Natural Egg Dye

While looking through the internet for ideas for Easter, we came across an awesome way to dye eggs from home! Those weird little dye capsules have always seemed a bit unhealthy to us since they tend to dye the egg underneath and there are no “ingredients” listed on the egg box kits other than red6 or yellow5 and other additives. So, after reading various methods to do this, I decided to have my own eggsperiment if you will and try out various fruits, vegetables, and other food items.

light army green dyed egg sitting on top of a bundle of cilantro

We were hoping for a nice rich emerald green. We used an entire small bunch of fresh cilantro with 3 tbsp white vinegar, and 1 cup water. We boiled this for 20 minutes. While boiling this it looked like murky tea water and even after straining, we were worried the color would be pretty gross. This was one of the colors we did let sit overnight for about 7 hours and we were pleasantly surprised when this came out a very unique army green. This is one of those colors you could never get from a dye kit and one that could make very cool camo eggs.

light brownish green dyed egg laying on a bunch of cranberries

We were hoping for a red or light pink color and even while boiling, this appeared to be a winner. However, after soaking the egg overnight what came out was a murky colored egg. We used 20-25 fresh cranberries, 3 tbsp of white vinegar, and 1 cup of water. We brought this to a boil for 20 minutes. This was a total fail and unless we put in a whole pound of berries, we aren’t sure if this one could have been saved.

light blue dyed egg sitting on top of a bunch of blueberries

Hands down this was the most successful first round food. We used a ½ tsp of organic blueberry powder from a local farm as well as 20 fresh blueberries, 3 tbsp white vinegar and 1 cup of water. We brought this to a boil for 15 minutes or until water is deep purple. The blueberry egg only soaked for 30 minutes and with an overnight soak we are sure you could get a very royal blue. This was mama’s favorite first round color.

light yellow dyed egg on top of a turmeric root

Being a staple in our home and having a reputation of dying our glasses yellowish orange it was a no-brainer to add this one to the first round of colors. We only used one medium sized root diced, 3 tbsp white vinegar, and 1 cup of water. We brought this to a boil for roughly 20 minutes and the result was a rich orangey color. We soaked this one for 25 minutes and it came out a lovely bright yellow shade that even store-bought dye would envy. So, we decided to carry this one over to round 2 since we are curious if a 7-hour soak would turn this orange, therefore acting as a dual color?!

off white with a touch of yellow dyed egg on top of a ginger root

Another staple in our house, this root veggie was one we were unsure what it would do. Like the turmeric, we only used one medium sized dice root, 3 tbsp white vinegar, and 1 cup of water. We brought this to a boil for 25 minutes and while the water looked white when we poured into the cup for soaking our egg, after an overnight soak the egg came out an off-white color with hint of yellow. Had we not had such a vibrant yellow from the turmeric we may have chosen this as a winner for yellow coloring.

medium brown dyed egg on top of a handful of ground coffee

This was another color that came through very strong, but honestly was no surprise. We used 1 tbsp ground beans, 3 tbsp white vinegar and 1 ½ cups of water. We then boiled it for 9 minutes. This was another color we let soak overnight and a light brown color is what we got. We never thought we would like brown for a dye color, but, when you are going natural it is quite appealing.