Why is dying Easter eggs so messy? I understand it’s dye… and that’s messy enough on it’s own. But coloring Easter eggs is one of the best memories as a child. So this year, instead of pouring little bowls of water everywhere for my grandsons to make a mess with – we’re dying them with salt. It’s so much easier – and bonus, the color is so much deeper.
SALT DYED EASTER EGGS
- Put about a cup of kosher salt (I eye-balled it) into a zip top bag. A freezer bag is thicker, hence I felt it worked better.
- Add in about a tablespoon of liquid food coloring. See those turquoise eggs below? Those were made with GREEN food coloring. So beware that you’re probably not going to be able to control colors like you can with liquid. (Side note: The first time I tried this, all I had was green food coloring. Happy accident… it turned out turquoise!)
- Zip up the bag and smush around all of the food coloring into the sand so it’s all combined well.
- Place in a white boiled egg, then zip the bag back up.
- Roll the egg around in the colored salt, making sure to coat the entire egg.
- Pull the egg out to the bag, making sure to leave salt still stuck on it.
- Carefully place it on a cooling rack to dry. Let COMPLETELY dry.
- Brush off the salt.
- Here’s where you have options… you can leave it as is (the pink ones are that way) – OR you can rinse them under cold water for just a sec to wash off the salt. The dye will remain, but it will slightly tone down the brightness. Try some both ways. You can always redye them for a deeper color if you’d like.
- Make sure to close the bag once you’re done and the dye will last for a few days.
BONUS: Use a tray to catch the colored salt and let it dry, then use them to make my favorite margaritas π
Want to see how easy they are? I shared this over on my Facebook page:
Gaeyl says
Love the salt dyed eggs. Thanks for sharing
Gina Luker says
Glad you like it!!
Carlee says
My little dude is sooooo anxious to dye eggs and this looks like a really fun way to do it!
Gina Luker says
Have fun Carlee π
Jody says
I can’t wait to try this. Thanks!
JILL NELSON says
Can you give us an idea of how long they take to dry? Sounds like a better way to dye eggs with kids…if they don’t have to wait toooo long for them to dry!
Gina Luker says
I think mine took around 30 minutes? It doesn’t take too long π
Dennie says
This is so awesome. Thank you for posting!
Gina Luker says
Thanks Dennie π
margaret st.clair says
I have done the same thing with uncooked rice, they turn out pretty. put in bag add color and mix add egg and shake bag gently to coat. They look like they are speckled.
Gina Luker says
Wow, very cool Margaret, thanks for sharing π