COOK: Spiced Golden Pickled Eggs (easy refrigerator pickle recipe)
- Spiced Golden Pickled Egg Ingredients
- Equipment Needed to Make Pickled Eggs
- How to Make Golden Pickled Eggs
- How do you store pickled eggs?
- Serving Ideas
These spiced golden pickled eggs are a bright flavor-packed snack. It’s a quick refrigerator pickle recipe with a warm and lightly sweet curry spice and so easy to make! No complicated canning required… just heat up the fast and tasty brine while you cook and peel your eggs, and then you wait… if you can.
These are most delicious if you give them at least a few days to marinate in the brine, though until you have a few batches going, you can certainly sneak a few earlier than that if you can’t wait. They’re delicious anytime but especially welcome in the early spring and summer when you want cold snacks. It’s an especially handy recipe if you have backyard chickens and need to use up a surplus of eggs!
Spiced Golden Pickled Egg Ingredients
Eggs:
Before pickling your eggs, you’ll need to cook and peel them. I prefer steaming to boiling for making “hard-boiled” eggs. First, wash your eggs in warm water, then place them in a steamer basket. Pour an inch or two of water in the bottom of the pot, then place the steamer basket on top of the pot, cover it, and bring it to a boil on medium-high heat.
Keep an eye on the pot, and as soon as the water boils, set a timer for 7 minutes. I like to cook an extra test egg, peel it under cool running water, and slice it in half. This way you know that your eggs are cooked through (mostly, it’s so the cook gets a snack though, since this method is basically foolproof as long as you keep an eye on the pot and track the time).
Vinegar:
I like to use a mix of apple cider vinegar and plain distilled vinegar for most of my pickled egg recipes. This is purely a taste consideration. You can use all distilled or all apple cider vinegar, or substitute white wine vinegar or even rice wine vinegar.
Spices:
Turmeric, ginger, garlic, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, garam masala or curry powder, black peppercorns, and jalapeno pepper slices or dried birds eye chiles (optional).
Equipment Needed to Make Pickled Eggs
Stockpot & steamer:
If you are steaming your eggs, you’ll need a pot and a steamer insert or basket. If you prefer boiling your eggs, you’ll just need a pot large enough to hold a dozen eggs plus water to cover by an inch or two.
Quart mason jar & lid:
You can use wide or regular mouth jars. I like to use wide mouth jars, as they’re easier to fill and remove the eggs from. You can use regular canning lids. This is a good way to repurpose used lids, since this is a refrigerator pickle and they don’t need to seal. I like to use plastic lids for these and other refrigerator pickles, as they won’t react and corrode or rust in contact with the vinegar like metal lids can.
Make sure your jars and lids are spotlessly clean and sanitized. Wash them with hot soapy water, rinse well, and steam or simmer your jars, or run them through a sanitize cycle in the dishwasher. Don’t boil plastic lids or they’ll melt! I usually have a spray-bottle of pre-mixed no-rinse food-safe sanitizer in my kitchen for brewing projects, so I spray my jars and lids with this after washing instead of boiling them. This is not absolutely necessary if you keep everything cold and work clean, but it’s cheap insurance, since you won’t be heat-processing your pickled eggs.
How to Make Golden Pickled Eggs
step one: prepare pickling brine
- Combine all ingredients except eggs in a small sauce pan.
- Bring the pickling brine to a hard boil while you cook the eggs, then cover the pot and turn off the heat.
step two: cook & peel eggs
- Steam or boil and peel the eggs. I start steaming my eggs over room temperature water, and set a timer for 7 minutes as soon as the water begins to boil.
- Cool the eggs quickly with cold water, and peel them under cool running water.
- Place the peeled eggs and optional hot pepper slices into the sanitized quart jar.
step three: brine the eggs
- Pour the hot pickling brine over the eggs in the jar.
- You can strain out the spices, but I like to leave them in to infuse even more flavor.
step four: chill & marinate
- Place a lid on the jar, shake well, and refrigerate. Shake the jar every few days during the first week to distribute the spices and make sure the eggs on top stay in the brine.
- Keep the eggs in the refrigerator, and let infuse for a week before eating for best flavor.
How do you store pickled eggs?
Keep these in the refrigerator- there are no safe recipes for pickled eggs that are shelf-stable. The flavor is best if you wait at least seven days before eating them. They should stay fresh for several weeks if kept cold.
Make sure you only use clean utensils to remove eggs from the jar (no dirty fingers in the brine, please). Try to keep the eggs under the brine (you can top it up with more vinegar if you need to).
Serving Ideas
You can eat these curry flavored golden pickled eggs plain as a snack, or make extra-flavorful deviled eggs. You can dice them and make tangy egg salad sandwiches. Chop them up and add a few to a curried potato or pasta salad, which makes a great summer side dish for picnics and BBQ’s.
Slice them and serve them on open-face smorbrod sandwiches on dark rye or crispbread crackers with a spread of mayo, butter, or soft cheese. They’re fantastic with a cold beer and some salty pub-style snacks, especially on a hot day.
Spiced Golden Pickled Eggs
Ingredients
- 12 large eggs
- ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¾ cup distilled white vinegar
- 4 tsp canning & pickling salt (sub 4 ½ tsp kosher salt)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger paste
- ¾ tsp turmeric (can sub regular oregano leaves)
- 1 medium garlic clove, peeled and halved
- ½ tsp coriander seeds
- ½ tsp black peppercorns
- ¼ tsp garam masala or curry powder
- 4 slices jalapeno pepper (optional)
Instructions
prepare pickling brine
- Combine all ingredients except eggs in a small sauce pan.
- Bring the pickling brine to a hard boil while you cook the eggs, then cover the pot and turn off the heat.
cook & peel eggs
- Steam or boil and peel the eggs. I start steaming my eggs over room temperature water, and set a timer for 7 minutes as soon as the water begins to boil.
- Cool the eggs quickly with cold water, and peel them under cool running water.
- Place the peeled eggs and optional hot pepper slices into the sanitized quart jar.
brine the eggs
- Pour the hot pickling brine over the eggs in the jar.
- You can strain out the spices, but I like to leave them in to infuse even more flavor.
chill & marinate
- Place a lid on the jar, shake well, and refrigerate. Shake the jar every few days during the first week to distribute the spices and make sure the eggs on top stay in the brine.
- Keep the eggs in the refrigerator, and let infuse for a week before eating for best flavor.