The Easter eggs have been dyed, hidden, and found again. Easter dinner has been cooked, eaten, and enjoyed. And now you’re staying at a fridge full of leftover hard-boiled eggs and extra cartons of eggs you bought on sale, and you’re thinking, “What do I do with all the eggs after Easter?”
Don’t let those leftover Easter eggs go to waste. We’ve found plenty of cheap and easy recipes for uncooked and hard-boiled eggs, as well as ways to repurpose Easter eggs shells and egg cartons. Not only will you quickly use up your Easter leftovers, but you might find yourself going back to the store to try all these interesting ways to serve eggs.
Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash
Recipes using leftover hard-boiled eggs
What do you do with all of those hard-boiled eggs, besides making LOTS of egg salad? You might be surprised at the variety of recipes you can find that start from hard-boiled eggs.
Deviled eggs
Deviled eggs are always a big hit at pot lucks and brunches, with their creamy, tangy filling. You can find tons of recipes for deviled eggs with various flavor twists, but if you’re still in a festive spring mood, try making deviled eggs that look like adorable chicks peeking out of their shells.
Pickled eggs
You’ve pickled cucumbers, but have you ever pickled eggs? They’re popular pub food, especially in the U.K., and a fun salty snack. If you try this pickled eggs recipe, have your patience at the ready. You’ll need to wait at least two days before they’re ready to eat; let them sit for a week for best results.
Hard-boiled eggs Benedict
Hate runny eggs, but love hollandaise sauce? When you’re wondering what to do with all those leftover Easter eggs, make your family a fancy breakfast with hard-boiled eggs Benedict.
Scotch eggs
While they sound old-fashioned, Scotch eggs are basically egg and sausage all rolled into one yummy breakfast. You do need to bread and fry the meat-wrapped eggs, so don’t expect this recipe will help you stick to your diet.
Potato or egg salad
Everything’s better with mayonnaise, amiright? You can mash up your leftover Easter eggs to make egg salad for sandwiches or to top green salads. Or throw your hard-boiled eggs into your favorite potato salad recipe for a delicious accompaniment to deli meat sandwiches.
Green salads
Hard-boiled eggs are a staple ingredient in many salads, and after Easter, you’ll find many spring vegetables in the grocery store and farmer’s markets. This warm spinach salad makes a delicious lunch or a nice starter before dinner. Or, try a tuna Nicoise salad, Cobb salad or chopped salad for other veggie-rific side dishes that make use of your leftover Easter eggs.
Photo by Taisiia Shestopal on Unsplash
Creamed eggs
While I was growing up, my mom would often make egg gravy, a recipe her mom made. These Creole creamed eggs are the closest I could find to that recipe. We just skipped the hot sauce and served it over mashed potatoes alongside a fish dish at dinner.
Bunwiches
These sandwiches look like a delicious way to use both leftover eggs and Easter ham. You mix them up with cheese, mayo and onions, spread them on home-baked sandwich buns, and bake until the filling is nice and melty. Of course, you can use store-bought rolls if you prefer.
Breakfast casserole
Casseroles are ideal for using up leftovers. Just throw what you’ve got in a baking dish and enjoy a hot meal that didn’t involve you slaving over the stove. This breakfast casserole uses up all your Easter leftovers, including hard-boiled eggs, ham, and bread.
Egg pizza
These days, you can find anything on a pizza from a pineapple to pear and potato. So why not eggs? Try this Brazilian recipe for Portuguese pizza, which tops the crust with hard-boiled eggs, ham and olives. Not a dish for the faint of heart or delicate taste buds.
Empanadas
Empanadas can be a pain to assemble, but the end result is worth the effort. You get the flaky pastry and the warm filling, and you can eat them for days. This savory empanada recipe stars tuna, green olives and several of your leftover Easter eggs.
Chocolate chip cookies
You heard me! Some creative chefs have figured out that you can actually bake chocolate chip cookies using hard-boiled eggs. If that isn’t the best way to repurpose leftover Easter eggs, I don’t know what is.
Recipes using leftover uncooked Easter eggs
According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, “The incredible edible egg packs a lot of nutrition in a small package. One egg has 13 essential vitamins and minerals, high-quality protein and antioxidants, all for about 70 calories.”
If you like eggs, they make a protein-filled breakfast that will get you through the morning. If you don’t like them plain – fried, scrambled, boiled or poached – there are many other ways to employ and enjoy them.
Quiches and frittatas
A brunch standard and a lunch favorite, quiches are an incredibly versatile way to enjoy eggs. Same with frittatas. Quiches and frittatas are excellent ways to use leftovers – such as veggies or bits of cheese. You can go vegetarian or pack them with more protein – ham, sausage, chicken, shrimp, crab, you name it. Quiche is usually baked like a pie, in a crust; frittatas are usually fried without a crust. Try this classic quiche Lorraine recipe with bacon and cheese from chef Emeril Lagasse.
Tortilla Española
Another cousin of the quiche is the Spanish tortilla. No, not the Mexican flatbread, but an egg dish that usually contains potatoes. Try this tortilla Española recipe that pairs well with a sofrito spread.
Crepes and Dutch babies
Don’t like that “eggy” taste? Think crepes or Dutch babies (a puffy baked version of a pancake). Both are egg based but taste more like pastries. A basic crepe recipe is your entrée to breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert. Add ham and Swiss or spinach and cheddar cheese for breakfast or brunch. Add creamed chicken and mushrooms for a lunch or dinner crepe. How about a chocolate-filled crepe or crepes Suzette for dessert?
Dutch babies are simply crepes baked in the oven till they are puffed and golden. Fill with sautéed fruit like peaches or apples, or fresh fruit like berries and top with whipped cream for a fancy breakfast or brunch dish.
Soufflés
Soufflés can be main dishes, side dishes or dessert treats. And they use a lot of eggs. Try a cheese soufflé (maybe with mushrooms or spinach add-ins) – it’s not as hard as you think. Or get crazy and prepare a chocolate soufflé for a special dessert.
Photo: Deposit Photos
What to do with Easter eggshells
Eggshells have several uses. If you plan on using the shells, either wash them thoroughly or bake them at 150 degrees Fahrenheit on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes to get rid of any possible bacteria.
Eggshells make great fertilizer for your garden or potted plants. Here are some tips for how to get them ready to mix in the dirt. Their sharp edges can also help keep slugs out of your plants, so be sure to sprinkle some on top of the soil, too.
There are so many uses for eggshells I can’t list them all. Fortunately this blog lists dozens of options.
How to repurpose egg cartons
With all those eggs, you’re bound to have some leftover egg cartons. My recycling center doesn’t take egg cartons, so it’s great when I can find ways to repurpose them. Here are a few of my favorites:
Seedling starter
Think of your garden. If you plan to start any seedlings in the house before planting outside you can make a perfect seedling starter out of both an egg carton AND leftover egg shells — just be careful when you peel off those beautiful shells so that you can keep them as intact as possible.
Ornament holders
Christmas may not be on your mind now, but if you’re sick of pulling out broken ornaments each year when you decorate the tree, consider saving egg cartons to use as protective ornament holders. If they protect delicate eggs, they will probably work pretty well on your decorations, too. Start saving them now, and you will have plenty of them by the time the holidays roll around again.
Cake pop stand
If you’re a baker, you’ll love this idea for using egg cartons to hold cake pops. It’s much easier to store and less messy than the big blocks of Styrofoam in my basement now.
Paint palettes
Finally, if you have budding artists in the house, egg cartons can make great paint palettes.
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