Air Fryer Boiled Eggs

Air fryer eggs are a standby way to “boil” eggs that come out exactly to your liking every time! Make reliable hard-boiled, soft-boiled, or jammy eggs in the air fryer to use in lighter meals all week long.

At a glance

What stands out: The air fryer is a speedy and straightforward method for reliable hard- or soft-boiled eggs.
How long it takes: 10 to 15 minutes depending on how you like your eggs.
Equipment you’ll need: air fryer, plus a bowl for an ice bath.
Servings: cook up to 12 eggs, depending on the size of your air fryer.

Reliable Air Fryer Boiled Eggs

As you might know by now, we’re egg lovers in this family. It’s one of our favorite proteins. We always have a bevy of boiled eggs waiting in the fridge, ready to use in everything from breakfasts to salads to snacks.

Between our Instant Pot hard boiled eggs and now these air fryer boiled eggs, we're never touching the stove again when it comes to cooking eggs. Both methods are faster and practically fool-proof. Plus, air fryer eggs are a breeze to peel.

This straightforward air fryer recipe turns out evenly cooked eggs whether you want them soft-boiled, hard-boiled, or jammy in the middle. Cook your eggs ahead to use in loads of lighter meals!

What stands out

After you’ve tried this method for boiled eggs, you won’t want to cook them any other way. Here’s why you’ll love cooking eggs in your air fryer:

• Speedy and straightforward. There’s no need to sit around waiting for water to boil with this method. Simply place the eggs into your air fryer basket and hit start. Air fryer boiled eggs cook up quickly and peel more easily than traditionally boiled eggs.
• Great for meal prep. The air fryer is our new favorite way to cook eggs for meal prep. You can cook as many eggs as your heart desires and enjoy lighter meals throughout the week.
• Versatile. Hard-boiled eggs are reliable as a lighter breakfast, in salads, sandwiches, and more. See more suggestions and recipe ideas later on in the post.

What You’ll Need

All you need to make reliable air fryer boiled eggs is, well, eggs! The fresher, the better. Depending on the size of your air fryer and how many servings, you can cook between 2 to 12 eggs without having to change the cooking time. Remember to scroll to the recipe card for the full recipe details.

How it comes together

• Preheat the air fryer. Begin by preheating your air fryer to 270ºF. For the same reason you’d bring water to a simmer in order to boil eggs on the stove, you want the air inside your air fryer nice and hot before you add your eggs in.

• Add the eggs to the basket. Once your air fryer is preheated, gently place the eggs into the air fryer basket. Try not to overcrowd the basket or rack, leaving enough space between the eggs so that they don’t touch. This helps the hot air circulate.
• Cook. Next, return the basket to the fryer and cook the eggs to your desired doneness (see below for suggested cooking times). While the eggs are cooking, fill a large bowl with ice cubes and water.
• Cool and peel. When your eggs are ready, transfer them immediately to the bowl of ice water to cool them down so they don’t continue to cook. Use tongs, as the egg shells will be hot from the fryer. Allow the boiled eggs to cool in the ice bath. Afterward, get peeling and enjoy!

Cooking Times for Air Fryer Eggs

How long does it take to “boil” an egg in the air fryer? This depends on how you prefer your egg yolks. Here are some general cooking times for soft, medium, and hard-boiled eggs:

• Soft Boiled Eggs – 10 minutes
• Jammy Eggs – 12 minutes
• Hard Boiled Eggs – 15 minutes

10 minutes 12 minutes 15 minutes

Tips for the Best Air Fryer Boiled Eggs

“Boiling” eggs in the air fryer is a little different from cooking them in a pot on the stove! Keep these tips in mind for reliable boiled eggs, every time:

• Use fresh eggs. Although they may be slightly harder to peel, fresher eggs taste better.
• Leave room for the air to circulate. Air fryers are essentially countertop convection ovens. This means that the hot air needs to circulate in order to cook the contents evenly. Make sure to leave enough space between your eggs, and don’t overcrowd the basket.
• Not all air fryers are the same. Some models may run hotter than others, and exact cooking times can vary depending on the size of your air fryer. You can always do a test run with 1 or 2 eggs to get an idea of what works for you.
• If your hard-boiled eggs have a green ring around the yolks, this is because the eggs were overcooked. Perhaps the air fryer temperature was too high or the eggs were cooked too long. It’s totally fine to eat them, though.

Air Fryers

Air frying is one of our favorite cooking methods. It’s a straightforward way to cook everything from eggs to full dinners quickly and with minimal clean-up! Once you have a good air fryer, there’s no turning back.

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Air Fryer Eggs FAQ

Ways to serve it

Boiled eggs are a light, protein-packed breakfast (be sure to check out our complete list of 23+ straightforward breakfast recipes!) or a straightforward on-the-go lunch when served as-is. We love soft-boiled eggs with toast for dipping into the runny yolk, served with a side of baked bacon.

Hard-boiled eggs are simple and rich seasoned with salt, pepper, and fresh herbs (our favorites are chopped chives, dill, parsley, and thyme). Try these other ways to use boiled eggs:

• Salads: Eggs are a classic ingredient in Cobb salads, and we love them in our favorite potato salad recipe. You can also make your own Caesar salad topped with a hard-boiled egg, from-scratch Caesar dressing, and croutons.
• Sandwiches: Slice up hard-boiled eggs or serve a soft-boiled egg on top of avocado toast, or make a straightforward egg salad sandwich.
• Deviled Eggs: Air fryer boiled eggs are a straightforward shortcut to reliable deviled eggs that you can customize to your heart’s content (like these Southwestern deviled eggs).
• Meal Prep: Leave these eggs in their shells to take on the go for straightforward snacks and lunches. Or, include them in straightforward meal prep ideas, like a lighter breakfast bowl.

How to Store Hard Boiled Eggs

We love making air fryer boiled eggs in batches to stash in our fridge and enjoy throughout the week. Here’s how to properly store them:

• Fridge. According to the USDA, hard-cooked eggs are fine to keep in the fridge for up to 1 week. If your eggs are still in their shells, you can simply place them into a container and refrigerate them. If they’re already peeled, leave the eggs whole and store them airtight.
• Freezer. While we've heard of people freezing their hard-boiled eggs, we don’t recommend it. The texture just isn’t the same once the eggs are thawed! Luckily, with this air frying method, it’s straightforward to cook up a fresh batch every week.

• Yield: 2 servings
• Prep: 1 minute
• Cook: 15 minutes
• Total: 16 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 eggs (you can cook 2 to 12 eggs, depending on the size of your air fryer)

Method

1. Preheat a 3.5-quart air fryer to 270ºF for five minutes.
2. Add eggs to the basket and cook 15 minutes for hard-boiled eggs, 12 minutes for jammy eggs, or 10 minutes for soft-boiled eggs.
3. While they cook, prepare an ice bath for the eggs by adding ice and water to a bowl large enough to hold the eggs.
4. When the eggs have finished cooking, place them into the ice bath.
5. When cool, peel and enjoy!

Notes

The egg shells may have small brown spots on them when you remove them from the air fryer. Don’t be alarmed! This is normal and it doesn’t affect the taste or texture of the eggs. In fact, it will come right off when you place them in the ice bath.