Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs (Instant Pot Recipe)

Perfect hard-boiled eggs are a staple in many households, whether they’re used for a quick breakfast on the go or as a protein-packed addition to a salad. While there are many methods for boiling eggs, the traditional stove-top method can often be time-consuming and prone to inconsistencies. Fortunately, there’s a solution that can help you hard boil eggs perfectly – the instant pot! With this versatile appliance, you can make the best hard boiled eggs without the guess work.

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What Is The Best Method For Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs?

To get the best hard-boiled eggs every single time you absolutely must try the pressure cooker method. After the first time I made this easy recipe in my instant pot I officially retired my stove top from ever making hard-boiled and soft-boiled eggs again. 

Eggs are such a tasty and healthy food whether you are looking for a quick snack, making grandma’s egg salad, preparing to dye easter eggs, or making any number of egg recipes. My mom has recently fallen in love with backyard chickens and brought a lot of eggs over to my house. I was so excited to have so many fresh eggs and one of the first things I did was pull out my electric pressure cooker and make a quick batch of my perfect instant pot hard-boiled eggs recipe. 

What Do I Need To Make Instant Pot Hard-Boiled Eggs

The only special equipment that you need to make hard boiled eggs in the instant pot is… a 6-quart instant pot!

Really, any kind of electric pressure cooker that you have will work. If you have different brand you can still absolutely make this recipe (and most all instant pot recipes for what it’s worth).

Other than the pressure cooker itself you will need the trivet that most pressure cookers come with. The pressure cooker trivet is a metal rack that sits just inside the inner pot of your machine. You use the trivet to elevate foods above the cooking liquid. Another example of using the trivet is in my Instant Pot Coffee Cake Recipe.

If you make a lot of hard-boiled eggs very frequently you may consider purchasing a stackable egg rack for your instant pot. The rack allows you to make 14 eggs at a time and can be nice for some families but is by no means necessary in order to make instant pot eggs.

How To Make Hard-Boiled Eggs In The Instant Pot

First, place your trivet or steamer basket into the inner pot of your instant pot.

Next you will add your eggs on top of the trivet. I like to keep mine in a single layer for more consistent results. I had these beautiful brown eggs from my mom’s chickens but of course white eggs will work just as well. 

The final step is to add one cup of water into the inner pot with your eggs.

Cook the eggs on high pressure for a five minute cooking time. During the cook time I like to prepare an ice bath for the eggs. Having a cold water bath or ice water bath for the eggs will stop the cooking process and make it super easy when it comes time to peel eggs. 

You can allow the instant pot to go through a natural release or you can hit the quick release button remove any remaining pressure when you are ready. I have had the same results both ways.

As soon as the quick pressure release has finished and the lid can safely be opened I use tongs to move the eggs straight into the ice bath.

What Is The 5-5-5 Method For Cooking Eggs?

The 5-5-5 method is five minutes cooking in the instant pot, a five minute natural release before you hit the quick release button, and then five minutes in an ice bath.

Many people swear by 5-5-5 method, the 4-4-4 method, or the 6-6-6 method depending on how well done they like the egg yolk. These are all great methods. I use a variation of the 5-5-5 method in this recipe here. I differ from that method because I do not find the five minute release to make much of a difference in the final outcome and while I do recommend an ice bath I do not strictly time that either.

Does It Matter How Many Eggs I Put In An Instant Pot?

I have found the highest success rate from keeping my eggs in a single layer however you can pile up as many eggs will fit. There is no need to change the cooking time or any other steps of the process regardless of how many eggs you make. I’ve made a dozen hard-boiled eggs in one go on multiple times.

When I load up my instant pot with eggs I will usually have just one single egg that cracks but otherwise I do not have any problems cooking up a large batch of eggs.

If you routinely make large batches of hard-boiled eggs in the instant pot you may want to invest in a steamer rack or a stackable egg rack to help prevent that one pesky egg from cracking.