How to Make Hard-Boiled Eggs

Ta Da! Meet The Only Hard-Boiled Egg Recipe You’ll Ever Need.

We love a jammy, soft-cooked egg as much as anyone, but there’s a time and a place for everything and sometimes you just want a regular old, absolutely perfect, hard-boiled egg. Whether you’re making deviled eggs, dying Easter eggs, or just want to boil eggs to have around as a quick, healthy, protein-packed snack, knowing how to hard-boil an egg is a good thing. Lucky for you we’ve perfected the technique! Six eggs, some ice, and a slotted spoon are all you’ll need to make the very best hard-boiled eggs ever.

How to Make Hard-Boiled Eggs

We’re going to teach you how to make perfect hard-boiled eggs. Grab your kitchen timer (or your phone), a few eggs, and let’s get cooking.

1. Lay a folded kitchen towel on the bottom of a large pot, and fill the pot with cold water. The towel is to help keep the eggs from cracking as they boil.
2. Bring the water to a rolling boil.
3. Lower your eggs into the pot all at once—we use a slotted spoon for this and it works perfectly.
4. Set a timer for 13 minutes.
5. While the eggs boil, fill a big bowl with ice water. This ice bath will stop the eggs from cooking when you remove them from the water.
6. When the timer goes off, kill the heat and immediately move the hard-cooked eggs from the boiling water—a slotted spoon strikes again!—to the ice bath.
7. And you’re pretty much done! Give the eggs at least five minutes in the ice bath before you try to peel them—letting them cool may help make it easier to peel them, but it’s also so you don’t burn your hands.

How Do You Know When a Hard-Boiled Egg is Done?

One of the reasons we feel like this is the very best hard-boiled egg recipe is because it removes the guesswork. In the case of these easy hard-boiled eggs, you’ll know that they’re done (and perfectly cooked) after they’ve spent 13 minutes in boiling water and five minutes in an ice bath. It’s that simple. You don’t need to perform any egg-spinning tricks (although you can if that’s fun for you). You’ll just know that they’re done when the timer dings! No magic tricks—just a reliable recipe, and perfectly-set egg whites and perfectly-cooked yellow yolks.

How to Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs

Isn’t it just the worst when pieces of egg white stick to the egg shell as you peel it off? Ugh. The worst. However, again, we’re offering no magic tricks here. For better or worse, if you’re having trouble peeling your hard-boiled eggs, it’s probably not your fault. Older eggs are often a bit easier to peel, so if you’re working with super farm-fresh eggs, that might be the reason you’re finding them hard to peel. With all of that in mind, here’s how to peel hard-boiled eggs:

• Gently roll the cooked and cooled hard-boiled egg on a cutting board or countertop with the palm of your hand, to make cracks all over the shell.
• Then, use the side of your thumb to gently push the cracked shell away from the egg.

How Long Do Hard-Boiled Eggs Last?

A batch of hard-boiled eggs will keep in the fridge for up to one week! Store them, peeled or unpeeled, in a sealed container. In other words, they’re basically the world's easiest, healthiest make-ahead snack and perfect for doing as part of your weekend meal-prep.

Tools You’ll Need:

• Slotted spoon.
• Stock pot.

I Made the Best Hard-Boiled Eggs Ever—Now What?

Now you get to eat them! But seriously, you know what to do with a hard-boiled egg, right? Well, just in case you don’t here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Make deviled eggs!
• Chop them up—we like to do sort of a chunky-chop—and stir in a bunch of tahini sauce.. BOOM—the best hard-boiled eggs just became the best egg salad ever.
• Use them to make a classic Cobb salad,, or this spring-y version..
• Everyone knows that the best potato salads have egg in them—we will not argue about this one, it’s just a fact as far as we’re concerned, OK?—so why not make potato salad!

Are You An Egg-Boiling Master, Now?

If you try this method, let us know! We think it’ll leave you feeling pretty darn pleased with yourself and your perfect hard-cooked eggs (as well you should). Snap a photo of your perfect hard-boiled eggs and show us what you used them in by sharing your photo and tagging us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!