One of the best, easy ways to healthy meal prep is to cook up some hard boiled eggs at the beginning of the week. But because I know we’re all super busy, I wanted to find out which was the fastest way to hard boil eggs – the Instant Pot or stovetop?
Let’s find out which method is the fastest!
Prefer to watch? It’s all in here:
Why the Instant Pot or Stovetop?
Truth be told, I’ve always sworn by hard boiling my eggs on the stovetop. Over years and hundreds of eggs, I’ve perfected this method so that I get a perfectly cooked yolk and a great, clean peel every time.
For that reason, I haven’t seen any need to switch over to the Instant Pot method. But SO many of the users in their Facebook group swear by it. Hop on for a day and you’ll see countless posts about the 5-5-5 method and why the Instant Pot egg boiling method trumps all others.
Since I have an “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it rule” in my kitchen, I needed some motivation to make the switch. Now, with two kids, my time is more limited than ever. For that reason, I figured that it’d be an interesting experiment – for me and all you other busy parents – to see which hard boiled egg cooking method was faster and better (well-cooked and easy to peel).
How to Hard Boil Eggs in the Instant Pot or Stovetop
I’ve found that the trickiest elements of hard boiling eggs for most people are:
- Cooking them to the right doneness – not over or undercooked
- Getting them to peel easily so that you don’t lose all of the white
The good news is, I’ve had great success in hard boiling eggs so that they’re both perfectly done and easy to peel on both the Instant Pot and Stovetop. Here’s how:
This method for hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot is commonly referred to as the "5-5-5" method because it involves cooking the eggs under pressure for 5 minutes, quick-releasing the pressure after 5 minutes of natural release, and then putting the eggs in a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes.
I've tried all the ways of hard boiling eggs on the stove (at least, I think I have!), including: starting them in cold water, poking a hole in the bottom, and this boiling start method. This is the one I've consistently had the most success with and continues to be my go-to.
Ingredients
- 12 eggs
Instructions
- Add 1 cup of water into the Instant Pot liner
- Place a steamer basket or the Instant Pot trivet over the water
- Add the desired number of eggs
- Lock lid into place and set to "Sealing"
- Click "Manual" button and set for 5 minutes
- Once the unit has come to pressure and cooked for the desired 5 minutes, set a timer for 5 minutes. When it goes off, release the pressure by turning the knob from "Sealing" to "Venting"
- Remove the eggs to a bowl of ice water and let sit for at least 5 minutes
- In a medium-pot bring 4 cups of water (or enough to cover the amount of eggs you'll be cooking) to a boil over high heat
- When the water is gently boiling, drop the eggs in gently with a slotted spoon
- Set a timer of 10 - 12 minutes depending on preference
- 10 minutes will give you a medium boiled egg
- 12 minutes will give you a hard boiled (but not over cooked!) egg
- When the timer goes off, remove the eggs with the slotted spoon and place in a bowl of ice water to cool for at least 5 minutes
So, which is the fastest way to hard boil eggs?
In order to test how long each of these methods took, I started the timer from when the beginning:
- For the stovetop eggs the timer was started when I started to boil the water
- For the Instant Pot eggs the timer was started when I sealed the lid and set the “Manual” time
I stopped the timer when the eggs were being removed to the ice bath (since they each go into a bowl of ice water).
So which one is that fastest way to hard boil eggs?
- The Instant Pot method took 17 minutes to hard boil the eggs
- The stovetop method took 20 minutes and the eggs were still slightly below hard boiled. I’m guessing it would have taken another minute to bring them to the same level of cooked as the Instant Pot eggs
When it comes to speed, the Instant Pot method is the winner!!
What is the BEST way to make hard-boiled eggs?
Good question. As I mentioned earlier, I define “best” as well-cooked plus fastest plus easy to peel. Let’s look at these two methods side-by-side:
Given that the two methods are even all fronts except time, I’m going to have to give this one to the Instant Pot.
I hereby declare the Instant Pot 5-5-5 method the best way to hard boil eggs!
P.S. The Fastest Way to Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs
Just in case you’re reading this and thinking “my hard-boiled eggs NEVER peel easily”, I want to share a couple of tips with you.
- The BEST way to make your hard boiled eggs easy to peel is to put them in an ice bath as soon as they finish cooking
- Rumor has it that older eggs are easier to peel, so if you can buy them a bit ahead of time and store the fridge for a bit, you may have more luck
Once you’ve made sure to follow the two steps above, here’s how I have the most success in peeling them:
- Give the hard-boiled egg a hard slam on the countertop
- Then roll along the entire outside of the egg to “crackle” the shell
- Start with a large crack and try to get your finger under the “membrane” to start
- Slowly peel off the shell, hopefully in roughly one large sheet and with minimal white, if you’ve done everything right
Here’s what it looks like:
Want to try a different method altogether? Here are some others that folks on the interwebs swear by:
- Pressure Cooker Easy Hard Boiled Eggs from This Old Gal (more hands-off than the 5-5-5 method)
- How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs from Simply Recipes
- How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs You Can Actually Peel from Bon Appetit (they actually use the same stove method as me)
