Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

Perhaps you’ve boiled an egg, but once you try using the Instant Pot to hard boil eggs, you are never going to look back!

Were you taught that you can’t hard boil fresh eggs? As in, laid the very same day fresh. Mom always told me to use the older eggs to hard boil. I have heard this from others family members, as well. Maybe you’ve even tried it! The old-fashioned “boil and then drop in ice water” method. Only to get an impossible to peel egg that ends up in the trash. What was the point of that?

Have you ever peeled a traditionally hard boiled egg with just one hand? Or achieved a perfect golden center without the use of an ice bath? How about with farm fresh eggs?! Malarkey.

Yea, keep reading. I’m about the shell out the secrets.

Materials

Gather the goods for your Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs!

• Instant Pot pressure cooker : I have the 8 quart size and usually do about a dozen eggs at a time. Other pressure cookers will also work, but I am unfamiliar with those controls. Adjust accordingly for your model! Reflection: If we pressure cook eggs, do we still call them hard boiled eggs??
• Steamer Rack Trivet: The Instant Pot comes with this metal trivet, but I prefer this silicone sling instead. I like it better because it covers more of the bottom of the pot. Either way, the goal is to keep the eggs up off the bottom of the pot.
• Extra silicone seal: Optional, but I highly recommend having an extra silicone seal that is committed for eggs only. This seal on the lid absorbs smells (like eggs) over time and, well, I don’t really want my Instant Pot cheesecake or yogurt smelling like eggs!

Instructions for Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

1. First, fill the bottom of the Instant Pot with water. Just enough to cover the bottom. For my 8 quart Instant Pot, it takes about 1.5 cups of water. From the tap. Nothing special.
2. Place the metal trivet or the silicone sling in the water.
3. Carefully add your eggs. The goal is to not touch the sides or bottom of the pot. They are to be suspended in their pressure cooker sauna. Do I let them touch each other or stack them? Yea, sometimes. Doesn’t seem to make a difference, in my experience.
4. Attach the pressure cooker lid.
5. Set lid to “Sealing” (not “Venting”).
6. Hit “Manual” –> set to High pressure –> set for 4 minutes.
7. The Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to come up to pressure, then, it will beep when the 4 minutes starts. It will beep again to signal the end. When the 4 minutes at pressure ends, release the pressure by flipping the tab on the lid. You want to do this right away. No waiting. No natural release.
8. Remove the lid as soon as it is safe to do so.
9. At this point, I also unplug the whole unit to let it cool.
10. Here’s where I deviate. I don’t worry about plunging the cooked eggs immediately into an ice bath. In fact, I don’t do anything but let them cool on the counter from here. I find that as long as I release the pressure and take the lid off right away, they are cooked perfectly. Golden centers. No overcooked green yolks. Don’t believe me? By all means, go ahead at use an ice bath at this time. I tend to take the more hands off approach and one less step is good by me. Plus, I don’t have an ice maker, which makes having enough ice a bit challenging.
11. Once cooled enough to touch, I move all the hard boiled eggs into a bowl in the fridge!

Questions about Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

What are hard boiled eggs good for?

A great protein source (about 6 grams of protein per egg) for breakfast, snacks, chopped on salads, egg salad on a tortilla, deviled eggs… We LOVE eggs in this house. I ate tons during pregnancy (great source of choline for baby brain development!).

Can eggs break during the Instant Pot processing?

Yes, it’s possible, but not any more common that having an egg break during boiling, in my egg-sperience!

Does this method work with farm fresh AND store bought eggs?

Yes, of course! I just wanted to debunk the myth that you can’t cook farm fresh eggs this way, because you can!

Are Instant Pot hard boiled eggs easy to peel?

Yes! Like, a life changing amount of easy. So much better than peeling a traditionally hard boiled egg. Often with the Instant Pot method, the shell comes off in just one or two pieces! Once, for the fun of it, I tried peeling one with only one hand. And it worked!

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