Instant Pot Easy Peel Boiled Eggs (+Time Comparison Photo)

5.0 from 3 votes

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs. Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs. Perfectly Easy to Peel Eggs. Every.Time. They should just go ahead and rename the Instant Pot to the Egg Pot. Just saying.

small bowl of hard boiled eggs. One has a bite taken out of it. White and yellow napkin on right and bowl of more hard boiled eggs on left

You guyss!!! Just as much as I preach that the air fryer is worth every penny for the shear fact that I can get chicken nuggets cooked in record time… the Instant Pot is worth every penny for the shear fact that I can get easy peel boiled eggs every time.

There are so many tips, tricks, and myths out there as to the “right” way to boil eggs so that they peel easily. Baking soda. Vinegar. Ice baths. Cold eggs. Room temp eggs. Old eggs. New eggs. Green eggs and ham…🤪

I can’t say I’ve tried them all, but I’ve tried my fair share and I can tell you it always ends up being hit or miss. How is it that someone says it works for them perfectly and yet, I end up with crater filled eggs?! It shouldn’t be this hard. ANNNNDDD I can now honestly say, it’s not.

HOWEVER. You need an Instant Pot (or pressure cooker, whatever.. they’re synonymous.. like ‘Look It Up’ and ‘Google It’) WAIT. Before you think this is dumb and you’re not getting a whole appliance for hard boiled eggs. Hear me out. There’s obviously plenty more you can do in the Instant Pot. Perfectly shreddable meats, tender roasts, hearty soups, you can even make your own yogurt if you’re so inclined. It’s worth it.

I jumped on the band wagon about a year ago and I don’t regret it at all. But it wasn’t until a few months ago that I found out about the hard boiled eggs and I was shocked and amazed. Also in disbelief. The more I made hard boiled eggs, the more I realized …. Holy Easy Peel Boiled Eggs Batman! Not a single time have I had the shell stick to the eggs. I feel like I’ve wasted quality life time frustrated over cratered eggs before I got this machine. And so, even if just for eggs, it is worth it!!!!!

I’m actually seeing more and more food bloggers including the “recipe” for these recently. It’s getting trendy for a reason … (WORTH IT.) So I am too in case you aren’t aware and now your life can be changed for the better as well. Or maybe you’re just here for my cool comparison photo so that you can refer to which doneness you’d like for your eggies 😋

How to Make Easy Peel Boiled Eggs in the Instant Pot

top down view into instant pot of a dozen brown eggs

It’s super simple to make eggs in the Instant Pot. These instructions were made using the Instant Pot Duo 6Qt, but most of the Instant Pots are similar enough. The exception would be the ones with the Egg button and from what I’ve read, this button makes the Instant Pot default to 5 minutes, so it’s just saving you the step of setting the time, unless of course you want a softer yolk.

STEP 1 – Place your trivet or rack into the Instant Pot

STEP 2 – Add 1 cup of cold/cool water. Warm or hot water will vary the cooking time.

STEP 3 – Place your eggs on the trivet/rack.

STEP 4 – Close and lock the lid, making sure the release valve is set to SEALING.

STEP 5 – Select Pressure Cook on High Pressure and adjust your time to 5 minutes. You can turn off the keep warm setting.

STEP 6 – It’ll take about 5 minutes to come to pressure, cook 5 minutes and then turn off. At that point, you’ll let it Natural Release for 5 minutes. Set a timer so you don’t lose track of time!

STEP 7 – Get an ice bath ready by simply adding ice and water to a bowl large enough to hold your eggs and have the water covering them.

STEP 8 – Use a kitchen towel or oven mitt to flip the valve to Quick Release. Once the pressure has fully released, open the lid and carefully take the eggs out using tongs. Place them into your ice bath. Set another timer for 5 minutes.

STEP 9 – Gently crack your shell by lightly tapping the egg on your counter on all sides, or by rolling it with light pressure. (I’m a tapper.)

STEP 10 – Peel and be amazed at the ease of the shell sliding right off. Bask in the glory that is a perfectly shiny and smooth hard boiled egg. Sprinkle some salt on that baby and enjoy. 😊

top down view into a metal bowl filled with ice and water with brown eggs soaking in the water

FAQ

How Many Eggs Can Be Cooked At Once in the Instant Pot?

I’ve personally done 1 and up to 12 without any problem. However I’ve seen a variety of answers (up to 30) and I think it might depend on what size Instant Pot you have and/or if you’d like to stack them (I did see that sometimes they can break. Mine have never broken so maybe that’s from stacking?)

Why Do Eggs Turn Brown in the Instant Pot?

You’ve overcooked them. They’re still edible though! Reduce your time by a minute next time and that should fix the problem.

Can You Make Instant Pot Eggs Without a Rack or Trivet?

I personally have not. I don’t have the specific egg rack, but I simply use the trivet that it came with. I did find a couple blogs that mentioned they successfully made eggs without a trivet or rack.

What if My Instant Pot Doesn’t Have the Egg Button

No problem! The “Egg” button is only on certain models, but it’s not at all necessary. Even with the button you still need to set your specific time if you want something other than 5 minutes so there’s honestly not much of a difference.

Do I Really Need to Put the Eggs into an Ice Bath After?

Yes and No. No, it will not make much difference in ease of peeling. When I tested my eggs I’d say there was maybe a hint of more resistance in peeling, but barely, and I peeled them while they were still warm. The idea was that I wouldn’t want an ice bath if I preferred to eat my eggs warm. They still peeled cleanly. However, this means they will continue to cook a bit so if you don’t want to do an ice bath, go with a tad less cook time. See my comparison chart for reference.

What if I Don’t Have an Instant Pot?

Buy one – just do it.

small green-toned dish with hard boiled eggs, one has a bite taken out. Salt sprinkled on black table surface. White napkin with yellow stripe on right side. White bowl with additional hard boiled eggs in background.

Variables for Instant Pot Boiled Eggs

The size of your eggs can make a difference. I generally use “Large” eggs. Small eggs may need a minute less. I’d still start with the 5 minute time and then reduce if needed going forward.

Farm fresh eggs vs. store bought eggs. Farm fresh eggs are known to be even trickier to peel. But alas, not with the Instant Pot!! Same instructions for either type.

Hard Boil to Soft Boil – Time Comparisons for Cooking Eggs in the Instant Pot

6 sets of boiled eggs, cut in half lengthwise to show doneness of yolk. Times listed for each set. Ranges from hard boiled on top left to soft boiled on bottom right.

NUMBERS INDICATE TIME IN MINUTES:

Cook Time at High Pressure + Natural Release (followed by Quick Release) + Ice Bath

“QR” = direct to Quick Release, no Natural Release after cooking

“No Ice” = No Ice Bath, Eggs were peeled once they could be handles (about 10 minutes)

You’ll commonly see the 5-5-5 method online for cooking hard boiled eggs in the instant pot. It means 5 minutes cook time at high pressure, 5 minutes natural release, and 5 minutes ice bath. This is indeed the magic number for perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs that are easy to peel! However, you can do less time if you want your eggs to be slightly softer, more jammy, or fully soft-boiled. But how much less time? I did a comparison for you showing several different combinations so you can see how the yolk would look with different times. I also tried one version with no ice bath and two options with no Natural Release time.

5-5-5 METHOD : Produces perfect hard boiled eggs. The key is setting that 5 minute timer while you natural release. I have, in the past, “watched” the clock and of course I got sidetracked by a minute or two and my eggs ended up with brown spots and/or the green lining around the yolk.

3-5-5 and 3-5-No Ice : With this I cooked for 3 minutes, Natural Release for 5 minutes, Quick Release, and then tried one with the 5 minute ice bath and one without. The results ended up about the same BUT I peeled the no ice bath eggs after about 10 minutes while they were still pretty warm. If you let them cool completely, they would continue to cook a little bit more. I would suggest this if you prefer to eat your boiled eggs warm.

5-QR-5 and 1-5-5 : These were two vary different timing combinations that resulted in similar results, yummy, semi-jammy eggs! Either 5 minutes cook, Quick Release, 5 minutes Ice Bath -or- 1 minute cook, 5 minutes Natural Release, Quick Release, 5 minutes Ice Bath. Overall the timing is about the same because the immediate Quick Release is going to take a minute longer to fully depressurize compared to the other method. 5+QR+5 was a touch more jammy but it was a very minor difference.

3-QR-5 : 3 minutes cook, Quick Release, 5 minutes ice bath. This resulted in a perfect runny soft-boil egg! This would make a good alternative to poached eggs too if you needed to make a bunch at a time, or if poaching is intimidating to you.

So there you have it! There’s a bunch more varieties that could be tried but I felt this gave a good overall comparison. If you simply want hard boiled eggs, the 5-5-5 method is tried and true and the easiest to remember. The nice part is that you can boil 1 egg at a time so if you’re concerned about how yours will turn out and don’t want to ruin a bunch of eggs, just try 1 at first!