Pickled Eggs and Beets

Every Easter, my family paints dozens of hard-boiled eggs. Some we reserve for a backyard Easter egg hunt. Others we date and sign, carefully stashing them away in egg cartons, until we bring them out again next year, meticulously unpacking and arranging them in a large glass bowl to create a one-of-a-kind centerpiece for Easter dinner. (The eggs dry naturally, with no unpleasant odor; my mom has eggs my aunt painted for her 50 years ago.) We repurpose the rest for another tradition: pickled eggs. 

In my hometown of York, Pennsylvania, beet-pickled eggs aren't just an Easter treat—they're ubiquitous year-round at picnics and potlucks. The eggs (also referred to as red beet eggs) often play a role in the Pennsylvania Dutch custom of "seven sweets and seven sours," an old custom of serving a variety of sweet and sour dishes—such as baked goods, puddings, pickles, and relishes—at every meal. You'll find red beet eggs at markets, grocery stores, diners, and buffets. If a Central Pennsylvanian mentions pickled eggs, they are almost certainly referring to the red beet kind.

Unlike eggs pickled in a white vinegar brine, red beet eggs are conserved alongside—you guessed it—red beets, which gives the eggs their vivid purple hue. The eggs first take on a pinkish tint, and by day two, the color begins to creep inside, forming a colorful ring around the outer edge of the white. After a week, the entire egg white turns a bright magenta, with the yolk eventually becoming an orangey-pink, too. Brined in a mixture of cider vinegar, water, pickling spices, and cinnamon, these eggs are sweet and tangy, and make a delicious snack or accompaniment to burgers, cold cuts, and potato salad. 

As I mentioned in my recipe for quick-pickled eggs, there are two methods people turn to when pickling: vinegar pickling and lactic-acid fermentation. Unlike fermented pickles, which can take several weeks or months, making quick pickles simply involves pouring a vinegar-based brine over fruits and vegetables, or in this case, eggs, imbuing them with tart flavor. Red beet eggs are not difficult to prepare, but my tips below will help you make ones that taste just like the ones we eat in Pennsylvania, including the ones my mom makes—a dish that I request every time I’m home.

Despite their ease, these pickles require a dose of patience: After layering hard-boiled eggs and sliced pickled beets in a jar and covering everything with hot, cinnamon-infused cider vinegar brine, pop the jar into the fridge and wait. And wait. And then—if you can bear it—wait some more.

4 Tips for Making Red Beet Eggs the Pennsylvania Dutch Way

Use already-pickled beets. My mom makes red beet eggs with home-canned pickled beets, but once those are finished for the season, she turns to store-bought beets, which is the approach I've chosen here. Eggs pickled alongside fresh beets will turn pink faster, but they take much longer to develop the pickled vegetable flavor so essential to these eggs. Fresh isn’t always best, and in my testing, I found that eggs made with already-pickled beets were not only easier and faster to prepare, but more delicious, too. Be sure to choose the pre-sliced kind, but if you only have whole pickled beets, you can slice them thinly to use in this recipe.

The best red beet eggs take on a distinct, sweet and sour pickled beet flavor. Since already-pickled beets have spent several months brining, there’s no need to wait for the beets to pickle (like you would with fresh) before they can impart that flavor to the eggs, allowing you to enjoy the finished product more quickly. Jarred beets also eliminate the messy process of boiling, peeling, and slicing fresh beets.

In both taste and method, the eggs prepared with pickled beets most closely resemble the ones I grew up making and eating in Central Pennsylvania. But if you're a stickler for fresh ingredients, or if you can't find jarred pickled beets, you can use fresh beets instead. Just be sure to let the fresh beets and eggs sit for at least seven days, as the beets will need time to pickle.

Alternate the eggs and beets. Avoid placing all the beets or all of the eggs at the bottom of the container you're pickling in; the more the beets intermingle with the eggs, the more flavor and color they'll impart. 

Infuse your brine with a cinnamon stick and pickling spices. The brine recipe is based on the one my mom makes. The key ingredient in her brine is a cinnamon stick, which infuses the brine with its sweet, spiced woodiness. Pickling spice blends are readily available at most grocery stores, and generally contain some combination of mustard seeds, cloves, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, bay leaf, dill, mace, allspice, and chile. I prefer one with dried chile for a touch of heat, but feel free to choose one that suits your personal preferences.

Allow the eggs to sit for at least three days. You could eat the eggs after just 24 hours of brining, but I recommend letting them sit for at least three days before digging in. It takes about a week for the whites to turn completely purple, and the longer the eggs sit in the brine, the deeper their flavor (This recipe is especially great for using up leftover Easter eggs, as the dark color of the beets makes it difficult to see the dye-stained whites.)

How to Serve Red Beet Eggs

Serve red beet eggs as an appetizer or side dish, or chop them up to add a pop of color and bright flavor to salads. Make a batch of next-level deviled eggs, or do what I do and simply eat them as a snack. And don't neglect the beets! For me, it's all about balance. (As far as I’m concerned, every egg deserves its own spoonful of beet slices to match.) A Pennsylvania family reunion just wouldn't be the same without a plateful of pickled beets and eggs, their bright purple juices mingling with the potato rolls, chow chow, and Amish macaroni salad.