Whether you want soft or hard boiled eggs, you can easily and quickly make them in the microwave. If you have limited space like a microfridge, you can buy a 6 pack of eggs and boil them all together. Then, it’s just a matter of pulling 1 or 2 out for a meal.
Personally, I like my eggs sliced opened, medium boiled with a sprinkle of salt. But, my college age daughter loves tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches. These are both easy to whip up in your room with ready made boiled eggs. Plus, with 4-6 boiled eggs, you can make enough to last a few days.
Can you Boil Eggs in the Microwave?
I’ve seen lots of advice on boiling eggs in the microwave from not doing it at all to poking a hole in the bottom of each egg with a thumbtack before boiling to prevent eggs exploding. I have never poked a hole in the bottom of the eggs, but I use salt in the water. I haven’t had an egg explosion yet.
It’s very important you either add the salt OR you poke holes. Otherwise, there is a very real chance your eggs could explode. Wet egg and shell splattered all over the microwave does not sound fun at all to clean up.
I tend to like medium boiled eggs where the yolk is not completely firm but also not runny. They are perfect for breakfast. It’s almost like eating fried eggs. I love them sliced up and put on top of a couple slices of sourdough toast.
However, if you want to make some tuna salad or egg salad or chop a boiled egg in just a regular green salad, I recommend boiling your eggs until they are hard boiled with firm yolks.
How to Boil Eggs in the Microwave
You’ll want to use a microwave safe bowl and place the eggs in the bottom. Then, fill with hot water (if you can find hot water) about 1/2 inch over the eggs.
Next, add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt per egg, so if you have 6 eggs, that would be 3 teaspoons of salt. DO NOT FORGET THIS STEP! This helps prevent egg explosions.
How do you want your eggs?
- For soft boiled eggs with runny yolks, remove them from the hot water immediately as soon as they come out of the microwave and plunge into ice water.
- For my favorite, medium boiled eggs, when the eggs are done in the microwave, I let them sit for 1 minute in the water. Then, I immediately put them in a bowl with ice water.
- If you want hard boiled with eggs with firm yolks, allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for 2-3 minutes.
How do you store boiled eggs?
- Eating the boiled eggs immediately? Peel them after they’ve sat in the cold water for 2-3 minutes.
- Storing in the fridge to use later? Dry the eggs, keep them unpeeled and put them in a zipper baggie with a paper towel and seal it up.
- Still have the paper egg carton? Just put them back in it, and mark on the carton that these are boiled eggs and the date.
*Microwaves can vary, so you might need to experiment on your microwave to see what time works best. These times were based on a 1500 watt microwave.
How to make Boiled Eggs in the Microwave
Make boiled eggs ahead of time and keep them in a fridge for a easy snack or to make something quick like tuna or egg salad.
Ingredients
- 2-6 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt PER egg
- enough water to cover 1/2 inch above the eggs
Instructions
- Add 2 to 6 eggs in the bottom of a microwave safe bowl.
- Cover the eggs with water at least 1/2 inch above the eggs.
- Add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt for each egg such as 1 teaspoon for 2 eggs and 3 teaspoons for 6 eggs.
- Microwave for 4 minutes for 2 eggs, 5 minutes for 4 eggs, 6 minutes for 6 eggs.
- Fill another bowl with ice and water or cold water.
- If you want soft boiled eggs with runny egg yolks, immediately remove the eggs from the water and plunge in a ice cold water.
- If you want hard boiled eggs, allow them to stay in the hot water for 2-3 additional minutes. Two minutes will give you just slightly creamy egg yolks. Three minutes will give you firm egg yolks.
Notes
- It's safest to store boiled eggs unpeeled in the shell.
- Store HARD BOILED EGGS in the shell in a closed container with a paper towel up to a week.
- Store SOFT BOILED EGGS in the shell in a closed container for 1-2 days.
Recipe Ideas for Boiled Eggs
Once you have some boiled eggs, there’s a few things you can make:
- tuna salad
- deviled eggs
- egg salad sandwiches
- tuna melt surprise
Here’s quite a few recipes you could make for quick lunches or dinners with just a few boiled eggs you made in the microwave.
You did not say how long to microwave them. You said everything but. Please update this
If you look at the recipe instructions it gives minutes per number of eggs. 4 min for 2 eggs, etc.
Isn’t the idea of a microwave to make things faster and easier? Boiling eggs in water on the stove takes maybe 2 minutes more and works just fine. No fear of explosion and probably cooks better that way also.
Hey Chip, thanks so much for the comment. Believe it or not, some places, like college dorm rooms don’t have stoves or allow hot plates for boiling. So, often, the microwave is all you got. Thanks for stopping by! 😉
This did not work. I followed the instructions and my eggs were still liquid inside.
I tried it for 6 large eggs, but it wasn’t long enough for large eggs.
Using a 1600 watt microwave, I tried cooking four eggs as instructed. I let them set afterwards for three minutes. Parts of the egg whites had started to cook. STARTED. Even if the composition of the bowl is a factor, I don’t see how five minutes of cooking could possibly work.
I did 8 eggs and 12 minutes and then let them sit for another 5 minutes. Didn’t work at all
I tried it and worked for me. Maybe it’s not the way it’s cook, maybe it’s the cook themselves.Anyway thank you for sharing the information and a new way to cook eggs..
Fantastic!! Thank you ! Cooked 4 eggs for 5 minutes and… perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs!! Yummy 😋!
Thank you for posting this info! I attempted to boil 6 eggs in the microwave for 6 minutes. I then let them sit in the hot water for about 4 or 5 additional minutes. They weren’t hard, and they were soft….somewhere in the middle but perfect for my tuna salad! I didn’t have access to a stove, so I was thrilled to fine I could boil the eggs in the microwave without them exploding!
Making these now
Your method sucks! For those who have never cooked, you should put a disclaimer at the first place, if you are trying to hard boil more then two eggs, you must increase the time! I’m sticking to the Julie Child’s method found in her book. “Julia’s kitchen wisdom” page 70. Poke a 1/4” hole in large end, place in deep saucepan, Cover with 3 1/2 quarts of cold water. Bring just to a rolling boil, remove from heat, cover the pan, and let sit for exactly 17 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice and water and let chill for a few minutes to shrink the egg body from the shell. Meanwhile reheat cooking water to boil. Lower six chilled eggs at a time into the boiling water and let boil for exactly 10 seconds to expand the shelf from the egg body. Let’s chill for 20 minutes or more. Well chilled eggs are easier to peel. I’ve used this method, works very good, maybe not 100% perfect, and takes awhile, but at least this method produces eggs that are cooked, not runny to the point of having to throw them out, and you don’t have any explosions in the microwave. Your method is not as long, but at least Julia’s method produces eggs you can eat! Wasted 3 eggs, thanks for nothing… I mean, who prepares hard boiled eggs 1 or 2 at a time anyways?