Need to know how to make Hard Boiled eggs? My recipe for Hard Boiled Eggs makes them Perfect Every Time. Great for egg salad, deviled eggs & more! You can make these in the air fryer, pressure cooker, or on the stovetop.
One thing we have a whole lot of in our house is eggs. No matter the season, we love eggs.
But this time of year there seems to be a lot of egg recipes both before & after Easter. It’s understandable, I mean before the holiday you need to know the best way to hard boil them. Then afterward it’s great to have a whole lot of recipes to create with all those beautifully decorated eggs.
eggs for easter
This post contains some affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
Because eggs are something the hubs & I make quite often, we have perfected our recipe over our 20 years cooking together. It took a whole lot of trial & error.
We have tried a bunch of other recipes we have found over the years. Seems everyone has their favorite way to do it. But time after time, we keep coming back to this particular method that hasn’t let us down yet.
how to boil eggs
Now I’m going to tell you a little secret about peeling these babies. My trick is to tap the shell on the counter all around the whole shell – so the whole thing is crushed.
Then dip it in a bowl of water. This allows water to seep in there & get between the shell & the egg, which really helps the shell peel off effortlessly.
Perfect Boiled Eggs
Once I peel it all off, I like to dip the egg back in the water to make sure I have removed all the tiny little shell particles. No one wants to bite into a piece of shell that I may have not seen.
This makes sure I have removed it all & there are no surprises later.
easy peel hard boiled eggs
Here are some commonly asked questions
How long are boiled eggs good for?
The key to longevity when it comes to boiled eggs is proper care. If you keep them refrigerated and limit the amount of time they are at room temperature – then they should last about 1 week from the time that you cooked them.
I recommend getting them into the refrigerator as soon as they are cool enough to touch after soaking in the ice water bath. I also recommend keeping them chilled in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.
Please do not ingest any eggs that have been out of the refrigerator for more than 1 hour.
best hard-boiled eggs
Making Stovetop Hard Boiled Eggs
- Place the eggs in the bottom of a heavy stockpot.
- Fill the pot with water until the eggs are covered completely & the water level is about 1″ higher than the top of the eggs and then add the salt.
- Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once the water begins to boil, remove the pot from the heat & cover.
- Set a timer for the desired length of time – 6 to 14 minutes. (See notes)
- After the eggs have sat covered in the hot water, immediately transfer the eggs into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.
- Let the eggs come to room temperature in the ice water before transferring to another bowl lined with paper towels.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to peel, tap lightly on the counter to crack the shell, dip in a bowl of water & then peel the shell away.
- Re-dip into the water to remove any remaining shell pieces you may not be able to see.
peeling hard boiled eggs
HOW DO YOU MAKE INSTANT POT BOILED EGGS?
- Place the eggs and water in the pot. Close the lid & set it to cook on manual pressure for 6 minutes.
- Do a complete natural release for 6 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Then transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.
- Let the eggs come to room temperature in the ice water before transferring to another bowl lined with paper towels.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to peel, tap lightly on the counter to crack the shell, & then peel the shell away.
- Dip the peeled egg into a small bowl of water to remove any remaining shell pieces you may not be able to see.
Is it necessary to use a specific type of pressure cooker?
No, not at all. I just happen to have an Instant Pot, but pressure cookers have become so popular over the last couple years that just about every big & small appliance company makes one. This will work with them all.
how long do you boil eggs for
HOW DO YOU MAKE AIR FRYER HARD BOILED EGGS?
- Place the eggs in the air fryer.
- Close and cook at 270 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Immediately transfer the eggs to ice-cold water after the cooking time is up.
- Let the eggs come to room temperature in the ice water before transferring to another bowl lined with paper towels.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to peel, tap lightly on the counter to crack the shell, dip in a bowl of water & then peel the shell away.
- Re-dip into the water to remove any remaining shell pieces you may not be able to see.
I have a bake option and other special features on my air fryer, is that the setting? Or do you put it on “air fry” setting?
All of my recipes were created with an air fryer that had only a temperature & timer setting – since not all air fryers have all the additional settings.
You can use the bake setting when making recipes that you would traditionally bake – but if possible, please just set the temperature & time for this recipe.
Hard Boiled Eggs
Ingredients for Hard Boiled Eggs
- eggs
- water
- salt
Air Frying Doneness Tip
Every air fryer is a bit different and they all cook at different rates – so in general, all cooking times are approximate based on the pan and temperature.
You can always cook the recipe longer if needed and reduce the heat a bit.
What air fryer do you use?
We actually have 3 air fryers. I have a smaller one from Phillips that we started with. I have since given that to my son since he’s only cooking for 1.
But the more I used the air fryer I realized I really wanted a digital screen. It wasn’t any more expensive, in fact- our XL air fryer from GoWISE was less expensive than the Phillips and I love its ease & extra functions.
Plus it comes with a lot of the extra accessories I like to use when cooking with my fryer.
But I when I started working on my second air fryer book, I wanted to change things up. I picked up this LARGE air fryer that has been wonderful. It has Touch Screen Presets plus it is XL Family Size, which is great!
how long to boil eggs
Can this recipe be doubled?
You can, and we do it often for the stovetop method. Because of space constraints with the pressure cooker and air fryer and the need for more space around the eggs while cooking with those methods – I don’t recommend doubling when making the eggs that way.
instant pot eggs
How to tell if eggs are fresh
We have a habit of stocking up on eggs and then forgetting about them because they are out in the garage fridge.
While eggs will keep (if refrigerated properly) for up to 6 weeks beyond the date on the package – I always like to do this nifty little test if I know they have been in there for a while. The date isn’t always accurate.
When eggs go bad – they create an air bubble inside the shell. So if you place an egg in a few inches of water – watch what it does.
- If it stays at the bottom – it is good.
- If it sort of hovers halfway between the bottom and the top of the water – it’s on the way to going bad and should be used immediately.
- NOW – if the egg floats – that means the air bubble has formed and the egg is no longer safe to eat and should be tossed out.
best boiled eggs
perfect boiled eggs
If you love this easy hard-boiled egg recipe, you’re going to love these other quick recipes too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!
Other Egg Recipes
Don’t miss this – it is one of our most popular recipes!
If you love this recipe for Hard Boiled Eggs as much as I do, please write a five-star review, and be sure to help me share on Facebook and Pinterest!
CONNECT WITH YUMMI HAUS!
Be sure to follow me on my social media, so you never miss a post!
PIN THIS RECIPE
Hard Boiled Eggs – Perfect Every Time
Ingredients
Stovetop
- 12 eggs
- water
- 1 tsp salt
Pressure Cooker
- 12 large eggs
- 2½ cups cold water
Air Fryer
- 12 large eggs
Instructions
Stovetop
- Place the eggs in the bottom of a heavy stockpot.
- Fill the pot with water until the eggs are covered completely & the water level is about 1" higher than the top of the eggs and then add the salt.
- Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once the water begins to boil, remove the pot from the heat & cover.
- Set a timer for the desired length of time – 6 to 14 minutes. (See notes)
- After the eggs have sat covered in the hot water, immediately transfer the eggs into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.
- Let the eggs come to room temperature in the ice water before transferring to another bowl lined with paper towels.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to peel, tap lightly on the counter to crack the shell, dip in a bowl of water & then peel the shell away.
- Re-dip into the water to remove any remaining shell pieces you may not be able to see.
Pressure Cooker
- Place the eggs and water in the pot. Close the lid & set it to cook on manual pressure for 6 minutes.
- Do a complete natural release for 6 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Then transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.
- Let the eggs come to room temperature in the ice water before transferring to another bowl lined with paper towels.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to peel, tap lightly on the counter to crack the shell, & then peel the shell away.
- Dip the peeled egg into a small bowl of water to remove any remaining shell pieces you may not be able to see.
Air Fryer
- Place the eggs in the air fryer.
- Close and cook at 270 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Immediately transfer the eggs to ice-cold water after the cooking time is up.
- Let the eggs come to room temperature in the ice water before transferring to another bowl lined with paper towels.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to peel, tap lightly on the counter to crack the shell, dip in a bowl of water & then peel the shell away.
- Re-dip into the water to remove any remaining shell pieces you may not be able to see.
Notes
- Soft boiled 6 minutes
- Medium-soft boiled 8 minutes
- Medium boiled 10 minutes
- Hard-Boiled 12 minutes
- Very Hard Boiled 14 minutes
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate. Please double-check with your own dietary calculator for the best accuracy. We at Yummi Haus cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Tamar says
I was always rubbish at making hard cooked eggs!
Arlene Kovash says
Eggs aren’t bad if they float. They just have air between the shell and membrane, but are perfectly safe. The pioneers would bury their eggs in their flour to keep them from breaking on the trip west, and they would keep for weeks.
Gina Kleinworth says
Thank you for your comment. Yes, that is right that it is just air between the shell and membrane that makes them float. Very good! Now, how did the air get there? The air isn’t atmospheric, but a byproduct of bacteria decomposing the egg itself. So, no, it is not safe to eat these eggs. Also, I am not sure how pioneer food storage is a good comparison. I recommend doing more research on the diseases that many of the pioneers had to live with. Those who didn’t die had to live with the worst cases of different issues as they traversed an American landscape. Hence, the need to invent the refrigerator. I digress. I can’t in good conscience tell my readers to eat something that would most likely make them sick.