Natural Dye Recipes for Your Easter Eggs

Dye Easter eggs with natural ingredients from around the house!

I found this Better Homes & Gardens article pinned several times on Pinterest, so I decided to take a closer look and give it a try. The colors are subdued, but are still pretty and seem to work. You can leave the eggs soaking in the dye in the refrigerator overnight for richer colors. I ended up only having time for them to soak for about 3 hours. Some of these dyes seem cost effective to me and some of them really don’t. It is kind of a fun experiment to do with the kids though!

This glass liquid measuring cup always comes in handy!

Bluish-Gray: Mix 1 cup frozen blueberries with 1 cup water, bring to room temperature, and remove blueberries.

Blue: Cut 1/4 head of red cabbage into chunks and add to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 tablespoons vinegar. Let cool to room temperature and remove cabbage with a slotted spoon.

Jade Green: Peel the skin from 6 red onions and simmer in 2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 3 teaspoons white vinegar.

Faint Green-Yellow: Peel the skin from 6 yellow apples. Simmer in 1-1/2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar. Simmer 4 oz. chopped fennel tops in 1-1/2 cups of water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 teaspoons white vinegar.

Orange: Take the skin of 6 yellow onions and simmer in 2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 3 teaspoons white vinegar.

Faint Red-Orange: Stir 2 Tbsp. paprika into 1 cup boiling water; add 2 teaspoons white vinegar.

Rich yellow: Simmer 4 oz. chopped carrot tops in 1-1/2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 2 teaspoons white vinegar.

Mustard-yellow: Stir 2 teaspoons turmeric into 1 cup boiling water; add 2 teaspoons white vinegar.

Various shades: Steep 4 bags of chamomile or green tea in 1 cup boiling water for 5 minutes.

Pale yellow: Chop 4 oz. goldenrod and simmer in 2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 teaspoons white vinegar.

Faint yellow: Simmer the peels of 6 oranges in 1-1/2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 teaspoons vinegar.

Brown-Gold: Simmer 2 tablespoons dill seed in 1 cup water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 2 teaspoons white vinegar.

Brown: Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup strong coffee.

Faint pink: Chop 4 oz. amaranth flowers and simmer in 2 cups water; strain. Add 2 teaspoons white vinegar. Simmer the skins from 6 avocados in 1-1/2 cup water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 teaspoons white vinegar. Mix 1 cup pickled beet juice and 1 tablespoon vinegar.

Dark pink: Cut 1 medium beet into chunks and add to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 tablespoons vinegar and let cool to room temperature; remove beets.

Lavender: Mix 1 cup grape juice and 1 tablespoon vinegar.

What do you think about these natural dyes for Easter eggs?

My Results?
I tried the dark pink, lavender, and faint red-orange. But I used V8 Fusion & vinegar instead of grape juice , because that is what I have (resulted in taupe/brown with weird bubbles). 😉 And I tried dark pink with the juice from canned diced beets & vinegar (resulted in mauve-ish). In the lighter jar, I added hot water and vinegar to the beets and beet juice, then removed the beets (resulted in really light pink). I think the beet juice & vinegar and the paprika & vinegar (resulted in orange/brown) worked well.

My Thoughts:
I didn’t have any onions to experiment with for the orange and green. But, if you have onions, you can use the peels for the dye, then chop and freeze the onions to use later. Peel the onions, chop to desired size, measure, double bag with resealable bags, remove air, then lay flat in freezer to freeze. They do loose some texture, but will work well in a cooked dish, like soup or casserole. I also wondered about using the blueberries in muffins or something after soaking them in water for the Bluish-Gray recipe.

I love that there are natural options out there. To keep it frugal, use items that you already have, that you can get for cheap, and/or you can use for something else later as well.

See more fun ideas for Easter eggs!