How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

Hard Boiled Eggs are high in protein and feature a creamy yolk and firm egg white. They are delicious as a snack, in an egg salad sandwich, or as a hearty addition to a salad. In order to make perfect hard boiled eggs, just boil fresh eggs, chill, and peel!

We love hard boiled eggs in egg salad sandwiches because of their firm yet creamy yolk. We also enjoy them with a little salt and pepper for a protein packed snack. All you need to make these easy eggs are a pot of boiling water, a bowl of ice water, and a spoon or tongs. This recipe is similar to our popular Ajitama (Soft-Boiled Ramen Eggs) and Soft Boiled Jammy Eggs and requires a longer cook time

Our method is fool-proof and results in perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs. Other methods call for placing eggs in a cold pot of water and bringing to a boil; however, that yields inconsistent results, including under- and over-cooked eggs. This is because the temperature of the eggs, the water, and the type of pot are variables that affect the cooking temperature and time. Our method requires the water to be boiled first, reducing temperature variability.

Jump to:

• About Hard Boiled Eggs
• Ingredients
• Variations
• Instructions
• How to Enjoy Hard Boiled Eggs
• Hard Boiled Eggs FAQs
• Storage
• Cooking Tips
• Related Recipes
• Did You Like This Recipe?
• How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

About Hard Boiled Eggs

• Taste - We love these eggs on their own with just a little salt and pepper for extra flavor or in an egg salad sandwich with kewpie mayo.
• Texture - After 10 minutes of cooling, the egg yolk should be firm yet slightly creamy.
• Effort - All you need to do is boil the eggs, cool them, then peel their shell.
• Time - It takes just 10 minutes to cook the eggs then 10 more minutes to cool and peel them.

Ingredients

• Eggs - Eggs are a great source of protein. We eat pasture-raised farm fresh eggs because of their delicious flavor. They also contain more vitamins and omega-3 fats than cage-raised eggs.
• Ice - We place the eggs in the ice bath to prevent the eggs from over cooking and make them easier to peel.

See recipe card for quantities.

Variations

While we enjoy these hard boiled eggs, we love all types of eggs.  Here are a few other ways we love to prepare eggs:

• Soft Boiled Eggs -  If you want your eggs runnier for going over rice, follow the same steps above, just boil the eggs for 5 minutes. Our Bacon and Egg Breakfast Rice Bowl is an example of how to integrate these runny eggs into a delicious breakfast. You can also make the eggs slightly less runny if you boil them for 6 minutes.
• Soft Scrambled Eggs - Whenever we make scrambled eggs, we make them soft and fluffy. We love making a Soft Scramble with Burrata, Tomatoes, and Arugula.
• Fried Eggs - Fried eggs are another great way to enjoy eggs and perfect for toast. There are a few different ways to fry eggs from runny over easy to firm over hard eggs.
• Soft Boiled Quail Eggs - Quail eggs are smaller and slightly richer in flavor than chicken eggs.

Instructions

• Boil the water and eggs - Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and use a slotted spoon to lower the eggs into the water. Increase the heat back to medium and set a timer and hard boil eggs over medium between 9 and 12 minutes, depending on how done you like your eggs. 9 minutes will result in orange yolks with a semi-jammy center and close to 12 minutes will result in full cooked yolks6 eggs,Water
• Fill a bowl with ice water - As the eggs cook on the stovetop, fill a bowl with cold water and a few ice cubes.  The bowl of ice water will stop the eggs from cooking, preserve the soft yolk, and make it easy to peel the shells.Ice
• Cool the eggs - Once the timer pings, use a slotted spoon to transfer the eggs from the pot to the bowl of ice water to cool.  Let the eggs sit in the ice water for 10 minutes before you peel them.
• Crack the eggshells - Using a spoon, lightly tap each egg to crack the shell then peel hard boiled eggs. The shell and membrane should easily peel off once the egg is cooled.

Pro tip: Make sure the eggs are at room temperature before you boil them - If the eggs are cold and right out of the fridge, they will crack when lowered into the hot water. Take the eggs out of the refrigerator when you turn on the stove to boil the water to give the eggs enough time to reach room temperature.

How to Enjoy Hard Boiled Eggs

There are so many ways to enjoy hard boiled eggs. You can prepare them as a snack fresh cracked pepper and Maldon Sea Salt Flakes or make deviled eggs. You can also chop the eggs and toss them with Kewpie mayo to make an egg salad sandwich. Finally, they are the perfect protein packed addition for a salad.

Hard Boiled Eggs FAQs

Storage

You can refrigerate hard boiled eggs in an air tight container for 3 days. We recommend these containers: OXO Pop Containers, Glass Meal Prep Containers, Glass Food Containers.