What to Do With All Those Leftover Easter Eggs

I grew up in a craft-filled household, where every holiday was worthy of homemade decorations. When Easter came around, plastic eggs were hanging from trees, the bunny flag flew, and we dyed baskets full of eggs. Coloring the eggs kept me and my cousins busy for hours and away from my grandmother in the kitchen, so she could focus on cooking and sharing the latest family drama. The only problem was that after the holiday, there were always far too many leftover hard-boiled eggs, which my relatives and I quickly got tired of eating.

So what do you do with all those boiled eggs? Deviled eggs are absolutely an option, but they are not the only worthy use for leftover cooked eggs (the same goes for you, egg salad). Here are more exciting hard-boiled egg ideas that go beyond the basics—yes, I’m calling hard-boiled eggs exciting and I’m sticking with that. 

Boiling and Dyeing the Eggs

First and foremost, to have leftover Easter eggs, you need to have dyed some hard-boiled eggs. Take a peek at our egg guide to learn how to make perfectly boiled eggs that are also easy to peel, then dye them using a store-bought kit or with homemade Easter egg dye. Both can have beautiful results. For the Easter eggs pictured here, I mixed my own colors using gel food coloring and vinegar. No matter which path you choose, you may notice that a little bit of color bleeds through the shell and onto a few (or most) of your eggs. I say this bit of color  adds some character. So resist the urge to boil more eggs, get to peeling those leftover Easter eggs, and try one of these ideas.

6 Clever Ideas for the Eggs

After years of repurposing leftover Easter Eggs (and cooking with hard-boiled eggs year-round), I’ve learned a few fun tricks. 

Quickly Cube Eggs for Salads, Sandwiches, and More Using a Baking Rack

To quickly and uniformly cube eggs for salads, sandwiches, and garnishes, I skip dicing with a knife and use a baking rack to cube my eggs instead.  Set yourself up with a large bowl and rack with a cross-wire weave. A 10-inch square or a quarter sheet size is easier to work with than a half-sheet rack, but use any size you have as long as it sits nicely atop your bowl. Push your peeled, hard-boiled eggs right through the grate and you’ll have eggs prepped for appetizers, salads, and sandwiches in no time. (This trick works wonders for mashing avocados for guacamole as well.)

Use a Cheese Grater to Make Egg Shavings to Use As a Garnish

If you only have a single boiled egg (or even a half) to spare, consider using it as an elegant garnish on your salad, on top of sauced vegetables, or even pasta. Break out your cheese grater or microplane and dust your dish with the faintest hint of egg. The finely grated egg complements  springtime vegetables like kale or asparagus (I particularly like it on freshly steamed asparagus with garlicky yogurt sauce).

Add Eggs to Your Breakfast Board

Until it became a Tiktok trend most people didn’t associate charcuterie boards with breakfast, but boards can be enjoyed at any hour, even first thing in the morning. Waffles or pancakes, ham or bacon, hash browns or home fries—your breakfast board can include all your favorite breakfast items, including some of your sliced or halved hard-boiled eggs. 

Add an Eggy Surprise to Your Meatloaf

Start with a classic meatloaf, but add your boiled eggs to the interior for an extra treat that makes for a beautiful slice of meat. Follow your recipe, but when it’s time to add the meat mixture to your loaf pan, add half of the mixture, then place a row of five whole peeled, boiled eggs inside before adding the rest of the meat mixture, and bake as usual. Or make embutido (pictured above), a Filipino-style pork meatloaf filled with hard-boiled eggs and Chinese sausage.

Pickle Your Eggs

If you’re a pickle lover (like I am), and you’ve just finished off a jar of your favorite, don’t toss out the brine. Instead, do like I did and use the leftover pickle juice to pickle your hard-boiled eggs. (You can also make some pickle rice—yes, seriously.) Transfer the pickle juice to a small pot, heat until it comes to a boil, then take it off the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, peel and place your hard-boiled eggs in a mason jar (or right back into the empty pickle jar). Pour the brine over your boiled eggs. Seal tightly, and transfer to the fridge for at least eight hours to allow the pickle juice to permeate the eggs. You can also level up this hack using homemade or store-bought pickled beets to make bright red beet eggs.

Make Colorful Easter Bread

If you’re really proud of the beautiful eggs you’ve dyed (I was pretty proud of how mine turned out), why not show them off a little longer by baking a festive Easter bread that makes them part of your table’s centerpieces? Start by making a sweet, yeasted dough like brioche or choreg, an Armenian Easter bread. Instead of rolling it out as directed, braid the dough into a wreath, and nestle your prettiest four or five eggs evenly spaced around the ring. Adding sprinkles is optional. Either way, your colorful eggs take center stage.