Get Egg-cited! How to Make Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs With Your Instant Pot

Updated on 4/28/2020 at 2:10 PM

POPSUGAR Photography | Anna Monette Roberts

I'm a new Instant Pot user and have avoided cooking eggs for months out of fear they would explode (I've seen some gnarly photos on the Instant Pot Facebook Community). When I searched online for "How to cook eggs in an Instant Pot," I was met with disaster photos and inconsistent instructions from various bloggers.

I searched for "eggs" on the Instant Pot website and saw an old video (with an old Instant Pot) that gave some strange instructions, too. My boyfriend said, "Well, why don't you just try the egg setting and see what happens?" Duh! While it's almost that easy to "hard-boil" perfect eggs, there are a few tips and tricks I tried that I wanted to share with you so your eggs turn out well, too. So here's the method I used, step by step.

— Additional reporting by Haley Lyndes

Set yourself up for success.

Start by placing a trivet at the bottom of your Instant Pot bowl. I've seen people use old-school metal steamer baskets or round cooling racks. I bought the Instant Pot Silicone Trivet ($9) and am super in love. It's lightweight, and the handles don't heat up so you can swiftly remove the trivet without burning your hands.

Carefully place one dozen eggs on the trivet (mine were at room temperature). Fill the bottom of the Instant Pot bowl with one cup of water. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, fix an ice bath. This will be used after the eggs cook!

Instant Pot Silicone Trivet

From

Use the "Egg" setting.

Plug in the Instant Pot, lock the lid, and position the steam release valve to "sealed." Press the "Egg" button on the Instant Pot. It will pressure cook the pot for five minutes on normal. This will result in hard-boiled eggs. If you want soft-boiled eggs, use the "-" button to reduce the cook time to four minutes.

Be aware, it takes the Instant Pot about five minutes to heat up and five minutes to cool down. Once the cook time is over, quickly flip the steam release valve to "venting" and allow the steam to escape. Once the pressure is at normal, carefully remove the lid.

Cool down the eggs.

Carefully transfer the eggs to the ice bath (I used a bag cooler instead of ice). Let them sit for about two minutes.

Swiftly peel the eggs.

Once the eggs are cool to touch, tap the top of the egg on the counter to crack the shell, then peel off the shell. It's incredible how easy it is to do this step. The shell doesn't stick to the eggs; it just glides right off. I guess I won't need this peeling hack anymore!

The taste test tells all.

Usually, I have to salt and pepper my hard-boiled eggs liberally before I eat them, but I found that the Instant Pot eggs didn't require any seasoning. The texture and flavor of the eggs are spot-on.

Save the rest for later . . .

Since it was so easy to peel the eggs, my boyfriend and I went ahead and peeled the rest in one fell swoop. Each of them turned out whole with no unattractive divots in the whites. I stored them in an airtight container in the fridge for easy snacking throughout the week.