5 Recipes for Dying Easter Eggs with Homemade Natural Dyes

We love doing Easter Crafts and when the kids were young I started to dye our Easter Eggs naturally instead of using food colourings. It was a great opportunity to combine a little bit of plant science, art and history with our crafting. Although we’ve done it every year this is the first that I’ve had the camera handy to show you some of the “recipes” we’ve used and the end effects. So here we go our how to dye Easter Eggs with homemade dyes an easy way to decorate eggs for Easter with your kids.

How to Dye Easter Eggs with Homemade Natural Dyes

Lots of plants produce different coloured dyes which are ideal to dyeing eggs for Easter. As we’ve dyed we’ve used different parts of the plants from fruit to vegetables and leaves. You can even use skins, especially of onions!

Below you will find instructions on producing light and dark purple dye, blue, red and green eggs.

Just be careful with the heat and your kids. Use your common sense until recently I poured the mix for the kids into the jars now they are older they are more confident to pour but I still helicopter just in case!

Before you dye the eggs you may wish to use our wax resist method to decorate Easter Eggs to create patterns on the eggs that will show up once you have removed the eggs from the dye and dried.

Materials Needed to Dye our Eggs for Easter using Plants

Blown Eggs -> read our guide on how to blow eggs to get yours ready

Saucepan

Wooden spoon that you don’t mind ending up coloured!

Water

Table salt

White vinegar

Red Cabbage – Blue

Grape Juice – Dark Purple

Blueberries (fresh or frozen) – Light Purple

Beetroot (not pickled or cooked) – Red

Spinach (fresh or frozen) – Green

Glass jar for each colour you are going to make.

How to Naturally Dye Eggs Blue with Red Cabbage

Red Cabbage makes the most amazing blue colour when used as a natural dye! Yes I know it sounds strange but it really does work and the effect is fantastic.

1. In a pan add 1 pint of water, 1 table of table salt and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar.
2. Chop up some red cabbage – we used about half a small head (around 1 cup when chopped).
3. Heat to the boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Pour into a glass jar straining out the cabbage bits and allow to cool slightly.
5. Add your blown egg into the jar and soak for a minimum of 2 hours.
6. Remove and let dry naturally.

The longer you leave the egg in the dye the darker and more vibrant the colour will be. You will also get a brighter colour more true to blue if you use a white egg instead of a brown egg!

How to Naturally Dye Eggs Red with Beetroot

If you and the kids have ever picked up beetroot (beets) then you will know how vibrant the colour is. If you’ve got it on your clothes or tablecloth you will also know what an amazing dye it is too. This recipe calls for uncooked beetroot but a top tip if you have a jar of pickled beetroot the juice from that and it will work as well.

1. Pour 1 pint of water, 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and around a cup of sliced beetroot into a small saucepan.
2. Heat the mix and bring it to the boil.
3. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Pour the mix into a glass jar staining the beetroot through a sieve.
5. Cool slight and then add you blown egg into the jar.
6. Leave for a MINIMUM of 6 hours.
7. Remove and let dry naturally.

The longer you leave the egg in the solution the darker the colour will be.

How to Naturally Dye Eggs Green with Spinach

Spinach is a common dye for spaghetti if you ever find some green spaghetti it is also an excellent natural dye for fabrics and Easter Eggs.

PLEASE NOTE THIS RECIPE FOR GREEN DYED EGGS DOES NOT USE VINEGAR!!!

1. In a saucepan add 1 pint of water, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 cup of fresh or frozen spinach.
2. Bring to the boil.
3. Reduce the heat and simmer for at least 35 minutes.
4. Pour the mix into a glass jar through a sieve to remove the spinach.
5. Cool a little and then add a blown egg to the jar.
6. Soak for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight.
7. Remove from the solution with a slotted spoon and dry naturally.

How to Dye Eggs Light Purple with Blueberries

We have achieved a light purple colour for our Easter Eggs with blueberries (yes I know you would expect them to be blue but the red cabbage recipe above works best for a fantastic blue colour).

1. Pour 1 pint of water into a small saucepan.
2. Add in 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of vinegar then 1 cup of blueberries. (It doesn’t matter whether you use fresh or frozen both works just as well).
3. Bring to boil.
4. Lower the heat and then simmer for around 20 minutes.
5. Pour the mix into a glass jar through a sieve removing the blueberries from the mixture.
6. Cool a lightly.
7. Then add a blown egg to the mix.
8. Leave to soak for at least 2 hours.
9. Remove from the jar using a slotted spoon and then dry naturally.

How to Dye Easter Eggs Dark Purple with Red Grape Juice

For this dye, you will need red grape juice – made from concentrate is the best not pure.

1. Into a small saucepan add 1 pint of water, 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 1 cup of red grape juice.
2. Bring the pan to the boil.
3. Reduce the heat and simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes.
4. Pour the mixture straight into a glass jar.
5. Allow to cool slightly and then place the egg in the jar.
6. Soak for a minimum of 4 hours – if you want a darker colour leave it for longer.
7. Remove with a slotted spoon and then dry naturally.

More Easter Egg Decorating Ideas

• Shaving foam Marbled Easter Eggs
• Wax Resist Easter Eggs
• Simple Painted Easter Eggs