How to Use Vegetable Scraps to Create Beautiful Easter Eggs

how to colour easter eggs with kitchen scraps

I have been collecting eggs for the last few weeks. Diligently blowing out the white and yolk. Preserving the pristine shape of the humble egg. All with the hopes that I would experiment with dying those eggs. Yep, I had big plans. Unfortunately, sometimes big plans don't come to fruition. This time my BIG plans ended in a something much smaller, simpler that I really loved. Last night, as I was preparing dinner, I set aside some vegetable scraps and tried dying a few eggs. They turned out quite beautifully...in my opinion anyway. I love the subtlety of the patterns and the softness of the colours. Here is what a few scraps of carrot, parsnip and shallot can create.

Kitchen Scraps Easter Eggs

carrot peel

parsnip peel

shallot, or onion, skin

cheese cloth

twist tie

pot

water

eggs

Cut a piece of cheese cloth that is large enough to wrap the egg...about 6" X 6"...lay it on the counter.

For the striped pattern...lay the carrot peel and parsnip peel in an alternate pattern on the cheese cloth...cut side facing in. For the marbled egg...wrap the onion skin scraps around the egg...wrap the egg in the cheesecloth. Tie each cheese clothed egg tightly with a twist tie.

Drop the wrapped eggs and one plain egg, into a small pot of boiling water for about 15-20 minutes...I used blown out eggs, if you want to hard boil your eggs simply start with cold water and bring to a boil, boil the eggs for 15 - 10 minutes.

After the time has elapsed, remove the eggs from the water...unwrap and enjoy.

The plain egg turned from a white egg into a lightly brownish-yellow egg...not too exciting, but lovely. The striped egg is my favourite. My girls love the marbled egg. This was so simple to do. Just pop some eggs into a pot...magic. Who knows what tonight's dinner might bring? Happy Easter egg dying everyone!