Learn how to make the perfect soft boiled eggs and hard boiled eggs in your Instant Pot or quick cooker every time! You’ll love how easy it is and you’ll be able to convert any stove-top boiled egg recipe into an Instant Pot recipe with ease! 
I am so excited to share this post with you guys because this method for making soft boiled eggs and hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot is a total game changer!
The Big “EGGsperiment”!
I’ve spent the last two weeks feeding my family eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner so that I could find the easiest, most simple method of getting the perfect soft boiled and hard boiled egg, every time!
I’ve tried EVERY SINGLE METHOD I found on the internet. I cooked them on the stove-top, in the oven, the microwave, the Instant Pot … I tried starting in cold water, hot water. I put salt in the water, I tried vinegar in the water. I tried the 5:5:5 method, the 6:6:6 method, high pressure, low pressure … I mean I literally tried everything. I’ve lost count of how many dozen of eggs I’ve went through but believe me, it was worth it! I’ve done all the testing so you don’t have to!!
At the end of my “EGGsperiment” … I came to the conclusion that steaming the eggs in the Instant Pot gave me the most consistent results and the easiest to peel eggs.
Because most people are either going to make a soft boiled egg with a runny yolk or a hard boiled egg with a completely set yolk, this tutorial only includes cooking times for those two stages of boiled eggs.
The best method for making soft boiled eggs and hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot:
- Place the trivet into the bottom of the liner and add 1 cup of water. Place your eggs on top of the trivet, place the lid on and lock it into place. Make sure the pressure valve is in the SEALED position.
- Press the STEAM button and make sure it is in the NORMAL mode. Adjust the timer to 4 minutes for soft boiled eggs and 12 minutes for hard boiled eggs.
- The pressure cooker will take about 2-3 minutes to come to pressure and start the timer. When the timer goes off, immediately release the pressure by turning the pressure valve to VENTING position. Allow the pressure to escape and then remove the lid.
- Take the eggs out of the pressure cooker using a pair of tongues and straight into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.
That’s it! No need to worry about natural release time or the time it takes to come up to pressure. Decide if you want a soft boiled egg or a hard boiled egg and set the STEAM function to that amount of time.
***It’s important to remember that you need to release the pressure as soon as the timer goes off and put eggs into an ice water bath immediately. If you do not do this you will OVERCOOK the eggs!
One of the other benefits of steaming eggs instead of boiling them, is that it doesn’t matter if they are fresh off the farm or a few weeks old, they will be super easy to peel! These eggs are amazing on homemade Sourdough toast!
Easily convert any stove-top hard boiled egg recipe into an Instant Pot Hard Boiled Egg recipe using the following method:
RECIPE COOK TIME MINUTES – 2 MINUTES then immediately perform a QUICK PRESSURE RELEASE and straight into the ICE WATER BATH to stop the cooking.
Let’s say for example your Deviled Eggs recipe calls for a 14 minutes hard boiled egg.
The equation is:
- 14 MINUTES – 2 MINUTES = 12 MINUTES TIMER on STEAM function
- QUICK PRESSURE RELEASE
- Immediately into the ICE WATER BATH to stop the cooking.
The reason you subtract 2 minutes from the recipe’s cooking time is to allow for the time the Instant Pot needs to come up to pressure PLUS the time it needs to release the pressure and open the lid. While these two stages are happening (pressure building and pressure releasing), the eggs are continuing to cook and therefore that time is factored into the final cooking time.
I used this equation to cook the various stages of soft and hard boiled eggs in the picture below. 
Tips and Resources for making hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot:
- Most pressure cooker recipes fail to mention that where you live affects how long food takes to cook! If you live in a high altitude, over 2000 ft above sea level, you will more than likely have to adjust your cook times. Run an experiment to see which cook times work best for your area! You only need to put 1 or 2 eggs in the Instant Pot at a time to test it out. It’s worth the time and more than likely you can eat any mistakes!!
- When you are placing your eggs into the liner, look over them and make sure there are no visible cracks in the shell.
- Use the trivet or some type of steamer basket or small metal colander to hold the eggs up and off of the bottom of the pressure cooker liner. Do not cook the eggs directly on the bottom of the pot.
- It’s very important to manually release the pressure as soon as the timer goes off and immediately place the eggs in an ice water bath to prevent over cooking.
- When peeling soft boiled eggs, be very gentle and take your time. They are harder to peel because the white and the yolk are SOFT and not completely set.
- Store peeled eggs in the fridge for up to 3 days. Cooked eggs still in the shell can be stored in the fridge for a week.
INSTANT POT DUO 6 QT.: This is the model I use.
TONGUES WITH SILICONE: These tongues with the silicone on the ends makes getting the eggs out super easy. They grip onto them so they won’t go flying around.
EGG TRIVET: This is the stack-able egg trivet that I mention in the video.
EGG CUP: This is the egg holder in the picture.
Try one of the soft boiled eggs on Sweet Potato Toast or use the hard boiled eggs for Deviled Eggs!
*** I live at about 1,000 feet above sea level. Make sure to share your altitude and cooking times that worked best for you in the comment section below so that other people can see if it will work for them too!! Thanks!
Instant Pot Perfect Soft Boiled and Hard Boiled Eggs
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 6 eggs or the amount needed for your recipe
Instructions
- Place the trivet into the bottom of the liner and add 1 cup of water. Place your eggs on top of the trivet, place the lid on and lock it into place.
- Make sure the pressure valve is in the SEALED position.
- Press the STEAM button and make sure it is in the NORMAL mode. Adjust the timer to 4 minutes for soft boiled eggs and 12 minutes for hard boiled eggs.
- The pressure cooker will take about 2-3 minutes to come to pressure and start the timer. When the timer goes off, immediately release the pressure by turning the pressure valve to VENTING position. Allow the pressure to escape and then remove the lid.
- Take the eggs out of the pressure cooker using a pair of tongues and straight into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.
Video
Notes
- Up to 12 large eggs will fit on the trivet.
- Use an ice water bath to stop the cooking process when you remove the eggs.
Nutrition
charles says
This is perfect. Thanks for taking the time to “eggsperiment” with this. LOL I tried out the cooking times and they worked for me too. I’m at about 800 feet above seal level.
Amy says
Ha ha! You’re very welcome!