Pickled Eggs & Red Beets

These are the magenta-stained eggs you see floating in big jars on the counter at every diner from Lancaster to York. Pennsylvania Dutch pickled eggs and red beets are a low-effort, high-reward project. Boil tender young beets, dunk them in a sweet-sour brine of brown sugar, vinegar, cinnamon stick, and whole cloves, then add hard-boiled eggs to the same liquid a few days later.

The two-stage steep is the secret. Beets need several days to give up enough color and earthy sweetness to the brine. Drop the eggs in too early and the brine tastes flat. Add them after the beets have done their work and they pull in flavor and color overnight, going from white to deep pink within hours and ruby red within two days.

Use young beets if you can find them. Older beets turn fibrous and the brine tastes muddy instead of bright. The cinnamon and clove are what set this version apart from a plain vinegar pickle. They give the eggs a faint warmth that plays with the sweetness instead of fighting it.

Pro Tips

• Peel the eggs while they’re still warm. Cold-peeled eggs come out pocked and the brine collects in the dents.
• Use a glass jar, not metal. The vinegar reacts with metal lids and turns the brine cloudy.
• Slice eggs in half lengthwise to use as a deviled egg base. The pink whites against yellow filling are a Pennsylvania Dutch potluck trademark.
• Save the leftover brine. A second batch of eggs steeped in used brine takes color faster than the first.

Variations

• Add a halved sweet onion to the jar with the beets for sliced pickled onions on the side.
• Bump the spices with a few allspice berries or a bay leaf.
• Use apple cider vinegar instead of plain white for a fruitier, mellower brine.