A natural way to add color to your picnic table and perfect for Easter. This is a fun project to do with your kids - the eggs need a week to pickle to make sure you plan ahead! Adapted from the National Center for Home Food Preservation
Ingredients
- 3 Mason jars with lids, sterilized
- 12 hard-boiled eggs
- 3 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1½ cup raw cane sugar
- 3 cups water
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons pickling spices
Preparation
You can use up to 6 peeled hard-boiled eggs for each color
For red: Add 1 large beetroot (shredded—keep 1 tablespoon for below: orange) to the pickling liquid.
For yellow: Add 2 tablespoons turmeric and 1 dried chili (whole) to the pickling liquid.
For orange: Add 2 carrots (shredded), 1 tablespoon shredded beetroot, 1 teaspoon turmeric and peel of ½ lemon to the pickling liquid.
Mix vinegar, sugar, water, salt and pickling spices until blended and divide among 3 pans. Add coloring ingredients to each one.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Take off heat, cool slightly and add the peeled, boiled eggs (6 to each pan). Leave standing for an hour. Take the eggs out, stack to fit snug in the Mason jars. Pour the liquid over and tighten the lid. Steam for 20 minutes in a hot water bath to seal the lids. Take out, and turn up side down on a kitchen towel to cool (and for the liquid to cover all of each egg). Store in the refrigerator for at least 1 week before serving (longer allows the eggs more time to soak up the flavors of the brine). Use within 3–4 months.
Eat the eggs as is, or use to make deviled eggs!
