What would Easter be without brightly colored Easter eggs? For hundreds of years, we have had the custom of dyeing Easter eggs, often during Holy Week around Maundy Thursday. But chemicals don’t always have to be used for dyeing. Rather, the typical egg colors should even be dispensed with, as can be seen from a current Greenpeace market check. More than half of all Easter egg dyes tested in March 2021 contained substances that were harmful to health, such as azo dyes. These are suspected of triggering allergies and promoting asthma.

Dye Easter eggs naturally

But don’t worry: you can also use natural products from local kitchens to make beautiful eggs for Easter baskets, and the colors are guaranteed to be harmless. A classic from the range of natural Easter egg colors is red onion skins. But even if the eggs are colored with turmeric, beetroot, or tea, for example, the results are impressive. And another big plus of natural colors: You don’t have to worry about the color seeping through the shell, because the eggs can be enjoyed by children and adults without hesitation.

How it works

Make dye broth

Depending on the number of eggs you want to dye, first, make a dye stock. To do this, boil 500 ml to 1 l of water and add the coloring products, let the brew steep for at least 15 minutes. Basically, the brew becomes stronger the longer you let it steep. Pay attention to your starting material: turmeric powder, for example, is already very fine and releases its color relatively quickly into the water. Whole sprigs of nettle will take longer to do this, of course, but you can cut them into small pieces to speed up the color extraction.

Boil eggs

You can boil the eggs while the dye brew is brewing. First, clean the eggs well, rub with vinegar, and hard boil as normal. In this way, the subsequent dyeing time can be controlled independently of the hard boil. Also, hard-boiled eggs are easier to decorate. It is best to dye the Easter eggs immediately after hard-boiling because they take on the color better when they are still warm.

Dye Easter eggs naturally

As already mentioned, the still-warm eggs are placed in the warm dye broth. They stay there for at least 15 minutes. The exact duration depends on the egg color, but also on what natural materials you are coloring with. Some stain much faster and more intensely than others. Since the eggs are already cooked any way, you can leave them in the broth until the desired result is achieved. It is best to rub the finished eggs with a drop of oil to give them a nice shine.

Decorate Easter eggs

Just brightly colored is not enough for you? Then you can provide the Easter eggs with different patterns. One option is to draw patterns on the boiled eggs with beeswax before coloring them. In these places, they do not take on any color. You can also put leaves and grass or a piece of decorative ribbon or lace on top of the eggs and tie a piece of pantyhose tightly over them. This is how the pattern is transferred to the eggs. When choosing the grass, you should note that thicker leaves and stems leave stronger light spots than very delicate leaves such as yarrow.

Natural coloring agents

What now colors how? Red eggs produce beetroot (divide a beetroot into pieces and let it soak in the broth) or red onion skins (at least a handful, the shells can also be soaked in the broth overnight – depending on the color of the eggs you get rich, dark red-brown eggs this way). Blueberries or elderberries (frozen) or red cabbage produces purple to bluish eggs. Turmeric, carrots, or chamomile flowers dye eggs yellow – but these dyes only work on white eggs, brown ones are too dark. You can get green eggs by using crushed nettles, spinach, or mate tea. Black tea, coffee, or regular brown onion peel will turn eggs brown.