Instant Pot hard boiled eggs turn out perfectly every time, and they are easier to peel than traditional hard boiled eggs. Whether you like the yolks a little runny or totally cooked through, I’ve got you covered in this tutorial below.
Hard Boiled Eggs Without The Green Ring
Growing up, I always thought hard boiled eggs naturally had a green ring around the yolk. I didn’t know that was the result of overcooking them!
My mom has always had the tendency to over-cook food because she’s paranoid of salmonella contamination (no raw cookie dough for me– my kids are lucky we make Edible Vegan Cookie Dough), so I didn’t know any better. But now I do.
To prevent the green ring, it’s important to place the eggs in a cold water bath immediately after cooking them. This stops the cooking process. Use the cooking times below to make sure you don’t overcook them, too.
How Long to Pressure Cook Eggs
I decided to do a little experiment, cooking my eggs anywhere from 2 minutes to 5 minutes in the Instant Pot, all with a 5 minute “natural release” before releasing the rest of the steam pressure. (If you’d like to watch a video tutorial showing the difference between a quick release and a natural release, watch my How to Use Your Instant Pot video.)
Below are the results of my experiments for hard cooked egg yolks.
As you can see, after 5 minutes the yolks are very well done, and after two minutes they’re softer, but still not runny. For a runny egg, use the “quick release” method, which means you immediately release the steam after the cooking cycle is over.
Soft-Cooked Eggs
If you prefer an egg with a runny or “jammy” egg yolk, you’ll want to perform a quick release instead of a natural release.
Here are the cooking times for a soft-cooked eggs in the Instant Pot:
- 3 minutes = very runny yolk with the whites mostly set
- 4 minutes = gooey yolk with totally set whites
- 5 minutes = jammy yolk, with the outer part of the yellow starting to set
- 6 minutes = slightly jammy center and slightly hard-cooked yellow edges
With all of these cooking times, you’ll perform a quick release as soon as the timer goes off. The eggs will continue to cook until you plunge them into an ice bath, so you want to work quickly if you’re looking for runnier egg yolks.
Do White and Brown Eggs Cook Differently?
I was recently asked if there was a difference between cooking eggs that come in a white or a brown shell. I usually work with brown eggs, so I bought a batch of white ones to test how they pressure cook.
Following the directions in the recipe below, I cooked a batch of brown eggs and a batch of white eggs, and found that they both peel easily, and cook in the same amount of time as each other. (I tested them both at 5 minutes of high pressure cooking.) So, this method should work for whichever variety you have on hand.
How Long Do Hard Boiled Eggs Last?
You can keep them for up to one week in the fridge, either with the shell on or peeled. I find that hard boiled eggs are the easiest to peel soon after cooking them, so I like to peel them first, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
Do They Need to Be Refrigerated?
Yes, they do. Unlike raw eggs, which can sometimes be stored on the counter, cooking the eggs can make them more susceptible to bacteria contamination due to changes in the shell.
It’s recommended that you discard hard boiled eggs if they’ve been out on the counter for more than two hours.
Can You Freeze Hard Boiled Eggs?
If you make too many eggs, or your eggs accidentally freeze in the back of your fridge, keep in mind that the white part of the egg doesn’t thaw well. You can freeze the yolks to use for later use, for up to 3 months in an airtight container. (I’d peel the eggs and freeze just the yolks to make your life easier– peeling a frozen egg doesn’t sound fun.)
Which Instant Pot is Best?
I’ve found the 6-quart Instant Pot to be sufficient for every recipe I’ve made for my family. If you have more than 4 family members, you might want the 8-quart for making larger quantities.
Whether you use them for a quick breakfast, snack, or a salad topper, I hope you’ll find this method for cooking hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot helpful.
Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 eggs (or as many as you want to cook)
Instructions
- Fill your Instant Pot with 1 cup of water and place the metal trivet inside. (I use the one that came with my machine.)
- Place the eggs on top of the trivet, then secure the lid onto the pot. Make sure you turn the vent at the top to the "sealing" position. Press the Manual or Pressure Cook button, then cook at high pressure for 5 minutes. (Or use just 3 or 4 minutes for a runnier yolk; see notes.)
- For hard-cooked egg yolks, let the pressure naturally release for 5 minutes after the cooking process is complete. When the screen on the Instant Pot reads LO:05, move the steam release valve to "venting" to quickly release the remaining pressure. Make sure your hand isn't over the top of the vent so you don't get burned by the steam. For softer egg yolks, perform a quick release, which means you'll release the pressure as soon as the cooking cycle is complete.
- When the floating valve next to the steam release valve has dropped, it's safe to remove the lid. Use tongs or a spoon to carefully remove the hot eggs. Place the eggs in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Let them cool for 5 minutes before peeling and serving.
- Hard boiled eggs can be stored in the fridge for up to one week.
Video
Notes
- 3 minutes = very runny yolk with the whites mostly set
- 4 minutes = gooey yolk with totally set whites
- 5 minutes = jammy yolk, with the outer part of the yellow starting to set
- 6 minutes = slightly jammy center and slightly hard-cooked yellow edges
Nutrition
More Helpful Instant Pot Tutorials
If you’d like to get the most out of your electric pressure cooker, be sure to try the following recipes, too. They will make you ultra-efficient at meal prepping!
- Instant Pot Quinoa
- Instant Pot Black Beans
- Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
- Instant Pot Chickpeas
- Instant Pot Lentils
- Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
- Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
- Instant Pot Brown Rice
- Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite use for hard boiled eggs? We use them on my Vegetarian Cobb Salad!
Does it matter if the eggs are cold from refrigerator or room temperature before putting them in the instant pot?
I put them in straight from the fridge. Some shells were cracked when I opened the lid but I don’t know if this was the reason. Either way, they cooked just fine and I peel them all at once anyway!
Thanks for the method Megan, I hadn’t thought of making eggs in the IP!
Thank you for trialing this out! We love hard boiled eggs but I usually try to make them while I’m cooking other things in the kitchen and often get distracted, leading to eggs being a little more cooked than I wanted. This will solve that problem! 🙂
Thanks for showing us something else to do with the instant pot! I don’t have one yet, but am definitely considering investing in one so it’s great to learn about all you can do with it! #detoxinistachallenge
I HAVE to give this a try!
My blog: https://healthybakingwithacupofocd.wordpress.com/
I also have an Instant Pot and I love it! I just used your method (I fit a baker’s dozen on my tray…woohoo!) They came out great! I peeled one and I’m having a small egg salad sandwich now..yum! The rest will go in my fridge for me to enjoy later! Thanks for sharing..this is foolproof and easier than the stove top method of bringing to a boil and letting it sit covered…this is just so easy!
Thanks for sharing your method. I use the 5-min / 5-min suggestion and they are always consistently cooked. But for some reason, I get the green ring of yuck every time. I put them in a cold bath immediately, I try old vs new and white vs brown. Today I said what the heck and boiled in a pot and voila.. No green ring. Any suggestions?
I have the same experience. Even cooking for 2 mins and plunking them in an ice bath immediately after releasing the steam, I get green rings.
Nope. Totally didn’t work.Did 5 min pressure cook, 5 min natural release, 5 minutes in ice water. Wouldn’t peel, and the yolks were still glossy yellow but not runny. Not sure what I did wrong!
Hmm… mine are usually borderline over-cooked at 5 minutes! My only thought would be that maybe the pot was set to low pressure instead of high, or if you happened to start with warm or hot water, instead of cold/room temperature water in the pot, that the eggs wouldn’t get the whole cooking time, since all recipes with the Instant Pot include heating the water up as part of the cook time. Or perhaps eggs can just vary based on how fresh they are? This has consistently worked for me for the past year, but I hope you find a time that works for you, too!
Is your keep warm on or off? I get confused with the instant release and have been setting my 8 qt to no keep warm and setting a timer for the 5 minutes before quick release – is this right or wrong? I thought maybe the keep warm wouldn’t be on if you quick release. Thanks for your help/time.
I believe my pot automatically switches to a keep warm setting after the cooking cycle is complete. I have never changed the settings it came with. I don’t think would necessarily matter in the time span of 5 minutes, as the pressure will naturally release either way, but if you turn it totally off it might release pressure a little faster that way.
Hi!Thanks for this recipe! I have the mini which works great for 2-3 people.
I do not have a manual setting, but used the “egg” setting and subtracted one minute from the automatic six minutes. The manual says to use the “More” setting for hardboiled. We’ll see how they turn out!
Perfect recipe for me. Or I should say my husband because it’s the first time I nailed it making the perfect hard boiled for him. 3 minutes on high pressure and 3 minutes on release and voila! Thanks again for test another recipe for us.
I won’t give this a bad rating because I’ve used this method before and it worked perfectly — however, I’m commenting because for some reason when I’m using this method lately my eggs won’t peel properly and they’re getting so messed up and ruining the batch and sticking to the shell and whatnot. I CAN’T FIGURE IT OUT and it’s driving me crazy 🙂 and I’m wasting a lot of eggs because I just want to make deviled eggs and can’t….. HELP. Thanks! 🙂
The fresher the eggs, the harder to peel.
I live at a high altitude. Someone told me to do 6/6/6 instead of 5/5/5. The eggs turned out perfect!
Thank you for sharing!
First time making hard boiled eggs in the instant pot and this worked out perfectly! Thanks for a great method!
I have tried this way several times because everyone raves about using the Instantpot for hard-boiled eggs. However, each time, I get one or two that explode (I can hear it when it happens there’s a loud pop). I have let my eggs get to room temperature first to see if that helps and they still break. So I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I follow the recipe exactly. For me, it is easier to use the stovetop method, but I really want this to work with the Instantpot. Any suggestions? Some say to use fresh eggs, but that can’t necessarily be the case because how do you know how fresh they are when you buy them in the store? Someone else told me to use brown eggs… I’m only giving this a two-star rating because the unexploded ones peel fine. And I really want this to work! I have your cookbook and love the recipes.
These are the best eggs ever! I’ve used this recipe many times and I always get great results. However, I only let it naturally release for 4 min (no ring this way for me) and I typically just let cold water run over the eggs as I peel them. I don’t even do the ice bath and instead start peeling immediately. So as I am peeling one, the others are receiving a cold shower. This consistently works for me so perhaps it will help others who are having peeling problems.
In case anyone was wondering, if you leave the eggs for 2-3 hours as a natural release they come out just fine. No green ring or anything
Perfect! 3 minutes qpr. My 10 and 12 year old girls adore!
I hard boil a dozen eggs eggs every Sunday to have on hand for the week, but had never tried them in the InstaPot. I did after seeing this post and it’s a game changer. They cooked perfectly and were much easier to peel. Thank you!!
Just a question
Does it matter the size of the egg as to the timing for cooking? I love using Jumbo eggs and am guessing the time or the release will need to increase.
Good question! I always test with “large” eggs, so the jumbo ones might need a little extra time. Please report back if you experiment with that! I would start with just 1 egg to see if the timing is the same.
These turned out great! So easy!
My new go-to method for hard-boiled eggs! Turns out great every time. A friend was astounded when she saw me set my eggs in the instant pot, added some water, pushed a button, and walked away. Yes, it really is that easy!
Hard boiled eggs use to drive me nuts! No matter how I cooked them, I would lose half the egg when peeling. Megan’s instant pot recipe is a game changer! It is SO easy, and I get the perfect hard boiled egg every single time. Thank you!
this method still overcooks the eggs. I cooked mine for 3 minutes with instant steam release and it still overcooked them. If there is a green ring around the yolk, its over cooked. I will try 1 minute next time and see how it goes.
This worked for me! Some were a bit hard to peel and others were easy.
This is my go to hard boiled egg recipe! So easy with consistent results!
What elevation are you at? I started cooking hard boiled eggs in my instant pot just after Easter (5 min high, 5 min natural release, quick release, then 5 min ice water bath). I love that the shells come off so easily, and that I can make a bunch pretty fast. But most have ended up with a good sized green ring around the yoke. I want the yoke cooked through. I am wondering if, because we are at 7,000ft, they cook faster.
Interesting! I live in the Midwest, under 1,000 ft elevation. I bet that could make a difference! Usually the green ring occurs if the eggs don’t cool fast enough or are cooked for too long, so maybe try shaving off a minute of cook time next time, or skip the natural release to see how your eggs turn out. It will take some experimenting, so maybe cook only 1 or 2 eggs at a time until you figure it out!
Thank you! I wondered about decreasing the cook time. When I am cooking two dozen it takes a couple minutes to get them into the ice water.
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