There is something really creative and cool about using food to make natural Easter Egg dye. It’s a great way to work in your very own science experiment at home with the kids too. If I’m going to be using food to naturally dye Easter Eggs, I like to pick an organic, cage-free and GMO free egg. We generally buy these anyway as we much prefer the taste of cage free organic eggs. Finding white organic eggs for dying can be somewhat hard, so check your local Whole Foods, or see if Amazon Fresh is available in your area! Also, don’t throw away the food you used to make the dye! See my tips at the end on how you can use it.
My boys loved watching the water turn color with the food. The colors aren’t quite as vibrant as the store bought dyes can be, but I personally loved how each egg came out really unique. You can also use rubber bands to create stripes/patterns or a wax crayon to draw on the eggs before you dye them.
If using food isn’t something you want to do, but you still want a more natural egg dye, try Eco Kids Egg Coloring Kit!
Ingredients/Supply List
- Various Foods depending on what colors you want
- Wax Crayon (optional)
- Rubber bands or string (optional)
- Strainer (To separate the food from the colored water)
- White Vinegar
- Baking Soda (For more vibrant colors)
First you will need to make your colors by boiling the ingredients you choose for 20-30 minutes. Once the color has been achieved you will remove the food, and add the vinegar/baking soda. Place eggs in the mixture for at least 10 – 15 minutes to get the color you desire.
To make RED:
- 2-3 large beets
- 1 T white vinegar
To make PINK:
- 4-6 red onion skins
- 1 T white vinegar
To make BLUE:
- 1 head of red cabbage chopped
- 1 T white vinegar
- ½ T Baking Soda
To make PURPLE:
- 2 cups blueberries
- 1 T white vinegar
To make YELLOW:
- 3 T Turmeric (powder or ground root)
- 1 T white vinegar
To make ORANGE:
- 4-6 yellow onion skins
- 1 T white vinegar
To make GREEN:
- Dye egg first in yellow dye, then place the yellow egg in the blue dye.
Tips:
- Be sure to hard boil your eggs first. This will keep them from making a mess if you break them, but also allow you to eat them as a snack if you so choose to.
- Wear gloves when cutting beets or wash hands immediately to avoid dye.
- The longer you let the egg sit in the dye, the brighter the color will be.
- If you use too much vinegar your eggs will be very light in color.
- You can chop and freeze the unused onions for stocks, soups, or to add to meat when cooking later. Save your boiled cabbage for a great soup base.
- Make sure you remove the food prior to adding the vinegar so that you can reuse it.
Do you use food to dye your eggs? What other colors/combos should we try?
If you are local to Las Vegas – Check out Vegas Family Guide for a list of all the Spring Break and Easter Activities as well as our monthly calendar of events.
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I really like the way the beets dye turned out on the eggs! This is pretty genius – I never would have thought about using food! Thanks so much – this year, we’re doing your idea!