Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

instant pot hard boiled eggs

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs not only cook perfectly every time they are the perfect eggs for deviled eggs as well.

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Nutrition facts on Hard-boiled eggs: Protein, Calories and more

Eggs are a nutrient powerhouse and are packed with protein

Hard-boiled eggs can be added to many kinds of recipes and prepared in different ways.

One of the easiest methods to enjoy eggs is to hard boil them. Hard-boiled eggs can be eaten by themselves with salt and pepper or are great on top of a salad, like a cobb salad.

So here is the low down on everything you need to know about hard-boiled eggs, and how to make the perfect hard-boiled eggs.

eggs on spoon

Nutrition Facts about eggs

Hard-boiled eggs are loaded with healthy fats, proteins and nutrients. One hard-boiled egg has the following:

  • Calories 77
  • Carbs: 0.6 grams
  • Total fat: 5.3 grams
  • Saturated fat: 1.6
  • Monounsaturated fat: 2.0grams
  • Cholesterol: 212 mg
  • Protein: 6.3 grams
  • Vitamin A: 6% of RDA
  • Vitamin B2 Riboflavin:15 % of RDA
  • Vitamin B5 pantothenic acid: 7% of RDA
  • Phosphorus: 86 mg
  • Selenium:15.4 mcg

Eggs have lots of nutrients to offer and are a low-calorie food. Hard-boiled eggs provide 77 calories and 5 grams of fat and little carbs.

Hard-boiled eggs Eggs have a great source of protein with about 6 grams per egg.

Eggs have amino acids, they are a complete source of protein.

Hard-boiled eggs have some important nutrients like vitamin D all Vitamin B’s, Zinc, Calcium. They also offer a really good source of Riboflavin(B2) and Vitamin B12.

Most of the nutrients of the egg come from the yolk and the white part contains most of the protein.

Overall: The hard-boiled egg is an excellent source of protein. They contain all nine of the essential amino acids and both parts of the egg yolk and white have this main nutrient

hard boiled egg recipe
Eggs are an excellent source of protein

Hard-Boiled eggs have an excellent source of protein

Protein is so important for our health, like muscle building and bones as well as producing enzymes and hormones.

Hard-boiled eggs provide roughly 6 grams of good quality protein. The fact of the matter is that hard-boiled eggs are one of the best sources of protein that humans can eat.

One of the most common errors is that all the protein is only found in the egg white.

Not true, almost half of the protein of the hard-boiled egg comes from the yolk.

So therefore it’s in your best interest to enjoy the whole egg! Even the Yolk! so that you benefit from the protein and all the nutrients that eggs have to offer.

Overall: Hard-boiled eggs are a perfect source of protein. They have all nine essential amino acids, in both white and yolk of egg.

Are Hard-boiled eggs High in Cholesterol?

For many years, eggs have got the reputation that they are high in cholesterol.

This is true that hard-boiled eggs are high in cholesterol. One large hard-boiled egg has 212 mg of cholesterol.

Research shows that dietary cholesterol has little effect on blood cholesterol.

There were also two studies that found consumption of up to 1 egg per day is unlikely to have a substantial overall impact on the risk of CHD or stroke among healthy men and women.

If you have diabetes you should be cautious when eating eggs, because some research has shown that eating 7 eggs per week may increase the risk of heart disease.

There is still more research that needs to be done to link consumption of eggs and heart disease in people with diabetes.

Overall: Even though hard-boiled eggs are high in cholesterol, there have been studies that show dietary cholesterol will not have a negative impact on most people for blood cholesterol. Hard-boiled eggs have been found to have improved cholesterol by increasing the GOOD HDL Cholesterol.

Hard-Boiled eggs promote brain and eye health

Hard-boiled Eggs provide essential antioxidants and nutrients that support eye and brain health.

Choline

Choline is an important essential nutrient for our body.

The body does produce some choline, but not in really large quantities so you need to get the choline from your diet so you are not deficient.

Choline is really important for a healthy nervous system, it helps in producing acetylcholine this is a neurotransmitter for memory and learning.

Choline also promotes fetal brain and memory development.

Choline is found in the yolk part of the hard-boiled egg. One large hard-boiled egg contains 147mg of choline and this is 27% of your daily value in what you need in your body.

Zeaxanthin and Lutein

Zeaxanthin and lutein are two antioxidants that are known for eye health.

These two antioxidants fight against harmful oxygen induced by free radicals that can over time accumulate in your eyes.

Are you on your computer or any devices for a long period of time? These antioxidants may even protect you from blue light.

The hard-boiled eggs have an excellent source of zeaxanthin and lutein from the yolks.

Because of the fat of the yolk, your body will absorb the zeaxanthin and lutein very well.

Overall: egg yolks from hard-boiled eggs are a good source of choline. This is excellent for brain health and development. Because they are also rich in zeaxanthin and lutein they help promote eye health.

Fried eggs vs Hard-boiled eggs

Hard-cooked eggs are made from when you boil eggs. You cook them with no oil or butter.

Fried eggs usually are cooked with butter or oil that have extra fat.

Overall: hard-boiling eggs can be prepared without a lot of ingredients other than H2O. Fried eggs need additional fat which makes them higher in calories. They both offer a very similar vitamin and don’t differ at all in the amount of protein and nutrients.

eggs in ice bath

Hard-cooked eggs have 77 calories with 5.3 grams of fat per egg

fried egg

One large fried egg has 90 calories and 7 grams of fat.

Cooking hard-boiled eggs and the bottom line

Cooking hard-boiled eggs are low-calorie and are a nutrient-dense food.

They may be high in cholesterol but do not increase heart disease in the majority of people.

Cooking hard-boiled eggs has fewer calories and less fat from fried eggs.

They have an excellent source of protein, Calcium, Vitamin B and other important antioxidants and nutrients like lutein, zeaxanthin and choline.

Hard boiling eggs are one of the easiest and nutritious food for your diet.

fresh eggs

Perfect hard Boiled Eggs

Does anyone remember the hourglass that you used to turn over so you could time your hard-boiled eggs as they were boiling? This used to be my method for hardboiled eggs as well as soft-boiled eggs until I owned my instant pot.

For many years I would boil them on the stove and then run cold water on them. As I cracked eggs and peeled eggs, I would lose a lot of the egg in the process. The stovetop was okay for the most part but now that I have an Instant Pot I will never go back to boiling eggs on the stovetop. We’ve come a long way baby!

It’s so important not to wreck the egg especially if you are making some deviled eggs. You want the outside of the egg the white part to look perfect.

Instant pot eggs are so foolproof. Hit the pressure cooker button and walk away come back in 15 minutes and they are done.

How many eggs can you hard boil in an instant pot at one time? Can you stack the eggs?

The best part of this method of cooking is that you can cook up to 18 eggs at a time in the Instant Pot with just one cup of water! Yes, you can stack them!

How much water do you put in your Instant pot?

1 cup of COLD water in the inner pot of Instant Pot for a 6 quart instant pot and 1.5 cups COLD water for an 8-quart Instant pot. Add in egg or steam rack and carefully set as many eggs as desired on or in the rack. Place lid on the pressure cooker and set for cook time for 5 minutes on high pressure. My favourite Steam basket is the collapsible silicone steamer basket that you can buy on Amazon.

steamer basket

How do I use the Egg setting on my Instant Pot?

  • Place steamer or your trivet in the cooking pot. Add your water and place eggs on the rack.
  • Press the program to Egg. Set the time to 5 minutes and make sure it is at low pressure. Press start.
  • When the cooking is done, press the button and quick release the pressure.
  • Remove your eggs from the pot and place them in an ice-water bath to cool.

Can you overcook hard-boiled eggs in an Instant Pot?

  • The great part of the pressure cooker is that once the pressure has built up, even a big batch of eggs cooks in a fraction of the time it would normally take on your stove. You do need to watch the timer because even a minute too long can make them overcooked.

Why do pressure-cooked eggs turn brown?

  • First of all, the brown colour of the eggs is due to overcooking and too high a heat. Egg whites are made up of protein with about 1% sugar. So, when you boil or cook the eggs at a higher temperature, it will initiate the browning reaction, commonly called Maillard browning.

Can you Make soft-boiled eggs in the instant pot?

soft boiled eggs

The answer is yes! Set your pressure cooker to low for 1 minute then when it beeps 1-minute natural release the immediately move the valve to vent and as soon as the red pin drops put the eggs in cold ice bath for 30 seconds to end the cooking process and that’s it.!

Will hard-boiled eggs explode in the pressure cooker?

  • Eggs do explode sometimes when cooked at high pressure over five minutes. And the egg yolk can overcook but is perfectly useful for salads and stuff but not the preferred result you need. so ensure your pressure cooker is on low and that you are diligent at the quick release when it’s done as you do not want to overcook them. Unless you do not care and are making them into egg salad sandwiches or using them for potato salad. I prefer the 5-5-5-5 method myself.

HARD BOILED EGGS 5-5-5 METHOD

What is the 555 Method for eggs?

boiled eggs on plate
Perfect Hard-Boiled eggs

The perfect way to cook hard-boiled eggs in the Instant Pot on a pressure cooker mode using the 5-5-5 method.

  • 5 minutes to come to pressure
  • 5 minutes cook time
  • 5 minutes natural release

But to really get PERFECTLY cooked hard-boiled eggs that peel like a dream, I have added another step:

vinegar and salt and pepper

Make sure you cook with 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar and a tablespoon of salt

Next when you take your eggs out of your instant pot carefully submerge them in an ice bath for 5 more minutes

This means in 20 minutes, you will have hard-boiled eggs that peel perfectly and are perfectly set and yellow in the middle and will be great for egg salad sandwiches on their own or to make into deviled eggs.

COOK HARD-BOILED EGGS IN INSTANT POT

hard boiled egg with yellow yolk
Hard-Boiled Eggs

Place 1 cup of COLD water along with 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar and 1 tsp of salt in the inner pot of the instant pot. Place eggs( I like to use fresh eggs preferably farm fresh eggs that you can get at your local market) in your egg rack or in your silicone strainer steamer basket and then carefully place that in your instant pot.

Seal pressure cooker. Set egg cook time to 5 minutes then after the cooking time is done, let the pressure release from the pressure cooker naturally for 5 minutes (set a timer that will go off in 5 minutes so you don’t overcook the eggs. )

Once 5 minutes is finished, release any more pressure in Instant Pot by turning the lever vent position.

venting mode on instant pot
Instant Pot Venting Position

Carefully, remove the eggs from the pressure cooker and place the perfect hard-boiled eggs in an ice bath. 

These eggs are very hot to touch so be very careful when handling the boiled eggs.

Once the hard-boiled eggs have been in an ice bath for 5 minutes, remove eggs from the ice bath.

It’s now time to Peel hard-boiled eggs the eggs peel really easy and the next step is to enjoy your perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs.

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

Recipe by Raegen BrettCourse: Breakfast, Appetizers, BrunchCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

12

servings
Cooking time

5

minutes
Calories

300

kcal

Ingredients

  • A Dozen eggs (12)

  • 1 cup water

  • 1/2 cup distilled vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon salt

Directions

  • Put 1 cup of water along with vinegar and salt inside the Instant pot
  • Place your steam rack inside your instant pot and carefully stack as many eggs as you desire in this case a dozen eggs on the rack.
  • Put the Instant Pot lid on and set to pressure cook for 5 minutes. Make sure the pivot is set to seal.
  • When cook time is done let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes then immediately do a quick release and remove your perfect boiled eggs out of the Instant Pot and put in an ice water bath.
  • Let your eggs sit in the ice bath for 5 minutes
  • Remove them from ice water and peel hard-boiled eggs.
  • You can store hard-boiled eggs in the fridge for up to 7 days unpeeled or if you peel hard-boiled eggs you should use them within 3 days.

Notes

  • Be sure and use cold water, warm water or hot water would change the cooking time
  • You can use as many eggs as you like and up to 16 eggs in a 6 quart
  • Prevent your eggs from cracking during cooking time, let your eggs come to room temp before putting them into your pressure cooker
  • It is best to peel your eggs as soon as they are done from the water bath. the shell comes off really easy.
  • For the best hard-boiled eggs, I like to use farm fresh eggs

HOW TO PEEL HARD-BOILED EGGS

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs are the easiest eggs to peel.

Once eggs have been cooked and cooled in the ice bath with cold running water, crack them open by rolling them on your kitchen counter and peel hard-boiled eggs.

The eggs peel will come right off–and you will be left with perfect hard-boiled eggs.

STORING HARD-BOILED EGGS

It is best to have your eggs peeled before you store them in the refrigerator.

Once eggs are peeled, place them in a sealed container and store them in the fridge for up to 3 days.

If your hard-boiled eggs are unpeeled, they can be stored for 7 days.


HOW LONG ARE HARD-BOILED EGGS GOOD FOR?

  • Hard-boiled eggs will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator when peeled, 7 days if unpeeled.
  • Hard-boiled eggs will last for up to 2 hours at room temperature. 
  • Hard-boiled eggs do not freeze well! Cooked egg whites will become rubbery.
  • You can freeze the cooked egg yolks if desired by placing a cooked yolks freezer bag and freezing for up to 3 months.

Equipment Needed

silicone steamer
Steamer or rack
Instant Pot
Instant Pot
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