How To Store Hard-Boiled Eggs And How Long They Last

Hard-boiled eggs are an underappreciated way to eat healthy, especially given how nutritious they are and how easy it is to prepare them. One possible reason people aren't chowing down on more of these uniquely-textured eggs could be a misunderstanding of how to store them. To find out more about the shelf life of hard-boiled eggs, we reached out to Nelson Serrano-Bahri, Chef and Director of Innovation at the American Egg Board. As it turns out, it's easy and doesn't require a whole lot of special equipment for storage. 

In fact, you already have the tools you need so long as you bought the eggs at the grocery store. "You can refrigerate [hard-boiled eggs] in their original carton to prevent odor absorption in your fridge," Serrano-Bahri told Tasting Table. If you happen to overcook your hard-boiled eggs, they're going to have an unpleasant smell of sulfur, but the eggs can also trap odors lingering in your fridge. 

Luckily, Serrano-Bahri's egg carton tip puts a stop to that. Like most food that isn't processed and pumped full of preservatives, hard-boiled eggs don't have that long of a shelf life. "In the shell, hard-boiled eggs can be refrigerated safely for up to one week," said Serrano-Bahri, though he added a crucial exception: "Once peeled, eggs should be eaten that day." The easiest way to make this work is to only peel a hard-boiled egg once you're ready to eat it.

There are so many ways to cook a hard-boiled egg. Luckily, they all leave the shell intact, so you can store them properly for the whole week. If you were hoping for a longer shelf life, you may be considering freezing your hard-boiled eggs and then thawing them once you're ready to eat one. But this isn't a good idea because hard-boiled eggs get a tough, rubbery texture when frozen that persists even after they've thawed out. It's much better to make them fresh the same week you're planning on eating them.

Cooking hard-boiled eggs every week does sound like a bit of a chore, but there are quite a few electric egg cookers available that make the job a lot more convenient. Many of us have grown accustomed to our food having a long shelf life because most of the food available to us has been prepared with preservatives. One of the biggest hurdles in reducing your intake of processed foods involves adjusting to how quickly unprocessed food spoils even if it's refrigerated. Hard-boiled eggs are a great way to get back to what's natural for our diet, so don't let the brief storage time frame scare you away.