Ready to rock your mornings and meal preps with the perfect hard boiled eggs? Here’s all you need to know to nail the timing to get hard boiled eggs just the way you like ’em!
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How to Make the Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
I love a good hard boiled egg! Hard boiled eggs are a must-have for meal prepping. If you boil the perfect hard boiled eggs, they’re perfect as a snack or as an on-the-go breakfast. What I don’t like are over-cooked boiled eggs. More than once I’ve been in a rush and left a pot of boiling eggs on the stove top in the morning and ended up with a dry grey-ish yolk! Now, I meal prep a handful of hard boiled eggs at the beginning of the week when I do the rest of my meal prepping. Not being in a rush and setting a timer is key to the perfect hard boiled egg.
What You Need To Make the Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
- sauce pan
- slotted spoon
- timer
- ice water
How To Boil Eggs To Make Hard Boiled Eggs
While some people like to place their eggs in the pot with the water already boiled, I prefer to bring the pot to a boil with the eggs inside. I let the water come to a boil with the eggs in the water already and once the water is boiled, I set the timer. You’re going to want a saucepan or pot that fit all your eggs comfortably in one layer and have space to cover the eggs with one inch of water on top of the eggs.
How Long to Boil Eggs for the Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
- 4 minutes: soft boiled egg, very soft whites and runny yolk
- 5 minutes: slightly soft boiled eggs with a soft yolk
- 6 minutes: a soft jammy yolk with soft whites
- 7 minutes: firm but creamy yolk
- 8 minutes: hard boiled egg with a soft yolk
- 9 minutes: traditional firm hard boiled egg
Tips to Make Peeling Hard Boil Eggs Easy
Use older eggs: have your eggs in your fridge for at least a week for them to be considered “aged.” They have lost their moisture and fresher egg will tend to ‘cling’ onto the shell a little more.
Use an ice bath for the eggs immediately afterwards to stop the eggs’ cooking process and help loosen the membrane on the egg that’s stuck to the shell.
Make sure don’t put a cold egg into hot water as that’ll cause the egg to crack
When To Peel Hard Boiled Eggs
Peel your hard boiled eggs when you are ready to eat them as that will help them last longer.
Easiest way to peel hard boiled eggs are to give them a nice crack on a flat surface then roll it under your palm to get the shell to crack across. Then peel.
How To Store Eggs
Keep raw eggs cold and dry. You want to store eggs in the carton that they came in inside the main part of your fridge.
Avoid storing eggs in the door of your fridge as it is not cold enough and be sure to discard any eggs if the shells have been cracked.
How To Store Hard Boiled Eggs
Hard boiled eggs are okay to sit at room temperature for a couple hours, so be sure to store the boiled eggs in the fridge if you don’t plan on eating them right away. They should last for about a week but I only make 5 days worth at a time.
I recommend that you keep the hard boiled eggs refrigerated in the shells.
Ideas for what to do with hard boiled eggs
- breakfast on the go or slice it up and put it on top of avocado toast
- snack (sprinkle a bit of salt on top!)
- devilled eggs
- marinate a 4 minute soft boiled egg (peeled) and use it as a ramen topper
- egg salad
- cobb salad
- salad topper
- pasta meal prep
- if you have more suggestions, leave them down below in the comments!
THE BENEFITS OF EATING EGGS
- Nutrition provided by eggs include: vitamin A, D, and E, folate, iron, zinc, and choline
- In 2 large eggs, you get 160 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 13 grams of protein
- Eggs are a delicious source of omega-3 which is a healthy fat that is not naturally produced in our bodies
- They’re inexpensive (see my post here on meal prepping on a budget, featuring a section of egg recipes)
- Raises your good cholesterol
- Linked to a reduction of risk of heart disease
Are Brown Eggs Healthier Than White Eggs?
No! The colour of your eggs are dependent of the breed of hen that laid the eggs.
Brown eggs may cost more than white eggs but that’s due to the hens that lay them are a little more expensive to raise than the white-egged counterpart.
How To Make The Perfect Hard Boiled Egg
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- cold water
- ice
Instructions
- Place the eggs in a large saucepan then cover them with cool water by 1 inch. Cover with a lid and bring water to a boil over high heat
- Once the water has reached it's boiling point, set the timer for the desired time.
- Time to boil for the perfect hard boiled eggs:4 minutes: soft boiled egg, very soft whites and runny yolk5 minutes: slightly soft boiled eggs with a soft yolk6 minutes: a soft jammy yolk with soft whites7 minutes: firm but creamy yolk8 minutes: hard boiled egg with a soft yolk9 minutes: traditional firm hard boiled egg
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a large bowl with ice and cold water immediately and let them cool down for a couple of minutes before peeling.
Notes
RESOURCES AND TIPS FOR MEAL PREPPING
- Meal Prep 101
- How To Cook Chicken Breasts Perfectly
- Tips To Help You Meal Prep For The Week Successfully
- Tips on Meal Prepping on a Budget
MORE EGG MEAL PREPS
- Breakfast Wonton Egg Cups
- Make Ahead Breakfast Taco Egg Bowl
- Freezer Friendly Winter Spice Bacon Egg Cups
- Freezer Friendly Breakfast Egg Sandwiches
- Instant Pot Pizza Egg Bites
- How To Poach Eggs in the Instant Pot
Other places to connect with me
Instagram: @carmyshungry
Twitter: https://twitter.com/runcarmyrun
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carmyycom
Email: carmy@carmyy.com
Vlogs/Recipe Videos: Youtube
Mindy
4 minutes is my FAVORITE. Thanks for cheat sheet this!
Michelle
Love the peeling tips!! The struggle is real.
camila
Love all the tips! Love boiled egg! It’s always been a go-to snack, or addition to a lunch, or salad for me!!
Danielle
This is such a helpful post! I love the images (never thought pictures of hard-boiled eggs could be beautiful) – I prefer 7 minutes myself.
Rae
I love a good hard-boiled egg, and appreciate that you’ve taken the time to photograph each egg after a certain amount of cooking… Really helpful for novice cooks.
Katie
That cheat sheet is awesome- I love it! Great post!!
Tisha
Such a great guide! A lot of people don’t know how to this! Its the perfect cheat sheet!!
Debra
Love this post. Takes the guess work out of making the perfect egg to suit your taste. We make hard boiled eggs every week as part of meal prep as well and this is a super handy chart. Thank you.
Stephanie Ponce
I learned how to cook hard boiled eggs from my mom which was apparently the wrong way (Gray yokes…eww). I tried this and cooked them for 7 minutes and HOLY MOLY I am now obsessed with eating hard boiled eggs. They are so perfect and tender! I’m sad I didn’t learn how to do it properly until I was 30 but happy to not have to live the rest of my life eating crappy hard boiled eggs!
Carmy
I am so glad you found this helpful Stephanie!