How to make Pickled Quail Eggs

⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe 

Have you ever come across adorably tiny quail eggs before? They are sometimes for sale at my local farmer’s market, food co-op, or even Whole Foods, and whenever I pass them, I simply can’t help but buy a pack. They’re just so tiny and cute! 

Oh, and in case you were wondering? Quail’s eggs taste a lot like regular chicken eggs. Anything normal eggs can do, quail eggs can do smaller. So with my most recent batch of mottled cream and brown babies, I couldn’t resist making one of my favorite snacks: pickled beet eggs. 

A single chicken egg is roughly equivalent to 3-5 quail eggs, so these little guys are much less of a commitment than a whole pickled egg. (That said, I love pickled eggs, so the size has never been much of a deterrent for me!)

Because they’re so tiny, cooking quail eggs goes a lot faster than regular eggs. In fact, boiling quail eggs to a perfect hard boiled, pale yellow yolk takes just 5 minutes. By comparison, a soft boiled, runny yolked chicken egg takes 6 minutes.

As if that weren’t enough to love, peeling quail eggs is also way easier than chicken eggs! They have a much thicker membrane between the shell and the ovum, so everything peels off like a charm with almost zero dimpling or pockmarks.

Pair them with my Deviled Quail Eggs or Million Dollar Deviled Eggs and put out a platter for your guests on Sunday brunch or for cocktail parties. There’s never a bad time for deviled quail eggs!

🍴Ingredients

As promised, you don’t need much for making my pickled quail egg recipe. Here’s your whole list:

• Quail Eggs - These dainty, delicate little eggs are perfectly adorable. Feel free to swap in larger chicken eggs if you prefer; just be sure to adjust your cook times accordingly. You can also use them to make deviled quail eggs!
• Water and Ice for Ice Bath - Not technically an ingredient, per se, but ice cold water is a very important to stop the eggs from overcooking. Make sure you have ample ice to get the water shockingly cold. 
• Apple Cider Vinegar - I love the sweet, sour, vinegary bite of ACV. Feel free to swap in other acids like white wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar, or sherry vinegar instead.
• Champagne Vinegar - Delicate, fruity, and floral, champagne vinegar is one of my favorite bottles in the pantry. Again, feel free to experiment with other acids like white or rice wine vinegar instead.
• Beet Juice - Sweet, earthy, and impossibly red, beet juice gives these hot pink pickled eggs their vibrant hue. For more of a turmeric shade with a similar sweet and earthy profile, try swapping in carrot juice instead.
• Cardamom Pods & Peppercorns - For herbal warmth and a bit of a spicy kick. You’re welcome to experiment with other spices as you see fit! Read on under the “Optional Variations” tab below for some ideas to get you started.

⏲️ Substitutions & Variations

While I love these beet pickled quail egg recipe just the way it is, there are plenty of ways to tweak it to your liking. Here are a few variations to consider:

• Make them jammy. If you like your yolks soft, follow the chart below for instructions on how to soft- or medium-boil the eggs.
• Swap in different liquids. Different vinegars can be traded in for different flavors. Beet juice can be replaced by other veggie juice for different colors. You can also swap in dry wine for one of the liquids if you’d like!
• Try a different spice blend. Adding whole garlic cloves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, or other whole spices is an easy way to tweak the flavor of these tiny beet pickled eggs. 
• Make them big. Can’t find quail eggs? This recipe will totally work for full-sized chicken eggs, too! Just be sure to adjust the cooking time to match their much larger size.

📖 Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Hard Boil Quail Eggs. Place eggs in a small saucepan and add water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Step 2: Shock Quail Eggs. Remove the cooked eggs with a slotted spoon and place them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.

Step 3: Peel eggs and place them in an airtight, glass container or glass jar.  

Step 4: Add Brine (Pickling Liquid). Pour vinegars and beet juice over the quail eggs, then finish with cardamom pods and peppercorns. 

Step 5: Marinate. Allow the eggs to pickle for about 8 hours before enjoying! 

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

Because they’re so tiny, it’s kind of hard to gauge how long to boil quail eggs. As such, I thought it’d be helpful to give you a quick rundown:

For soft-boiled quail eggs, boil for 2 minutes before removing to an ice bath. 

For medium-boiled quail eggs, boil for 3-3.5 minutes before removing to an ice bath.

For hard-boiled quail eggs, boil for 5 minutes before removing to an ice bath.

❄️ Storage Tips

How long will pickled quail eggs last? These miniature bites of goodness can last for about 3-4 months in the refrigerator. That said, I think they are at their best within the first 2 months.

Do you have to refrigerate pickled quail eggs? Yes! Unless you’re very familiar with canning, I suggest you avoid trying to make these quail eggs shelf-stable. Besides, you can start eating them just 8 hours after you place them in the brine, and once a jar of pickled eggs is open, it should be refrigerated anyway.

Why are my pickled eggs rubbery? When egg proteins come into contact with a highly acidic brine for too long, they’ll start to get kind of tough. As a result, I like to make my pickling solution with beet juice to both add a gorgeous color to the eggs, but also to increase the pH of the juice so the eggs don’t get rubbery.

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