Every Easter growing up we got an egg dyeing kit and I created the usual pastel Easter eggs. But the really special eggs were always the “chocolate” rabbit eggs my grandparents made for us. Using only yellow onion skins and water, they would dye brown eggs from my grandfather’s chickens a deep, rich brown.

We now skip the kits entirely in favor of these naturally dyed eggs. They are super easy to make – you just need to gather enough of the onion skins. You only want the very outermost, totally dry portion of the skin. You can save them up as you use onions for cooking, but you can also usually scoop up a whole bunch at once from the onion bin at your grocery store.

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What You’ll Need

• 1 dozen brown eggs
• 2 oz yellow onion skins (approximately a gallon zip-top plastic bag full)

What To Do

1. Rinse the onion skins and place in a large pot, scrunching them down to fit, then fill the pot with water.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the water turns a deep reddish brown, about an hour.
3. Using a slotted spoon or spider, carefully remove the onion skins from the pot and discard.
4. Using your spoon, gently add the eggs to the pot. Return to high heat and bring to a boil again. Cover, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook until the eggs have taken on a deep brown color, about 30 minutes.
5. Drain the eggs and place them on paper towels to cool and dry.

Keep the eggs looking shiny after they dry by rubbing them with a small amount of vegetable oil on a paper towel.

Love the idea of naturally dyed eggs but still want colored eggs? Check out Dirty Gourmet’s instructional Natural Dyed Easter Eggs post. We’ve had great luck with turmeric (yellow) and red cabbage (blue).

For a sweeter take on Easter eggs, try our Coconut Peaks.