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How to make hard-boiled eggs

Summer egg salad with basil & peas

How to make hard-boiled eggs

Name: How to make hard-boiled eggs
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: your desired number of eggs (use as many as you want to boil)

Alice Shields

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Serves 1 - 4

Easy

Prep: 3 mins

Cook: 12 mins

A star rating of 3 out of 5.2 ratingsRate

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Learn how to make perfect hard-boiled eggs every time with our easy technique, plus expert advice for achieving firm whites and fully cooked yolks.

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Alternatives

Complete the dish

The humble boiled egg is one of the hardest working ingredients in my kitchen. I like to cook a batch a couple of times a week, as they keep well in the fridge and make a great on-the-go protein-rich snack. They’re also a low-effort option for bulking up salads, curries and noodle dishes. For a speedy supper, I like to top a sweet potato & spinach dhal with a fudgy boiled egg.

Meet Alice Alice Shields is one of our food team experts, and doesn’t 'yolk around' when it comes to cooking a perfect boiled egg, having developed dozens of recipes over the years.

Front facing headshot of Alice Shields, Good Food's acting food editor

What to look for when making hard-boiled eggs

Hard-boiled eggs should have completely set whites, but the yolks can have different degrees of softness; they should never be chalky and crumbly or have a green tinge where the yolk meets the white – these are the signs that it’s overcooked.

What is the best way to cook hard-boiled eggs?

There's some science behind the method that works best for controlling the texture of your yolk. See our guide for how to boil an egg to learn more.

It can be harder to peel eggs that are started in cold water, as they sometimes fuse to the shell. If you’ve always found this to be the case, try starting with boiling water instead. You can also cook eggs in a pressure cooker or specialised egg cooker. Additionally, egg timers that can be placed in the water with your eggs are available – these change colour to indicate how long your eggs have been cooked.

There is no absolute foolproof way to perfectly boil an egg, as each time, the size and temperature of the egg and the temperature of the water (when cooking from cold) may vary. Because eggs cook from the outside in, the whites can easily overcook. However, with a bit of trial and error, you can find the method that suits you.

Halved boiled eggs showing three cooking times: soft-boiled after 7 minutes with a runny yolk, hard-boiled after 10 minutes with a firm yolk, and overdone after 15 minutes with a dry, chalky yolk.

Ingredients

Units:

MetricUS

your desired number of eggs

(use as many as you want to boil)

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Method

step 1

Put the eggs in a single layer in a pan and cover them with room temperature water so it comes about 4cm above the eggs. Cover the pan with a lid and bring it to the boil, then turn the heat off and let stand for 12 mins.
step 2

After this time, scoop the eggs out of the pan and put them into a bowl of very cold water to halt the cooking process. Once cool, peel and use as desired.

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A star rating of 3 out of 5.2 ratings

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