Tie-Dye Easter Eggs

Tie-Dye Easter Eggs is a unique and fun way to create pretty pastel-colored eggs using mayonnaise as a base for swirling colors!

Skip the tablet dyes for coloring your Easter eggs this year, and try something new!

The swirling pastel colors of tie-dying Easter eggs using mayonnaise (NOT shaving cream) is beautifully effective, and far more palate-pleasing!

**Please Note - The printable recipe card with detailed instructions, complete ingredient measurements, and nutritional information for making Tie Die Easter Eggs is available near the end of this post. Or click on the "jump to recipe" button (found above) to be taken directly to the printable recipe.

The ingredient and supply list:

• hard-boiled eggs
• mayonnaise
• gel food color
• paper towels
• rubber gloves (optional)
• shallow bowls or dishes
• toothpicks or wooden skewers

How this recipe/method came to be:

I did this method more as an experiment than anything else.

After searching for fun Easter egg dying ideas on the web, I ran across a few that interested me, and yet still seemed (to me) like they could be improved.

The first one I found is A Thrifty Mom's idea for marbling eggs using shaving cream and gel food coloring. This piqued my interest with the concept and look, but using something non-edible on something edible wasn't somewhere I wanted to go.

Searching on, I found this second concept of dying Easter eggs in whipped cream (same theory, different ingredients) via Spend With Pennies where she claims it's a "safer alternative" to shaving cream eggs. The look is very similar (which I love), but the thought of eggs and whipped cream made my taste buds cringe.

Not wanting to give up on the idea, I scoured my cabinets and fridge looking for something that is thick enough to suspend the gel food coloring and will stick to the eggs while they cure for at least 30 minutes.

You see where I'm going here, right?

How many of you out there use mayonnaise in your egg salad, or when making deviled eggs?

Pretty many I'd guess!

So naturally, when I spied the jar in the fridge, I knew I was on to something good!

Possible tips for darker and truer colors:

Since mayonnaise already has an acid component (vinegar or lemon juice) as an ingredient, there is no need to add any additional vinegar as you do with most other egg-dying techniques.

Of course, since I was only experimenting when I made these, should you choose to stir a little vinegar (⅛ teaspoon) into the mayonnaise before dying your eggs, your completed egg colors may turn out to be a little truer than what I achieved.

I'm not certain of this, but I'm putting the suggestion out there if you'd like to try it. 

Surprising color changes:

You'll notice in my photos, my completed eggs' primary colors are sky blue, purple, and pink.

Very pretty, and very appropriate colors for Easter, but weird when you look at the actual gel food colors I used (shown in the prep photos) were green, yellow, and orange. 

Very different from the end product indeed, and something that I didn't expect.

I'm sure there is some sort of scientific explanation for the color change, but sadly for you, I don't have it. LOL

That said, part of the fun of tie-dying eggs is not quite knowing what the finished product will look like until they're done.

Enjoy the process.

The step-by-step preparation photos for making tie-dye Easter eggs:

• In a shallow dish, spoon out approximately ½ cup mayonnaise per every three colors of gel food coloring.
• Use a toothpick to swirl the color throughout the mayonnaise. 
• I used gel colors of pink, green, yellow, orange, purple, and red. 

• One at a time, add the hard-boiled eggs into the colorful, swirled, mayonnaise, and roll the egg to thoroughly coat the egg.
• *Note - wearing rubber gloves may be a good idea if doing this with children. 
• Once the eggs have been swirled through the mayonnaise, set them aside and allow them to cure for at least 30 minutes before washing off the mayonnaise.

• After the mayonnaise-dyed eggs have cured for at least 30 minutes, wash them off under warm, running water, rubbing them to make sure all the mayonnaise comes off.
• Blot the eggs dry with paper towels.
• Once dry, rub them with a bit of canola oil (if desired) to make them shiny and bright.

Additional hard-boiled egg recipe:

*Easy Egg Salad Canapes (shown below)

With a little preparation the night before, you can serve mom breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day in only a matter of minutes with these easy creamy Egg Salad Canapes.

*Deviled Dijon Ham and Eggs (not shown)

Whether you choose to serve these easy-to-make deviled Dijon ham and eggs for breakfast, brunch, appetizers, or a hearty snack, you just can’t go wrong! They’re utterly scrumptious no matter how, or when, you eat them!

*Scotch Eggs (not shown)

A Scotch Egg is a perfectly cooked hard-boiled egg that is surrounded by pork sausage and then pan-fried for a crunchy outside and a soft center.

*Hard-Boiled Egg Stuffed Biscuits (shown below and in the featured video)

These easy-to-make Egg Stuffed Biscuits with Ham & Cheese can be made in a matter of minutes with the help of a few supermarket convenience foods. They’re the perfect grab-and-go breakfast that will please the entire family!

*Bacon Egg Salad (not shown)

Bacon Egg Salad is a super simple, creamy, and flavorful upgrade to a standard egg salad, but it’s so much more memorable and delicious. Everyone will love it!

*Tie Dye Easter Eggs (shown below) THIS IS THE PLACE!!

Below is the printable recipe card along with the exact ingredient measurements and nutritional information for making today's tie dye Easter egg recipe.

Printable Recipe Card

I sincerely hope you've enjoyed today's recipe and instructions for making mayonnaise-dyed Easter Eggs as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you!