Do you know how to hard boil eggs in the oven? Okay, so it's more like hard baked eggs... But seriously, baked hard boiled eggs is one of the easiest methods ever and ideal for making big batches!
Baked Hard Boiled Eggs
I've tried a lot of methods for cooking hard boiled eggs over the years, but my favorite method doesn't actually involve boiling the eggs at all... I BAKE my "hard boiled" eggs in the oven. So maybe hard baked eggs would actually be a better term, ha!
I know it sounds a little strange, but bear with me for a moment... You see, we eat a LOT of hard boiled eggs. With only 70 calories and around 6 grams of protein each, eggs are a nutritional powerhouse. I make around 2 dozen at the start of each week for the seven of us, and we eat them for breakfast, snack on them, or slice them over salads throughout the week.
But here's the problem... Have you ever had to sit around and wait for a pot of water to boil that's big enough to cook 2 dozen eggs? UGH, it takes FOR-EVER!!! And don't even get me started on how hard it is to time them just right to avoid those icky green, over-cooked yolks. Yuck!
Yeah, I definitely needed a better method in short order...
(Update 2/20/17: Since originally writing this post, I've fallen in love with my Instant Pot. Frankly, if you own one, these Instant Pot hard boiled eggs are for sure THE way to go for effortless hard boiled eggs. But I still wholeheartedly stand behind this boiled eggs in oven method for those of you that haven't invested in one yet!)
Hard Boiled Eggs In Oven
Cooking hard boiled eggs in the oven solved all of my issues and then some.
1| Baked boiled eggs are pretty much hands off. There's no waiting for the water to boil, and the timing is ever so much simpler. Just start the timer when you put the eggs in the oven.
2| Hard baked eggs cook more slowly and evenly, meaning you never end up with green yolks.
3| And they're easy to peel! I've tried scores of methods for how to make hard boiled eggs easy to peel, but baking them has always worked the best for me.
So what do you think -- are you ready to learn how to bake hard boiled eggs?!
How To Hard Boil Eggs In The Oven
Baking hard boiled eggs in the oven couldn't be easier. Just preheat the oven to 325 degrees, arrange your cold eggs in a muffin tin, and bake for 30 minutes. This basic mini muffin tin is my favorite for this purpose, but you can use a regular muffin tin, as well.
Note: I've seen other sites recommend that you just place the eggs directly on the wire racks in the oven. DON'T DO IT!!! Some eggs are just too small, and imagine the mess that you're risking if one slips between. NO THANK YOU -- this is one instance where I'm more than willing to wash an extra pan.
When the timer goes off, remove the baked hard boiled eggs from the oven and immediately submerse them in an ice water bath for about 10 minutes. If you're wondering, "What's an ice water bath?" -- just know that it's simply a large bowl filled with ice water.
Oh, one more thing... You may notice some brown spots on the eggs when you remove them from the muffin tin, especially if you're using white eggs. It's just where the eggs have been resting in the muffin tin. No worries -- they will rub off in the ice water bath.
Boiled Eggs In Oven
That's it -- so easy! Boiled eggs in the oven yields amazingly perfect hard cooked eggs every time, and this is a fantastic method for making large batches all at once. Beyond just meal prep, think Easter, deviled eggs for cookouts, egg salads, etc.
Baked Hard Boiled Eggs
Ingredients
- 12 large eggs
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.
- Place one egg per cup in a muffin tin.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.
- When the eggs are almost finished baking, make an ice bath by combining 4 cups of ice cubes and 4 cups of cold water in large bowl. Using silicone-tipped tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to the ice bath. Let sit for 15 minutes before peeling or transferring to the refrigerator for storage.
- Refrigerate cooled eggs until ready to eat. Peel before using.
Notes
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- Fresh eggs are notoriously harder to peel. If possible, buy your eggs a week to 10 days in advance of cooking them. Note that several readers have reported that when they're used farm fresh eggs, they've burst open, so use these at your own risk.
- Eggs are easiest to peel right after cooling because the cooling process causes the egg to contract from the shell.
- However, I don't recommend peeling your eggs if you're not planning to use them right away. Peeling them under cold water will help the shell fragments slide away.
- Unpeeled hard cooked eggs can be refrigerated for up to a week after cooking. Peeled eggs should be eaten the same day they're peeled.
Need to use up some extra hard cooked eggs in a hurry? This simple & classic egg salad recipe is absolutely the way to go!
I'd love to see how your baked hard boiled eggs turn out... Tag me @Unsophisticook on Instagram or use the hashtag #Unsophisticook so I can check it out. Enjoy!
Michael says
Great idea ! After you place the eggs in the muffin pan might not hurt to fill them 3/4 the way up with water.sounds like the muffin pans are adding to much heat to fast to the egg causing the brown spots or burnt spots to form.
Liberty says
Should I do anything differently if I live at high altitude?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Liberty, no one has reported back yet, but as I mentioned in a previous comment:
If you try it, please let me know what works for you!
Milli says
I let my oven hear put the eggs in took them out 30 min let them cool in the ice water...completely raw!! It's like they were not cooked at all! What did I do wrong??? I am recooking them since they are just for Easter coloring I am not worried about taste just making sure they can be colored. I am glad I am doing them now because I may have to get a couple dozen more to boil instead :(
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Milli, I'd suggest getting an oven thermometer to check the temperature of your oven. Basic ones are very inexpensive, and even new ovens can have a large variation in temperature.
Also, it occurs to me that some of you mentioning this problem may live at higher altitudes. If you live at a higher altitude, you will probably need to increase the cooking time some. I'd start with an additional 5 minutes and check one egg at that time. If someone tries this and can report back on the timing, I'll add the info to the instructions!
Rain says
This seems to take way to long 30 mins! I think ill stick to the old fashion way Boiling them it is way easier and doesn't take so long, my eggs come out perfect every time.
swc says
I convinced my husband to try the eggs this way and he did. He said he won't do it again because where the eggs rested against the muffin tin left a ring around the shell--and the inside. If it was just on the shell and it washed off it would be okay, but now we have an ugly brown ring or line on all of our eggs (once peeled). Has this happened to anyone else?
Tara says
It happened in the spot the eggs rested in the tin for me, but I figured that since its going to be eaten anyway who cares? (BTW: I'm not the author of this blog...)
Scott says
I tried the baked egg method and they came out great, except the whites were brown. Any thoughts?
Tara says
I just used this method, I did 18 eggs that I bought last weekend. 4 cracked open and I did end up with brown burns on my egg whites. But even with the little burn marks they are still good. They aren't any bigger than a pin head. Otherwise they came out great.
bonnie says
One thing I did this time is after 30 minutes, I took one out of the oven and quickly cut it open. Yes, I knew I was wasting it, but I saw that it needed about 3 more minutes. I will give that one to the dog. At least I didn't ruin the whole dozen! I did color them after they cooled and they were fine. Happy Easter! :)
Cindy Dickerson says
I tried the baked eggs this morning! I think the trouble everyone is having is that they just purchased their eggs and are trying to hard boil them for Easter. This just does not work. From reading the posts this does not work for the oven way of preparing and I know this just does not work when you boil them also. You just cannot use fresh bought eggs to hard boil. They just won't peel. I purchased my eggs last weekend and saved them for Easter. I baked them this morning. They had some sweating and some brown spots on them. I immediately put them into a iced water bath and there was no cracking, the spots washed off and the eggs were perfect. I tried peeling one and it peeled to perfection! This was a definite winner for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DP says
The trick to boiling eggs is to make sure you don't boil the eggs......you bring the water to a boil. Put eggs in cold water, add some salt to assist in the peeling process, bring pan to boil. Once water is boiling, remove pan from heat and cover for 15 minutes. Empty hot water and fill pan with cold water.........no cracked eggs as they don't boil and bang against one another and easy to peel. No transferring eggs from muffin tins to ice water baths.
Jennifer says
Exactly how I do mine and they are perfect everytime!
Jennifer says
Oh. And I just add enough water to cover the eggs in the pot (single layer, no stacking eggs). That way there's no floating eggs etc. No way for them to crack!
Cheryl says
I tried this with eggs bought 10 days ago. I used 20 eggs.
8 burst and 7 cracked once they were in the ice bath.
Out of the 5 that are still intact 2 are floating & 3 sank to the bottom.
I did try 2 of the ones that cracked in the ice bath & they were impossible to peel. ):
I was really hoping this method would work for me since I suck at boiling eggs, but not as bad as I failed at this.
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Hi Cheryl! It's so hard to troubleshoot online. I know that eggs that float when they're raw means they're no longer safe to eat, but I don't know if that's the case here or not since it was after you baked them. Do you have an oven thermometer? I'm wondering if maybe your oven runs a little hot.
sapphireCitrine says
i'm Cheryl because yeah i suck at egg boiling too... and i thought this would work. nope. brown spots and bad peeling. guess i'll go back to hot water boiling. thanks anyway!
Candice says
Just tried it. Super excited; pulled the eggs straight from the fridge (store bought), and cooked at 325 for 30 min. Iced for 10 then tried to peel. Didn't work :( fell apart trying to peel. Shell took most of the whites with it. And it was almost done. Not quite. Do you think if they cook longer next time that it would solve the peeling problem? Maybe brand of eggs?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Candice, it sounds like maybe your eggs were just a little too fresh. Usually my eggs will peel easily, but every once in awhile I'll have a batch that's difficult like you mentioned. If they weren't done enough for your tastes, you could leave them in for a couple more minutes.
Kelley G. says
Just did this. Seemed easy at first, but I did get a lot of brown spots on the outer aspect of the shells. I noticed the eggs were "sweating" a bit while baking, so I think this is where the spots originated. Some did come off in the ice bath, but not all. The worst part was some of the brown spots transferred onto the egg whites themselves. Yuck! I think next time I will let the eggs come to room temp. prior to baking. Hopefully, this will reduce the "sweating" and the brown spots.
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Yes, the eggs do sweat a bit, as you mentioned, but it should come off easily in the ice bath. I haven't noticed a problem with the spots transferring to the egg whites, but if it's a recurring issue for you, perhaps a silicone muffin tray would be a good solution.
Sarah says
It WORKS! No mess, no fuss, no timing, no cracks or frustration. I will never ever willingly boil an egg again!! Thank you so much for the simple instructions that were easy to find!
Stephanie says
Just tried this with farm fresh eggs, and they all either burst or fell apart when I tried to peel them.
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Stephanie, you're the second person to report this, so it sounds like this method doesn't work well with super fresh eggs. :( I'll add this to the notes section.
Karen says
Do you put the eggs in the oven as it is heating up or after it is preheated
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Karen, you put them in after it heats up.
holly says
Oh no! All of mine burst. :( Did you use room temp eggs or were they refrigerated? I got mine fresh from the coop outside and they all poped and boiled out!?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
I pulled my eggs straight out of the refrigerator and baked them. I'm wondering if maybe your eggs were just too fresh? I know I've often read that super fresh eggs are harder to peel when boiled because they don't have that pocket of air that builds up as they age a little, so maybe there was just no room for the contents to expand as they baked.
bonnie says
Yes, I used silicone muffin pans. Results were great. There were a few brown marks on the eggs, but when I used a paper towel on them, they came right off.
Marbil says
When I tried this last night, I had little burn marks on the whites of the eggs where they sat on the rim of the muffin tin. Has anyone tried using one of the silicone muffin tins? I wonder if that would alleviate the burn marks. Thanks, and it's an easy way to cook them and they did peel easier than ever!
Jennifer says
Thank you so much for this post. My husband has been asking for hard boiled eggs to take to work and I started buying them in the grocery store at a much too expensive price, but I did it because I kept cracking eggs while boiling OR made a big mess trying to peel them and took half the egg white with it. This was sooooo easy!!!! I made a dozen eggs as soon as I saw this post and my 3 boys ate some right away and LOVED them. The yolk is perfect and they peeled so easy :) I pinned this to tell everyone I know. Thank you for the less frustrating Easter too. God Bless!
Tara says
I just tried it & they were *almost* done -- I'd recommend trying just a couple until you figure out the perfect time for your own oven, because they can heat so differently. I'll 33 mins at 325 next time, I think that will work for me! :) Thanks for the awesome idea!!
Mauren says
I just tried this, I wanted to see how well it worked before doing a lot of them for Easter. I had two of them pop in the oven. Is this normal? Should I lower my temp on the oven? Baked at 325 for 30 mins. Thank you.
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Hmm, I've never had that happen! I have to wonder if maybe you have a hot spot in your oven. I know one side of mine is warmer than the other, so I try to rotate trays around for even baking. Have you noticed anything like this in yours?
jenna says
Love this tip!!
jessica says
Great!! =)) Thanks so much!
Jessica says
So do you put any water in the oven with them? underneath the eggs maybe?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Nope! The only step that uses water is the ice bath when they're done baking.
Uliana Demilio says
Worth a shot
vir says
i tried this tonite and they were great. i did change it up a little. my eggs come straight from the farm. not commercial and they are brown eggs. i put them in a muffin tin and put in the oven then turned to 330 degrees for 29 minutes. they were perfect. i put in cold tap water for maybe 2-3 minutes and peeled under running water. done to perfection for me. glad i found this!
Cathy@Five Boys says
Totally life changing for me! I can't believe I've never heard of this before!!
yamnan says
We love soft boiled eggs for breakfast, so I'd like to try maybe 6 eggs done this way. We normally use the old-fashioned way of bringing eggs and water to a boil in uncovered pot, taking pot off the burner, add pot cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Put in cold water and when slightly cooled, peel and serve. Do you think this would work for us if we baked in oven less time??
Also what size eggs did you use?
Just love this idea!
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
I definitely think that should work with some experimentation on the cooking time. You'll probably just want to cook them a little longer than you normally would when boiling them.
We get our eggs direct from a farm with our CSA order. They're not sorted by size, so there's a bit of a range, but I'd say they mostly the large size.
Kathy says
Wow! I can't wait to try this. Thank you!
Sue Lunsford says
I did run across this tip before, but haven't tried it yet. I am going to remedy that today. It sounds like one of those "Why didn't I think of that ideas"! Thanks for the tips. You are appreciated!
Joyce says
I just did this...works great!! Delicious, perfect eggs!
Karen says
Do you need to put a small hole in the eggs like when you boil them?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Nope -- that's actually dangerous, because it can introduce bacteria into the egg. Just set them in your muffin tin and place them in the oven -- it's sooooo easy!
Cindy says
Oh My Gosh! I have never heard of this and how easy this will be! Thank you my wonderful daughter! Mom
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective says
Great tips!!
Cheryl says
What a fabulous idea! I love the idea to not have to wait for water to boil & be there watching the pot. Thanks for sharing!
Amanda says
So smart!!! I cant wait to do this!
bonnie says
Did you mean--However, I don't recommend peeling your eggs if you're "not" planning to use them right away? I am only trying to clarify. Thanks for such a great recipe!!! :)
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Oops, yes -- thanks so much for pointing that out!
Kalyn says
I have got to try this!
Lisa - Garnish with Lemon says
Going to try this now! Fabulous idea!
Brenda @ a farmgirl's dabbles says
I'm wondering why I've never heard of this? This is fantastic - I canNOT wait to try it! THANK YOU!!
Erika @ The Hopeless Housewife says
This is a new method to me, sounds so easy!
Jenny says
Our local club has an Easter Egg Hunt every year for the kids and they boil dozens and dozens of eggs then color them...they have a commerical oven. Does anyone have an opion on or think that these would absorb the dye the same as boiled eggs?? This would be so much easier!!
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Yes, you should definitely be able to color them just like boiled eggs! Another great thing about this method is you don't end up with a lot of cracked eggs like you get when they boil and knock together.
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen says
This is so smart! I have to try it!
Paula - bell'alimento says
Now I'd like an egg salad sandwich please : )
JulieD says
Wow this is so cool!!
Cassie | Bake Your Day says
This makes me hungry for eggs. I love hard-boiled!
Sandy @ RE says
Wow. New concept for me. Just pinned, too! :)
Rick | Sushi Recipes says
Great tip, I have to eat a lot of eggs in my diet, and I was so bored of boiling them as they crack sometimes... Thank you !
Samina says
Whoa, who'd have thunk?! I'm going to have to try this method of making my boiled eggs.