Instant Pot Boiled Eggs (Step-By-Step Soft-Boiled, Jammy & Hard-Boiled)

As part of our Instant Pot For Beginners series, we ran a test cooking a variety of eggs in the pressure cooker. We wanted to find the best cooking times and conditions for those perfect soft-boiled, jammy and hard-boiled eggs in the Instant Pot. We hope you can use this as a go-to guide for how to cook perfect eggs in your pressure cooker every time. You can ask questions, comment and rate this recipe at the end of the post. 

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Eggs are a great source of protein, fats and nutrients; plus, they are affordable and highly versatile. The best thing about cooking ‘boiled’ eggs in the Instant Pot is that you can add them in, press the button and walk away. There is no need to wait for the water to boil first or to stand over the pot with a timer. It’s also super convenient for those times when you can’t use the stove for whatever reason (e.g. renovating the kitchen, living in a student dorm, summer heat).

Reasons to make eggs in the Instant Pot

• You get consistent results whether you want Instant Pot soft-boiled or hard-boiled eggs.
• It’s quick and easy. Soft-boiled eggs should only take 10 minutes from start to finish (this is with pressure building).
• You don’t need to monitor the pot or worry about lowering eggs into rapidly boiling water.
• You can make a batch of eggs or a single egg and they are super easy to peel.

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When it comes to the Instant Pot, you can cook eggs to your preferred doneness and our guide covers 3 most popular types of eggs.

• Soft-boiled eggs are perfect for dipping toast or vegetables into that lovely, silky yolk.
• Jammy eggs have that delicious soft, sticky yolk and harder whites and are great in salads, as a topping on steamy ramen or chicken soup, or chopped over avocado toast.
• Hard-boiled eggs are super versatile and can be used as a portable snack, to make tasty appetizers and finger food, dips and so much more. They keep well in the refrigerator for up 5-7 days.

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How to COOK Instant Pot boiled eggs

First of all, it is important to note that with the Instant Pot the eggs actually steam under pressure rather than cook in boiling water. But, for the purpose of convenience, we will refer to them boiled eggs.

As part of our eggsperiment to determine the best timings, we tested a variety of eggs: super fresh and semi-fresh eggs (1-2 weeks old), room temperature eggs (out of the pantry) and cold eggs (out of the fridge). Based on our results, we have provided best average cooking times for large eggs (assuming you are pressure cooking at sea level or close to it, more on that below).

You will need

• Instant Pot (we used a 6-quart Duo Nova)
• The trivet that comes with the Instant Pot or a separately purchased egg stand/rack for the Instant Pot like this. 
• A pair of tongs (to remove the eggs once done) or a kitchen towel.
• A pot of very cold water (icy cold is best but not essential).
• You can cook 1-2 eggs or make a batch of 6-8 eggs. Make sure eggs don’t fall into the water. Stack them in two layers if you want to make a large batch. We tested 4 large eggs at a time.

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FOLLOW THESE STEPS

Step 1. Plug the Instant Pot into power and turn it on. Add a cup of cold water to the bottom of the pot and place the trivet on top with the handles facing up for easier removal. Gently, place the eggs on top of the trivet. Secure and lock the lid; make sure the pressure handle is pointing to Sealing on Duo Classic. 

Step 2. Select Manual/Pressure Cook and adjust the timer to recommended minutes below on HIGH pressure. After a few beeps/seconds, the ON sign will come on indicating the pot is heating up and the pressure is building; pressurizing will take about 5 minutes and then the set timer will begin.

Step 3. Once the timer is done, use a quick release to let off the built-up pressure. If you leave the pot to release naturally for any amount of time (let’s say you forget), the eggs will continue to cook at a much slower rate, so you might end up with slightly more cooked yolks and whites. A few minutes of natural release should be fine but do keep that in mind.

Step 4. Open the lid and carefully remove the eggs using a towel or tongs. Immediately place in a pot with very cold water for a minute or so or run under very cold water. This will ensure the eggs are easy to peel.

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Instant Pot Boiled Eggs Cooking Times 

These are based on a 6-quart Instant Pot for 4-6 eggs. You can also do 2 eggs or 8-10 eggs and the cooking time should stay the same; the pressurizing of the pot might take a little longer for a larger quantity. Amount of water added stays the same.

Soft-boiled eggs 

• 3 minutes at HIGH pressure followed by a quick release; cold eggs out of the fridge might have slightly softer whites so if you’re very particular about that, increase to 4 minutes. You get runny yolks with just firm whites.

Jammy eggs or medium-soft-boiled 

• 5 minutes for room temperature eggs and 6 minutes for cold eggs followed by a quick release. You semi-runny yolk (sometimes a little sticky or jammy) with firmer set whites.

Hard-boiled eggs

• 8 minutes for room temperature eggs and 10 minutes for cold eggs with a quick release. You will get firm whites and cooked yolks that are still a little creamy rather than crumbly.  Use 10 minutes for room temperature eggs and 12 minutes for cold for more cooked yolks (e.g. for devilled eggs).

Cooking times adjustments

Size of eggs: The times above are for large eggs. If using medium eggs, reduce cooking time by 1 minute and if using extra-large eggs, increase by 1 minute.

High-altitude: If you live at high-altitude, you need to adjust the cooking time for the Instant Pot. Increase pressure cooking time by 5% for every 1000 ft above 2000 ft elevation. Oftentimes, you can also leave the pot on natural release to use residual heat to continue to cook the eggs for a little longer.

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Print

 

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More Instant Pot recipes

• More Ways To Cook Eggs In Instant Pot
• Mediterranean Egg Bites In Instant Pot With Herbs & Feta (VIDEO)
• Instant Pot Egg Salad (Keto, Gluten-Free)
• Caesar Pasta Salad With Eggs & Crispy Bacon (Instant Pot, VIDEO)
• Explore more beginner-friendly recipes in our Instant Pot For Beginners hub

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If you try any of our methods, let us know in the comments and don’t forget to rate the recipe. Take a picture and tag it @instantpoteats on Instagram! We love seeing your creations.