Making hard boiled eggs right is one of the most deceptively difficult things to do. It should be easy: put eggs in a pot of water, boil and peel, right? But the devil is in the details. Or you can just make hard boiled eggs in an Instant Pot and call it a day.
Should the eggs be room temperature or straight from the fridge? Should the eggs be placed in the water while it comes to a boil or after? How long should they cook, exactly? And how long should the ice bath last to avoid a) burning the hell out of your fingers and b) overcooking the eggs and turning the yolks green?
MORE: How to make the perfect hard boiled eggs
Well, your Instant Pot is here to save everything from Easter to your everyday meal prep, thank goodness. Turns out, making hard boiled eggs in an Instant Pot is super easy thanks to a simple formula: 5/5/5.
The 5/5/5 method is simple. Five minutes at pressure, 5-minute natural release, and 5 minutes in an ice bath. Here’s how it works.
Get yourself an egg steaming rack for your Instant Pot. This clever accessory will allow you to cook up to 18 hard boiled eggs at once, but you don’t have to fill it. If you want to cook less eggs, the time remains the same.
Pour one cup of water into the steel insert.
Fill your egg rack, then place it into the insert.
You should have plenty of room, and if both trays are used the eggs should come just to the max fill line.
Place and lock the lid, and seal the pressure release valve. Using the manual button, set the time to five minutes.
ALSO TRY: Elegant deviled eggs
After the Instant Pot comes to pressure and the eggs have cooked for five minutes, allow a five-minute natural pressure release, then quick release the rest of the steam.
While you cook the hard boiled eggs in an Instant Pot, prepare a large bowl of cold water. Once the pressure release time is up, use silicone tongs to gently place the eggs into the cold water, then cover with ice. Set a timer for 5 minutes.
When five minutes are up, remove the eggs from the ice bath. You can save them for later in the shells by sealing in a zip top bag and storing them in the fridge, or you can peel them right away. Gently tap the side of the egg on the counter, then roll it to crack the shell all around.
When peeling is complete, dip the egg back into the ice bath to quickly remove any tiny leftover bits of shell.
Using this method, the peels should be extremely easy to remove, and your yolks should be bright yellow with no green ring around the outside. The 5/5/5 method works particularly well with eggs that are cool, straight from the fridge. Eggs that are about a week to 10 days old are also easier to peel.
Bonus: The beautiful creamy yellow of the yolks you will get from cooking hard boiled eggs in an Instant Pot will give a next level presentation to your egg salad, deviled eggs and egg slices on your salads.
