I'm on a hard-boiled egg kick. One of my favorite snacks is an hb-egg with a dollop of homemade mayo and a light sprinkling of...
Read MorePaleo Pink Pickled Eggs & Beets
http://www.MelJoulwan.com/2014/10/09/paleo-pink-pickled-eggs/
I’ve been joking that I’m becoming a homesteader since we moved to Vermont.
That is an (unintentional) insult to homesteaders everywhere.
Preserving things during the summer is a Big Deal here, and after multiple exposures, I could no longer resist the massive towers of 1-quart Ball jars at the co-op, the regular grocery store, and K-Mart. I’ve been tinkering a lot and after several batches, I’ve finally landed on my ideal pickled egg recipe. The eggs are nice and firm, just slightly sweet, not overly sour, and have a whisper of spices to keep it interesting, but not overpowering. The yolks are super creamy because I followed these instructions for perfectly peelable eggs and cut the cooking time to 10 minutes instead of 11. And, the best part, these eggs are a gorgeous shade of fuchsia.
Because I’m a sucker for tangy, salty things, I’m also experimenting with pickling other goodies; there’s a jar of turnips aging in my fridge right now.
I also ordered a chest freezer to be delivered this week so I can stockpile my homemade duck bone broth, lamb bone broth, and pastured pork for the winter.
See? Homesteader.
Paleo Pink Pickled Eggs & Beets
Makes 1 dozen eggs + 3ish cups of beets | Prep 10 minutes, not including hard-boiling time | cook 15 minutes | Chill 5 days
NOTE: I tried to make a sugar-free Whole30 version, but it was just sour, sour, sour. I will try experimenting with some dried fruit in the brine for Whole30 folks, but for now, save this recipe for after your Whole30.
Ingredients:
1/2 large onion, halved and sliced thin
2 (15-ounce) cans sliced beets
1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon salt
11 whole cloves
5 whole allspice seeds
pinch whole cumin seed
12 large eggs, hard-boiled and peeled (best technique for hard-boiling eggs)
2 quart glass jars with tight-fitting lids (or 4 pint jars or whatever mis-matched jars you want to use if you’re not a burgeoning homesteader)
Directions:
1
Combine onion, beets with their juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, cloves, allspice seeds, and cumin seeds in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat and cool to room temperature.
2
Place the eggs in a clean 1-quart glass jar, then pour the pickling liquid over the eggs so they’re completely submerged. Place the beets in another jar. Seal both jars and refrigerate at least 5 days, gently shaking the egg jar occasionally to ensure all sides of the eggs are exposed to the beet juice.
*NOTE: You can put a mix of eggs and beets in each jar, but where beets and eggs touch, the egg gets a very dark purple mark. If you’d prefer the eggs to be uniformly pink, I recommend you jar them separately. In case you need some sweet 1-quart Ball jars, I just got these, and I love them. So cute!
Tasty Ideas
Make a pretty deli plate with a scoop of tuna with homemade mayo surrounded by pickled beets, a pickled egg, carrot and pepper strips, and a few olives.
Liven up a green salad with pickled beets and onions, plus some Pumpkin-Spiced Pepitas and golden raisins. It’s salty-sweet-spicy-sour awesome.
Enjoy the contrasts of pickled beets topped with a diced pickled egg and a drizzle of homemade Paleo Ranch Dressing. It’s tangy and creamy, all at once.
Keep it simple by slicing a pickled egg and layering it on a plate with some beets. Drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil, then sprinkle with black pepper, coarse salt, and minced chives.
Eat like an animal and pick the beets from the jar with a fork and plop them directly into your mouth.
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I am doing this ASAP! My four-year-old is a lover of beets and all things pink but not so much eggs…this might just change her mind! Thank you!
OMG Those are SO BEAUTIFUL.
I just love that color. I want all things in that color.
Hmmm, this is pretty similar to my family’s Easter recipe. I love it and make it year round. My mom uses less sugar than you add. I just leave out the sugar entirely, myself, and don’t mind the sour at all, but that’s one of my favorite flavors.
Now we just have to get you to start canning!!!
Like most 5 and 3 year old girls, my girls think that the color pink is undoubtedly the color God created first and surely prefers. They dream in pink, color in pink and, of course, wear pink. I can’t wait to show them that they can now EAT a perfectly pinky purple EGG. Thanks so much as usual!
How can I do this with fresh beets?
Boil the beets until tender, then use about 1 cup of the water from the beets to make the pickling liquid (in place of the juice from the beet can).
Thanks Melissa! You’re the best! I have so many beets from my CSA to use up.
This is so cute! My mom does this with soy sauce, and it’s a traditional Korean dish (obviously not Paleo). Pink is much more fun though!
My family has a similar long standing recipe that I love. Try using apple cider vinegar instead of the distilled white- adds a lot of flavor.
Do the spices have to be whole? I have all these spices in powdered form.
It works a lot better if they’re whole. But if you want to use what you’ve got, put them in a piece of cheese cloth and plunk in the pan, then remove it when you put everything in the jars.
You’ll find spice conversions here to figure out the ground spice equivalent of whole:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jeffreym/htm/Spice%20Conversions%20Page.htm
I love pickled beets and make them a lot. I use apple juice to cut the sourness. It doesn’t take much. Buy the apple juice and freeze it in cubes for those times when something needs a bit of sweetness. Because that happens, even if we are paleo. 🙂
That’s a great idea!
I have always pickled eggs and made a “whole 30 version” for my hubby our first whole 30…
Here is my recipe:
2 cups water
1 can sliced beets (with juice)
1 can sliced pickled jalepenos/carrots (from Mexican market – no sugar)
4 dates sliced
2 tablespoons pickling spices
2 cups apple cider vinegar
bring to simmer and then let cool slightly before putting over eggs
I do mine in one large jar with a dozen eggs for the week…I usually throw in some green beans and cucumbers for some pickled veggies too!
I forgot to say that I just pour it all in over the eggs, beets, jalapenos and all….I just use a spoon to dig out my eggs…
These look amazing. I’ve just boiled everything and letting it cool. I wonder though, what do you do with the left over beets/onions that are in the separate jar?
I like to eat them on green salads — they add a nice tangy flavor and beets are loaded with nutrition. They’re also really good with sardines, kipper snacks, smoked oysters… any oily fish. The vinegar of the pickled beets, plus the sweet beets, but the fat from the fish is a really luscious combination.
Thanks Melissa. I’ve only just started to eat sardines. Funny thing, I had some sardines the other day for the very first time in my salad.
I thought to start with I would try the ones in a type of tomato based sauce. When I opened up the can it smelt just like cat food, but when I tried it, I was surprised how nice it was.
I’ll definitely give these suggestions a go!
How long do you think the eggs will be safe to eat? I know the beets would be a long time, if kept refrigerated.
Pickled eggs should be eaten within three to four months once they’re finished pickling. They should be stored in the refrigerator at all times.
I know refrigeration is the safest way to go but growing up our family just left the jar of pickled eggs on the counter. Many bars in our area had them to purchase and they left them in a big gallon jar just on the bar too. We, however, did not add sugar so that may make a difference.