(Author’s note: Post updated January 9, 2018 with suggestions for rice cookers towards the bottom of the page.)
Okay, raise your hand if you own a rice cooker. Keep your hand up if you don’t use that steamer tray that comes with the cooker and it’s somewhere lost in your cupboard (don’t worry…I’m not looking!). Keep your hand up if you didn’t even know what that tray was for! 🙂
No worries…you are one of MANY who fall into that group and I’ve got a recipe coming to the rescue! I’ll show you one thing you can do with it and it’s actually pretty cool!
Rice cookers aren’t just for cooking rice. I’m about to show you how to cook eggs in a rice cooker! And you’re going to use that mysterious plastic steamer tray that came with your rice cooker, so you’d better go look for it!
I know – you’re thinking, “What? That doesn’t sound good…”
I had my doubts when I first heard about it, too, and the idea seemed crazy! Cook eggs in a rice cooker?? Seriously?
However, as crazy as idea sounds, it works! I was of the old school — put eggs in a pot with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for a certain number of minutes to reach the desired doneness. Sounds simple enough. However, boiling eggs in a pot did have its shortcomings.
Sometimes the shells cracks when they’re bouncing around in the boiling water, and some of the egg leaks out. Well, then you’ve got a really messy pot and very unsightly eggs. You know what I’m talking about. It’s like something out of a horror movie. And if you’ve got lumpy unsightly eggs, you can forget about perfect eggs for Easter decorating. Or deviled eggs. Or any dish where you need a nice looking hard-boiled egg.
But the rice cooker eliminates that problem. The steaming water cooks the eggs while they sit, undisturbed in the steaming tray. I guess you could consider it an egg sauna. 🙂 And because the cooking method is more gentle, it is also easier to achieve the desired doneness. No more unsightly grey color around the yolks from overcooking the eggs.
All you do is put water in the rice pot. Put the eggs in the steamer tray and set it in the pot. Close the lid and press ON. Turn on your timer.
Remove eggs at the appropriate time and place eggs immediately into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.
Wait a minute before you get cracking! And then you get these!
Cool, right??
Here’s the formula: 20 minutes for hard-cooked eggs. 13-15 minutes for soft-cooked eggs (depending on how soft or runny you like them).
(NOTE: These times are based on my rice cooker. Your times may vary a little, give or take, depending on your rice cooker. However, these times are a good reference point and are a good place to start when trying this out.)
It’s so simple, you can’t NOT try this out.
By the way, I’m going to assume that you can all peel an egg, but just in case… There is actually a method that works really well.
Tap on the fat end of the egg (opposite the small, “pointier” end) to crack it first. There is often an air bubble there and that is a good place to start peeling away at the shell, without digging into the egg itself.
Then gently tap on the sides of the egg, rolling as you go. You don’t have to be rough with it…just tap hard enough to crack the shell.
Next step…gently roll the egg back and forth a couple of times on the counter. This helps to loosen the shell and you will feel the shell pull away from the egg as you roll. Then start peeling from that first bottom crack you made at the beginning!
And voila!
You remember I mentioned you can make soft “boiled” eggs in the rice cooker, too, right??
Being Chinese, it is an assumption that I have a rice cooker. I will happily confirm that the assumption is correct! Of course, you don’t have to be Chinese or of Asian descent to have a rice cooker. But if you don’t have one, you’re missing out on, not only, perfectly cooked rice every time, but also hard- and soft-cooked eggs!
Are you intrigued?? Seriously, I thought it was a crazy idea when I first heard of it, but it is now my preferred method to make hard cooked eggs. I still know how to do it in a pot, obviously, but I have never had as good as results as I do with the rice cooker. You should definitely cook eggs in a rice cooker if you’ve got one. You will be amazed how easy it is. Give it a try and leave a comment below!
How To Cook Eggs In A Rice Cooker
Ingredients
- eggs
- 1 cup water approximately
- Bowl of ice water (can be put together a couple minutes before eggs are done cooking)
Instructions
- Add water to rice pot and set into cooker.
- Place eggs in steamer tray and set in rice pot. Close cooker lid.
- Start the cooker and set the timer. Hard cooked eggs = 20 minutes. Soft cooked eggs with runny yolk = 13-15 minutes (NOTE: These times are based on my rice cooker. Your times may vary a little, give or take, depending on your rice cooker. However, these times are a good reference point and are a good place to start when trying this out.)
- Once timer rings, transfer eggs immediately to a bowl filled with ice water to stop the cooking process. Let sit for about 1-2 minutes.
- Start cracking and enjoy!
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Can you make the eggs while making rice below in the rice cooker? I haven’t tried making them any way yet but I want to. I do like the rice cooker as it takes so little energy to make rice (I have bad arthritis and anything that takes little energy in the kitchen is a plus with me!)
My rice cooker had a weird instruction book. Basically one sentence on how to cook the rice and three ‘recipes’ for how to cook cake using a part of a cake mix and about 3 eggs! So I have been needing to figure things out on my own.
I am not sure about cooking the eggs while rice is cooking below. I think it depends on how long it takes for your rice to cook. My rice cooker only takes 20 minutes on average, which would be okay for the eggs as well. However some machines take much longer and my concern would be that the eggs would be overdone. I guess you could do a test with one egg and see what happens…if you do try it, let me know! Thanks for the question, Gailete!
I had heard the ooh and ahhs of the fancy pressure cooker community and thought I was out of luck. With a family of nine here, you have provided THE game-changer! Thank you x3,000!
That’s fabulous, Daena! And a family of 9! You definitely need help with making a lot of eggs at once! 🙂
My stove doesn’t work. I have been experimenting with different methods of cooking hard boiled eggs. I have decided the microwave is not my favorite way to cook them nor my slow cooker. This looks like it will work just right. Thank you for this great idea.
Thanks, Shannon! Please let me know how it works out for you!
I made these eggs last night for our salads, they were absolutely beautiful! This morning I think I’ll try soft cook eggs for breakfast. This is the ONLY way I will non boil eggs in the future.
Thank you
That’s fabulous! I’m so glad they worked out for you, Connie!
When do you start timer? When you start cooked or when starts steaming?
Thanks for the question, Rob. You start the timer when you start cooking.
thanks its informative
Thank you! Worked perfectly for me. I love my rice cooker even more now <3 Thank you for that!
You’re so welcome! So glad to hear it worked for you!
Six perfectly cooked eggs that peeled perfectly! Thank you for sharing this method 😀
Fabulous! I’m glad it worked out, Alicia!
Thanks for sharing. I won’t go back to boiling in a pot.
That’s great to hear! Thanks for your comment!
My rice cooker lid smashed some of them as I closed it. I did it gently too. I managed to fit 6 smallish fresh eggs in but two had to be sacrificed before i cooked the rest. They turned out perfect, 14 minutes on steam and I got only just hard boiled eggs.
That’s great! I’m glad they worked out, Azrael!
I love boiled eggs and I would to prepare them as per you do but I don’t have a steamer basket for my rice cooker. Could I use my electric vegetable steamer to cook my eggs in this way? Timing would need to be adjusted somewhat but I van figure that out.
I think the vegetable steamer should work without any problem since the method of cooking is still the same. I would totally give it a go! Let me know how they turn out!
What a fabulous method for cooking a beautiful batch of perfect eggs! I tried your wonderful method this weekend and it worked like a charm! I love discovering new kitchen tips and tricks that really work. Have a great weekend!
Thanks for your comment, Denay! I’m so glad the eggs worked out for you!
I have the Tiger rice cooker that only has white, brown, synchro and steam buttons on it (no timer) would I set it to the steam function and just simply time it for the appropriate time?
Hi Jordan! That would be my choice if I had the same rice cooker as you, to use the steam function and set the timer. Remember that you may have to experiment with timing since not all rice cookers are the same, but you can use the times in my recipe as a guideline to start. Let me know how it goes!