Perfect Air Fryer Eggs – Hard or Soft Boiled
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Air fryer eggs, my new favorite way to “boil” eggs for meal prep! It’s as easy as can be to make either hard boiled, soft boiled, and jammy eggs in the air fryer. Learn how to do it right, with all the tips and tricks to get your eggs exactly how you like them!
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My air fryer has become my new kitchen best friend. I use It for everything from air fryer roasted potatoes to homemade air fryer tortilla chips to air fryer pork tenderloin! I even put together an Air fryer cook times chart to reference whenever I’m cooking.
And now I’m using my air fryer to take my weekly meal prep to the next level, by making perfect “boiled” eggs. Now it will definitely take some experimenting to master air fryer eggs, but once you do, you’ll be able to make them exactly the way you like them, every single time!
Learn how to cook anything in your air fryer with our free cook time chart!
Cooked one brown and one white egg exactly as described for hard boiled, 270 degrees F for 15 minutes, and both came out perfect! I was a little apprehensive about putting cold eggs in a preheated air fryer for fear of my eggs breaking from extreme temperature change, but they came out great! Thanks for a new a way of cooking eggs. This is a game changer.
–Laura
Air frying cooks the eggs evenly and without any work or mess at all, making my weekly meal prep a breeze! I like to keep a dozen in my fridge for quick breakfasts like frozen air fryer hash browns or Deviled Eggs on the fly.
But best of all, air fried eggs are incredibly easy to peel. I’ve tried EVERY SINGLE trick, and these eggs are by far the easiest to peel… It’s almost like they peel themselves. I don’t know the science behind this, but I suspect it’s because the dry heat and convection naturally pulls the shell from the membrane as they cook.
Happy Kitchen Secrets
Here are my important mom-tested tips for hard boiling eggs in an air fryer. I’ve made them countless times, so I can save you from a failed attempt.
- Leave some space: Because the air fryer uses convection to cook, the air needs to circulate in order to cook evenly. As best you can, leave a little space between each egg and don’t overfill the air fryer. My air fryer basket has grooves that the eggs sit in nicely to keep them from rolling around.
- Experiment with cook times: There are a lot of factors that influence air frying cooking times! The strength of your air fryer, its temperature settings, the size and fullness of your basket, as well as the size of the eggs you use will all play into the equation.
- Use this as a reference to guide you, but expect a learning curve. Plan to experiment a bit to find the ideal cook time for the eggs you like, so start by cooking one or two eggs until you get a handle on it.
- If the yolk has a green ring around it: That usually happens when eggs are cooked too long or at too high of a temperature. It’s not appetizing but they are totally safe to eat. Next time, shorten the cook time a bit.
- To get centered yolks: Turn your carton of eggs on its side in the refrigerator for about a day. When they cook, the yolks will stay more centered, which is perfect for presentation in recipes like deviled eggs.
How to Cook Eggs in the Air Fryer
First, preheat your air fryer. I set my air fryer to a low temperature to mimic a simmering pot of water, like what you’d set eggs in when boiling eggs.
Next, add your eggs to the air fryer basket or rack. As best you can, leave space between each egg. It’s normal if they roll a bit, but this allows the air to circulate properly. Place the basket back into the air fryer and cook.
⏱️ Cook Times
- Soft Boiled Eggs: 9-10 minutes
- Jammy Eggs: 11-13 minutes
- Hard Boiled Eggs: 14-15 minutes
Remove the eggs and set them immediately into an ice bath. What’s an ice bath? An ice bath is just a bowl filled with ice and cold water. Submerging the eggs in the ice cold water stops the cooking process quickly, that way you have full control over the doneness of your eggs.
If you’re wanting to make jammy eggs, get my full guide on how to make jammy eggs.
Lastly, when the eggs are cool but not yet chilled, remove them, crack the shells and peel. I recommend starting at the bottom/fattest part of the egg, because that’s usually where the air bubble forms.
🥚Storing
Peel the eggs, but do not cut them until you’re ready to eat them. Transfer the cooked eggs to an airtight container or bag and store in the refrigerator forup to 7 days, per USDA.
I don’t recommend freezing boiled eggs, although it’s possible to do, and I’ve heard of some people doing it with success. But I’ve found that once you defrost frozen eggs, the whites tend to get mushy and watery, and the yolks get very mealy. Instead, I recommend air frying a fresh batch weekly or whenever you run out.
Uses for Air Fryer Boiled Eggs
Now that you’ve got all these hard boiled eggs, what to do with them? Well there are just So. Many. Options!
Of course they are fabulous all on their own, with just a sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning or sea salt. But you can use them to make Egg Salad with Bacon (pictured above!), Chicken Caesar Salad, or make a delicious potato salad!
Serve them with fresh fruit, air fryer breakfast potatoes (that can cook while your eggs are cooling and peeled) or a high protein blueberry muffin.
If you make this recipe, please give it a star rating and leave a comment below to let me know how it went!
Air Fryer Eggs – Hard or Soft Boiled
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs for small, medium or jumbo eggs, see notes
Video
Instructions
Preheat Your Air Fryer
- Preheat your air fryer to 270° F to 275° F (132-135°C) for 5 minutes. If your air fryer doesn't go lower in temperature than 300° F, set it to 300° F (148°C). Important note: We find that testing 1 egg first will help you to find the exact time that works for your air fryer and preference.
Cook the Eggs
- Add the eggs to the basket, leaving a little space between each one. Close the air fryer.
- Cook at 270ºF (132ºC) for your desired time and doneness. For soft boiled eggs, cook for 9-11 minutes. For jammy eggs, cook 12-13 minutes. For hard boiled eggs, cook for 13-15 minutes. If you set your air fryer to 300° F (148°C), subtract about 1-2 minutes from your desired cook level listed above.Remember, you'll need to practice a bit to figure out how long to cook in your particular air fryer.
Ice Bath
- While the eggs cook, prepare the ice bath. Fill a bowl halfway with ice, then add cold water until the bowl is ¾ filled.
- Remove the eggs from the air fryer with tongs and set them in the ice bath for about 4-5 minutes, until cool to the touch but not ice cold (this makes them easier to peel).
Peel Eggs
- Gently crack the egg shells, rolling them a bit along a hard surface to make cracks along all sides. Peel and enjoy right away or store for later. Be sure to refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking.
I’m gonna try this tonight. I do have one, though if you want to cook some ahead, could you leave them with appeal on instead of peeling?
You can leave the egg shell on and peel later, but it may not be as easy to peel as the egg fully cools.
I followed the directions, but was disappointed that the eggs did not peel nicely. Perhaps I should have used older eggs, and these were only about a week old. I wanted to make a spinach salad, but, ha ha, found I only had kale. I ended up making egg salad with dill and bacon and a bit of red onion. I do hope to master “boiled” eggs in the air fryer, but this didn’t work Thanks anyway!
Thank you for sharing your experience. We have found that as long as the eggs are cool and not cold after the ice bath that they are easy to peel. I’m sorry you didn’t have that same experience!
I have an Instant Pot Air Fryer, which I love! 270 degrees 17 min, perfect for deviled eggs. 250 degrees 9 min for lox eggs on a bagel. 250 degrees 12 min caviar and eggs with bagel onion and cream cheese. Thank you for this recipe😎