In this pickled eggs recipe, red and yellow beets give the eggs their bright hues. I love to eat them as a snack or serve them as part of a spring brunch.
How CUTE are these pickled eggs?! They’re my new spring obsession, a grown-up substitute for the Easter eggs I dyed with my family as a kid. Back then, I colored my eggs with little bottles of food coloring, but in this pickled eggs recipe, I use natural ingredients instead. Red beets turn the eggs pink and purple, and a mix of yellow beets and turmeric creates that sunny yellow.
I love keeping a jar of these pickled eggs on hand in the fridge for healthy, protein-packed snacking (though they’d be a fantastic addition to a spring brunch spread, too!). They’re tangy, salty, and a little bit sweet. I hope you love them as much as I do!
Pickled Eggs Recipe Ingredients
You only need a few basic ingredients to make this pickled eggs recipe:
- Eggs, of course! I hard boil them according to this method.
- Beets – They give the brine its purple or yellow hue. If you want to make yellow pickled eggs, I recommend adding a pinch of turmeric for a more vivid color.
- Apple cider vinegar – It gives the brine its bold, tangy flavor.
- Sugar – It balances the acidity of the vinegar.
- Salt – For savory, salty flavor.
This simple combination makes fantastic pickled eggs, but if you like, you can experiment with adding different pickling spices. Whole peppercorns or mustard seeds would both be excellent!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Pickled Eggs
My method for how to make pickled eggs includes 3 main steps: boiling the eggs, making the brine, and chilling. Here’s how it goes:
First, hard boil the eggs. Find my easy method here! After you cook the eggs, cool them in an ice bath for at least 14 minutes. Then, peel the eggs.
Meanwhile, make the brine. In a small saucepan, combine the diced beet and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the beet pieces are tender, about 20 minutes. Add an additional cup of water, the vinegar, sugar, and salt, and simmer for another minute, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and allow the brine cool to room temperature.
Finally, chill! Pour the pickling liquid into a large glass jar or bowl or 2 medium jars. Add the eggs and 1-2 tablespoons of water, if necessary, to make sure they are submerged. Transfer the jar to the fridge to chill overnight. The more time the brine has to penetrate the eggs, the stronger the flavor and the darker the color will be. I like them best after at least 2-3 days in the fridge. They’ll keep for up to a week!
Beet Pickled Eggs Serving Suggestions
Most often, I enjoy these beet pickled eggs as a snack or quick lunch, seasoned with a sprinkle of salt and freshly cracked black pepper. They’re also fantastic on avocado toast, topped off with Everything Bagel Seasoning or Za’atar. You could even use them to make egg salad!
Otherwise, I suggest serving this recipe as part of a spring brunch. Season the eggs simply with salt and pepper, or scoop out the yolks and transform them into deviled eggs. The brightly colored shells look adorable (and taste delicious) with the creamy, tangy deviled egg filling inside. They’re guaranteed to be a hit!
More Favorite Spring Recipes
If you love these beet pickled eggs, try one of these spring recipes next:
- Bright Spring Salad
- Avocado Salad
- Radish Salad
- Strawberry Salad with Balsamic
- Creamy Asparagus Soup
- Tagliatelle with Asparagus and Peas
- Carrot Cake or Carrot Cake Cookies
- Or any of these 60 Best Brunch Recipes!
Pickled Eggs
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 medium red or yellow beet, peeled and diced
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- â…“ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
- 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled
- Turmeric, optional, for yellow eggs
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine 1 cup of the water and the beet in a small pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the beet pieces are fork-tender. Add the remaining 1 cup water, the vinegar, sugar, and salt and simmer for 1 minute, or until the sugar is dissolved. Let the brine cool to room temperature.
- Transfer the brine to a large jar, 2 medium jars, or a medium glass bowl. If you're making yellow eggs, stir in a pinch of turmeric, if desired, for a brighter yellow color. Add the eggs, make sure they are submerged (you can top them off with an additional 1-2 tablespoons water if you need to). Cover and chill overnight. The eggs will intensify in flavor and color the longer they are pickled. We suggest waiting at least 2-3 days before eating them. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- When you're ready to eat, slice in half and season with pinches of salt and pepper.
Can you seal these? To keep on a shelf?
Hi Angie, we don’t have much experience canning, so I’d recommend looking for a recipe that’s specifically designed to be sealed.
What is brine recipe for the yellow /turmeric eggs. I am confused about that.
These are delightful items for brunch!
Thank you
Hi Pat, it’s the brine that’s listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog post, made with a yellow beet and the optional pinch of turmeric. Hope you enjoy!
I’m assuming that you use the same recipe, just omiting the beet.
This was best recipe I found and I used canned beets. Then I went the extra mile and got fresh, dark red beets. It was well worth the extra effort! The flavor and the deeper coloring with the fresh beets is over the top. Don’t skimp, spend the extra time and it will be rewarded.
Hi Burt, I’m so glad you loved the pickled eggs and beets!
In Iran, we use colored eggs to decorate the Haft Sin table during Nowruz. Our grandmothers dyed eggs with natural colors. This article of yours reminded me of Nowruz Eid and the trip to Haft Sin.
Do you have to store the pickled eggs in the fridge? In bars they were always on the counter.
Hi Sharon, yes, I recommend storing these pickled eggs in the fridge.
I add a jar of pickled yellow peppers (say that 10 times fast) to my Pickled Eggs to give them a sharp twang. I LOVE them along with the beets and eggs. Delish.
can you reuse the brine
Hi Riddick, I wouldn’t recommend reusing the brine from this recipe.
do you need the beets to make the brine?
Hi, the beets are necessary for coloring the brine, but if you’re ok with white pickled eggs, you can skip them!
sounds YUM! Do you leave the beet chunks in for the soaking or strain them out? Do you eat them?
Hi! This recipe calls for 6 eggs, so I double every ingredient to do a full dozen?
Hi June, yes, that will work! Depending on your jars, a 1.5x version of the brine might be enough for 12 eggs too.
sounds YUM! Do you leave the beet chunks in for the soaking or strain them out? Do you eat them?.
We leave them in and you can eat them.
Your recipe says “the beets will intensify in flavor and color” did you mean to say eggs here? I am assuming I remove the beets when I add the cooled
brine to the jar with the boiled eggs.
Stephanie
Hi Stephanie, yep, we did mean eggs there, though you can also leave the beets in and eat them. Both are delicious!
After 12 hrs- 3 days… can you not leave them in the brine?
Hi Beth, we feel like eggs are most fresh in the brine up to 3 days. Others might think it’s safe to leave them longer.
You can leave them for a pretty long time. The original reason for pickling eggs is for preservation. I don’t want to give an exact time, but I’ve kept them for many weeks before.
Do you leave the beet chunks in for the soaking or strain them out? Do you eat them?.
I leave them in and eat them.
These look so wonderful, I had to try them 🙂
I used less vinegar and only red beets, as I could’n not get golden ones.
But, although mine were almost too colored (the 3-day eggs almost down to the yolk), it was a fun addition to the Easter table!
Even the kids ate them 😀
Next time, I will only soak them for 24 and 12 hours instead of 3 days and 24 hours.
And I’ll keep my eyes open for those yellow/golden beets 😉
I liked the pickled beets too!
These looked beautiful and tasted scrummy- perfect snack and spring flavor! Next time I might try without the sugar – what do you think the result would be?
I don’t have a yellow beet. Can I eliminate the beet from the recipe and do everything else, adding the turmeric, to get yellow eggs?
Hi Danine – you can, you might have to add more turmeric to make them more yellow.
Do you put the diced beets in with the eggs and brine?
I did – you can eat the pickled beets too.
Yum! Thank you!
Do you have to brine the eggs to preserve them. I love the color from the beets, but don’t love the flavor the the brining gives. I would rather have just the egg flavor as much as possible
Hi Kim, you might be able to dye them in beet water, (add water to the cooked beets + their liquid) but I haven’t tried it.
These are so beautiful. Have seen pickled beets at bars, but not sure how long they’ve been there and was afraid to try until now. I will make my own beautiful eggs.
Can you use already cooked beets for this recipe?
you can!
That’s a win-win. I was wondering about that myself. Don’t want to waste my beets! So good for you.
I always use canned beets and the juice, too. So easy! I make several jars each spring for some friends that love them. I also like short lengths of celery, pearl onions, cauliflower, carrot slices or “sticks “, and jalapeño slices in my recipe. I don’t cook the vegetables, leave them raw and crispy. It will all be eaten before anything has a chance to go bad !!!
Thanks for sharing these suggestions, Hal! I love the idea of adding more veggies to this recipe.