Pickled eggs - Eco marketplace (2024)

Pickled eggs are the preserve of traditional English Pubs and chip shops. To those that have tried them it is a love it or hate it experience. Pickled eggs make an excellent savoury snack and are low in fat as well so go for it dieters everywhere. Pickled eggs should be eaten within a month really, so it’s best to make them up in small batches unless you like to eat a lot of eggs. There are stacks of idea’s for adding unusual flavours and colour to pickled eggs see below if you fancy trying something more adventurous

When doing your first batch there are only 2 things to consider;

1. whether you prefer malt or distilled vinegar, and the only way to find out which you prefer is to try them.
2. Whether to boil the vinegar or not. My guidance is for basic eggs don’t bother to boil just make sure your storage jars are properly sterilised. If you are following a flavouring recipe then bring your ingredients to the boil before adding to your eggs

In the interest of helping you out on the vinegar conundrums we tested white, malt , cider and balsamic vinegars for you. The vinegar imparts a distinctive flavour to the eggs and may also colour them, here are the results of our research;

• Distilled vinegar is clear and has very little flavour. This is a good option if you want your eggs to remain virtually unflavoured and looking like they have just been boiled. After pickling the eggs take on no colour so the whites remain white. This is a good option if you want your eggs for a recipe that will impart a flavour of it’s own, such as curry.
• Malt vinegar imparts a nice rounded vinegar flavour and the eggs take on a nice brown colour after a week or so. Malt vinegar can be purchased pre spiced or you can add spices of your own to personalise the flavour if you want.
• Cider vinegar gave the eggs a lovely golden brown colour however the flavour of the eggs was sharp and piquant, to us unpleasantly so, compared to the malt vinegar version so needed the addition of some sugar to offset the sharpness . As a more expensive option I would not recommend cider vinegar unless you are adding other ingredients.
• Balsamic vinegar was the most different. The eggs were black once done and the colour seeped into the white making it quite dark. If you like Balsamic vinegar then these eggs were very tasty and certainly made a visual impact. However for a cheap snack balsamic is probably not where you should go, but if you like to shock your friends you might want to try making a small quantity.

Basic pickled eggs recipe

Ingredients

• 6 eggs hard boiled and shelled and preferably still hot.
• 1 jar of vinegar, choose from
• white distilled vinegar or
• malt pickling vinegar, or
• malt vinegar and your choice of spices

You will also need

• 1 wide necked jam jar, big enough to hold 6 eggs, sterilised

Method

1. Put the eggs into the sterilised jam jar
2. Pour over your vinegar, making sure that the eggs are all covered in vinegar
3. Put the lid on the jar and store for a week
4. Pickled eggs should be eaten within a month

Serving suggestions and variations

• Pickled eggs make a great snack eat on their own or in a bag of crisps. They are also a good addition to a salad or chopped up and sprinkled onto a curry.
• Be adventurous and try adding your own choice of whole spices but keep a record of what you have added as I guarantee you will have a big success and wont be able to replicate it. There are loads of spices you could add but use whole spices or seeds rather than powders. Consider adding
  • Mustard seeds
  • Coriander seeds
  • Chilli
  • Fennel seeds
  • Peppercorns, black, white or red
  • Chopped dried garlic

Acknowledgements

My first was eaten at The Carters Rest, a pub local to Swindon, back when it was unheard of for pubs to offer food in the evenings. If you wanted something to eat it would be a bag of crisps or some salted peanuts, if you were really hungry then an egg in a bag of cheese and onion crisps was something to be treasured, and I did, treasure them that is! It was some years and a few chickens later before I actually tried to make my own and having realized just how easy it is there’s no stopping me.

We hope you have enjoyed this recipe.

Happy eating!

More pickled egg recipe ideas

RED BEET EGGS

• 1 cup red beet juice (from canned beets)
• 1 and 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• a few canned whole tiny red beets (or several slices of beets can be used)

SWEET AND SOUR EGGS

• 1 and 1/2 cups pasteurized apple cider
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1 package (about 12 oz.) red cinnamon candy
• 1 tablespoon mixed pickling spice
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

DARK AND SPICY EGGS

• 1 and 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon mixed pickling spice
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke or hickory smoke salt
• 2 teaspoons salt

CIDERED EGGS

• 1 and 1/2 cups pasteurized sweet apple cider or apple juice
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 6 thin slices of onion
• 12 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon whole pickling spice
• 1 peeled garlic clove

DILLED EGGS

• 1 and 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon onion juice or minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic or 1 peeled garlic clove

PINEAPPLE PICKLED EGGS

• 1 can (12 oz.) unsweetened pineapple juice*
• 1 and 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon whole pickling spice

*If sweetened pineapple juice is used, omit sugar