Perfect Instant Pot Hard-Cooked Eggs

By Kath Dedon

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After several attempts at making hard-cooked eggs in my Instant Pot, I finally made Perfect Instant Pot Hard-Cooked Eggs!

There is nothing wrong with J.Kenji Lopez-Alt’s method for steaming eggs; I have made many Perfect Hard Cooked Eggs using his method. If I didn’t have an Instant Pot I would definitely continue to steam them.

However, I do have an Instant Pot! So future hard-cooked eggs at Chez Dedon will probably be produced in my Instant Pot now that I’ve figured it out.

If you search the Internet, you’ll find a surprising number of ways to make hard-cooked eggs in an Instant Pot. I tried some of them. 5 minutes of high pressure with 5 minutes of natural release before doing a quick release did not work for me. The yolks were not fully cooked. 8 minutes of high pressure with 5 minutes of natural release worked a bit better, but the yolks still had a small spot that was not quite done.

I found Amy and Jacky’s blog post about cooking eggs in the Instant Pot. They used low pressure and cooked the eggs for 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 minutes. They posted photos of all of the eggs to show how they turned out. For hard-cooked eggs, the 12-, 13-, and 14-minute eggs looked like they would suit me the best.

Since 13 minutes is the timing I use for steaming eggs, I decided to try that with the Instant Pot. It worked beautifully! I feel like I’m all ready to make deviled eggs for holiday get-togethers!

Update 11/15/17:  

Yesterday I opened a new carton of large eggs and cooked them in the Instant Pot with Low Pressure for 13 minutes. They had a green ring around the yolk indicating that they were overcooked. (See photo at the end of this blog post.)

Today I cooked some more eggs from the same carton with Low Pressure for 12 minutes and they were perfect. Blogger Ron of Lost in a Pot reported in a comment to this post that he cooked perfect eggs using Low Pressure for 12 minutes as well. From now on I will set the timer for 12 minutes. 😉

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Update 1/7/19:

I have a 6-quart Instant Pot; this recipe has worked well for me. Carrie has an 8-quart Instant Pot. She followed this method to make hard-cooked eggs and they were over-cooked with the dreaded green ring. I did a little research and found that the 8-quart pot takes longer to get to pressure; the cooking time will be longer, resulting in over-cooked eggs. If you have an 8-quart Instant Pot you could try this blogger’s method: https://kristineskitchenblog.com/instant-pot-hard-boiled-eggs/ . 

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Perfect Instant Pot Hard-Cooked Eggs

(Adapted from Amy and Jacky’s recipe on their blog, Pressure Cook Recipes)

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(print the recipe)

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This method calls for using cold tap water and cold large eggs. Using warm water, room-temperature eggs, or eggs that are a different size could affect your results.

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2 – 8 large eggs, cold from the refrigerator

1 cup cold tap water

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1. Put the steamer rack that came with the Instant Pot in the pot. Put the eggs on the rack and pour in the water. Put the lid on and set the steam release handle to Seal.

2. Press the Manual button and then press the Pressure button. Use the “-“ button to select Low Pressure. Set the time for 13 minutes 12 minutes.

3. While the eggs are cooking, prepare a bowl of ice water so it’s ready to cool the eggs.

4. When the 12 minutes under pressure are up and the Instant Pot beeps, press the Keep Warm/Cancel button to turn off the IP. Move the steam release handle to Vent for a quick pressure release.

5. Remove the lid. Put the eggs in the ice water to chill for 5 minutes.

5. Refrigerate for future use.

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Photo for the 11/15/17 Update:

The egg on the left was cooked for 13 minutes. The perfect egg on the right was cooked for 12 minutes.

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