How To Make Hard-Boiled Eggs
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Perfect hard-boiled eggs, every time! With firm whites and creamy yolks, this foolproof method ensures your eggs are cooked just right, without the dreaded green ring.
There’s a reason they’re called the incredible edible egg—eggs are high in protein, low in calories, packed with nutrients, and incredibly versatile. Hard-boiled eggs are great for so many things, and since they’re portable, they make a perfect grab-and-go breakfast. While they’re easy to make, they’re also easy to mess up. There are countless methods out there, but this one guarantees perfect hard-boiled eggs every time: firm whites that aren’t rubbery, creamy yolks that are fully cooked with no unsightly green ring. Best of all, no fancy equipment needed—just eggs, a pan, and a kitchen timer.
Once you’ve mastered the art of the hard-boiled egg, you’ll have a great source of protein ready for all kinds of dishes, whether you’re making egg salad, potato salad, jazzing up a fresh Cobb salad, topping off avocado toast, adding them to a sandwich, or just sprinkling them with a little salt and pepper for an easy snack. If you’re interested in other simple ways to cook eggs, check out my soft-boiled eggs and poached eggs.
How To Make Hard-Boiled Eggs
Begin by placing the eggs in a saucepan large enough so that they sit in a single layer (use eggs that have been in the fridge for a week or two as they will be much easier to work with). Fill the pan with enough cool water so that it covers the eggs by about an inch. It’s important to start the eggs in cold water — bringing the water and eggs up in temperature together ensures even cooking and prevents cracking. Bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat, then immediately remove the pan from the heat.
Cover, and let stand for 10 minutes. (Keep in mind that I use standard large eggs — for smaller or larger eggs, you’ll need to adjust the cook time by a minute or so in either direction.)
Carefully pour out the hot water.
Then place the pan in the sink and run cold water over the eggs until the pan is lukewarm, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and refill with cold water; let stand until the eggs are room temperature, about 10 minutes.
Gently crack the eggs all over  (just tap them on your countertop) and peel them under running water.
The eggs can be cooked and peeled 3 days ahead. If you keep the eggs in their shell, they can last for up to a week. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Frequently Asked Questions
For easier peeling, try to use older eggs. The fresher the egg, the more attached the shell will be, so eggs that have been in the fridge for a week or two are much easier to peel.
The green ring forms when eggs are overcooked. To avoid this, be sure to follow the recommended cooking time and immediately run the eggs under cold water after boiling to stop the cooking process.
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Hard-Boiled Eggs
Perfect hard-boiled eggs, every time! With firm whites and creamy yolks, this foolproof method ensures your eggs are cooked just right, without the dreaded green ring.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place the eggs in a saucepan in a single layer, and fill the pan with enough cold water so that it covers the eggs by about an inch.
- Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Carefully pour out the hot water; place the pan in the sink and run cold water over the eggs until the pan is lukewarm, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and refill with cold water; let stand until the eggs are room temperature, about 10 minutes. Gently crack the eggs all over and peel under running water.
- Make Ahead: Eggs can be cooked and peeled 3 days ahead. If you keep the eggs in their shell, they can last for up to a week. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Tip: When peeling an egg, start at the wider end -- there's usually a small air pocket in there, which makes the eggshell easier to remove.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 egg
- Calories: 61
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 5 g
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I peeled half, & weirdly every other was almost perfect (for me) with only a few small chunks stuck to the shell.
I’ve never been a great cook, liking egg salad because it made the best of all my peeled uglies!
You have no idea how much this hard-boiled egg thing has meant to me. I bookmarked this “lesson”, so that I can easily find it because now I’m jazzed to do this more often! Who knows which of your incredible recipes I will conquer next! 😂😂😂
Just. Doesn’t. Work.
These turned out great! I see from other comments that some people have struggled to peel the eggs. I use a little gadget that works beautifully. I’m typically not big on extra gadgets in the kitchen, but this has changed my egg peeling game, and I make hard-boiled eggs a lot more now. It’s called the Negg egg peeler if you want to check it out.
Worst directions I’ve ever had. Shell stuck to all the eggs. What a mess.
Well, I followed the instructions completely. The shells were difficult to peel leaving not a whole egg as a result. Disappointing. Someone, needs to post how to hard boil eggs through to the end, perfectly.
Ugg. I wasted half of my eggs because they wouldn’t peel. So frustrating!!
Egg whites were gelatinous at best. They wouldn’t even pass for soft boiled eggs.
Agreed! Yolks were gelatinous and the whites were wet. Disappointing!