Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

It is a bit more time consuming but really fun to do! I love this because no matter how hard I try the artificial dyes seep into the actual egg, making them less usable for us. This way they are still totally edible!
Some of the colors werent exactly what I expected but still a ton of fun!!

Be careful and wear old clothing, most of these ingredients will stain clothing, hands and counter tops

I decided to do 2 dozen eggs so 3 per color(including both green variations). You could do plenty more eggs if you wanted to though. You can experiment with double dipping for color variations too!

Shopping list:

1 can beets

2 cans blueberries

1 can grape juice concentrate

cranberry juice

chili powder

turmeric

purple cabbage

frozen cherries

liquid chlorophyll

white vinegar

2 dozen eggs

24 white eggs, hard boiled ,cooled, then scrubbed gently
You can decorate them with wax crayons first or place rubber bands in a pattern to produce designs if you like.

See below for how each dye turned out

Red-
1 can beets with juice
3 cup cranberry juice
2 TB vinegar









Orange-
3.5 cups water
1/4 cup chili powder
1/2 TB turmeric
2 TB vinegar






Yellow-
3.5 cups water
3 TB turmeric powder
2 TB vinegar










Lite Green-
3.5 cups water
2 TB Chlorophyll
2 TB vinegar








Spring Green-
3.5 cups water
3 cups spinach
1/2 can blueberries with juice
2 TB turmeric 
2 TB vinegar
Please note, this green dye will not LOOK green but it does produce green eggs LOL



Blue-
4 cups water
1 small head red cabbage, shredded
2 TB vinegar







Purple-
1 can blueberries with juice
1 can grape juice concentrate
2 cup water
2 TB vinegar

Pink-
3 cups water
2 cups frozen cherries
2 TB vinegar









For each dye:

 Simmer the ingredients minus the vinegar for 20-30 minutes each,

For a smooth all over color strain out any solids, for a more textured look leave them in, pour into dishes deep enough for the liquid to cover the eggs,(I used Mainstays 4 cup square containers with lids, cheap enough to not matter if they got stained, lidded to stack in the fridge and reusable!)

Cool completely then mix in vinegar.





Place eggs in each dye and allow to sit until desired color is reached. Just like with any other dye, the longer they sit the deeper the color.
We just stuck them in the fridge all day in the color.
For all colors but For the blue especially please note it will take quite awhile to achieve the true color. Be patient!

Remove from dye and allow to dry in empty egg carton.

Red-Not quite red but I think it turned out pretty anyway....next year I will do some adjustments to try to get a little more reddish. This one ended up being the pink in our baskets.



















Orange- A lovely pale orange



















Yellow- Turned out fabulous!

Lite Green- I expected the chlorophyll to yield a deeper color but it is still a nice egg, unless it is something you would use elsewhere(lots of nutritional uses google and see!) I wouldn't waste the money on the chlorophyll (luckily my mom already had some which is why I tried it)

Green- I was nervous about the color of the dye, but I think they came out fabulous














Blue- This one really amazed me...it looks SOOO purple but it really turns a nice blue, just be sure to leave it in long enough














Purple-A nice lavender color

Pink-Turned out a nice purple, not pink LOL, I next time I would use raspberries over cherries.









As you can see this is a bit more costly than "regular" Easter dye but since I have the freezer space I am going to see how well it freezes for extended uses. Wouldn't that be cool? Next year, ready to dye eggs, pull out the dye, defrost and you are ready to go!

 I hard boil my eggs by filling a pot at least 1 inch over the eggs with COLD water and adding 1 tsp salt. Set the pot on the stove and set to medium high. Bring to a boil and boil full for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 15-20 minutes.