jumbo eggs for this method? Thanks☺️
Hi Lorenzo, they might take a little more time than regular large eggs. I’d test one egg before boiling them all.