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This post was originally published in September 2022. It has been updated January 2026 with updated instructions, new findings, and higher quality images.
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Air Fryer Boiled Eggs Recipe
Boiling eggs can be a bit of a pain to get right! Whether you want soft or hard boiled eggs, or somewhere in the middle, you need to get the timing right. Luckily I have shared the ultimate guide to the perfect boiled eggs over the stove here!
What if your stove is full though? Sometimes you need to make other components of your dish, and having to wait for the eggs to boil can slow you down.
Additionally, since giving air fryer boiled eggs another chance in 2026, I’ve realized another great use case for it - you’re in the mood for some boiled eggs or you’re looking to make boiled eggs as an ingredient for another recipe (check out plenty of uses for your boiled eggs later on in this post!), but you’re pre-occupied with work or some other task going on. In that case, if you’ve had to leave your air fryer unattended, then the worst that can happen is that the eggs will slightly over-cook. This is because the timer will go off to stop the air fryer from running, however, due to you being unavailable to flash-stop cooking with an ice water bath, the eggs will be a bit extra done compared to the doneness you were looking for. On the other hand, if you were to forget about your stovetop eggs… well, you’re in for a world of trouble! The water will boil over your pot, you’ll have a huge mess in your kitchen, and really burnt boiled eggs! The stove won’t stop on its own like the air fryer will! Since redoing this experiment, I’ve truly seen the intuitive appeal for using the air fryer to boil eggs - and one major bonus is that you don’t have to worry about water!
This Air Fryer Boiled Eggs Recipe will show how to make hard boiled eggs in your air fryer - both for hard boiled and soft boiled eggs! I’ll break down the temperature for air frying boiled eggs and how long it takes to air fry the eggs for soft boiled or hard boiled eggs - or anything in between!
As you’ll see later on in this post, there are many ways to use boiled eggs. If you’re in a slump in the kitchen, trust me that doing something as simple as making a batch of boiled eggs can give you a sudden spark of motivation! As you can read about more in my Make Cooking Fun! guide - my top 5 tips to explore your potential in the kitchen - using up what you have can push you to get creative using ingredients that need to be eaten! After you’ve seen how easy it is to air fry boiled eggs, try all of the recipes with boiled eggs at the bottom of my post as part of your Live to Cook one month challenge, and be sure to tag me Instagram to share the results with me! Get the free guides by signing up to my newsletter!
In order to grasp the concepts and to see me make the boiled eggs at different doneness levels live, don’t forget to watch the video! If you haven’t already, I’d really appreciate if you subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell button so you receive the notifications when my video recipes go live! I love to share a video to go along with the written recipes to give you all the tools you need or success! Let’s get air frying!
What is an Air Fryer?▼
An air fryer is a small kitchen appliance that acts as a convection oven. The air circulates in a small space, leading to a crispy exterior and a warm interior. That’s why air frying is often used as a replacement for deep frying. The final product ends up being crispier than baking in the oven, and the cooking time is often cut in half or more! I have plenty of Air Fryer Recipes on the blog, and you’ll often see me make fries or chicken wings! They give you the delicious crispiness without the large quantity of oil and the mess that comes with deep frying!
In this case, we’ll see if the circulation of air in the confined space will help boil your eggs faster than if you were to wait for water to boil over the stove and then actually boil the eggs, or for you to place the eggs in an Instant Pot and allow the pressure to rise then release. If you are curious to see how to make boiled eggs in the Instant Pot, then check out my recipe here.
Tools Needed to Boil Eggs in the Air Fryer
You only need two things:
- Air fryer: The most important thing for this recipe! You’ll be making your boiled eggs in the air fryer, so it’s mandatory! at the time of updating this post in 2026, I’ve switched to the Cosori 6 Quart DualBlaze Air Fryer. You can learn all about this air fryer in this review. However, in the past when I first shared this recipe, I used the Ninja Foodi 6-in-1 2-Basket Air Fryer. That air fryer stopped working as the second basket was rendered useless, which ultimately led me to get rid of it. You can learn more about that air fryer here and why I got rid of the air fryer in this video, which may help you decide which air fryer to purchase.
- Mixing bowl: You’ll want a large bowl to make your ice water bath in after you’ve “boiled” your eggs in the air fryer.
Questions You May Have About the Perfect Air Fryer Boiled Egg
What is the 5-5-5 Method and Does it work in the air fryer?▼
The 5-5-5 method is a trendy boiled eggs method that bloggers are raving about. The basic idea that for “perfect boiled eggs” in the Instant Pot, you need to Pressure Cook for 5 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and finally let the eggs cool down in an ice water bath for 5 minutes.
I have tried it, I have debunked it, and it does not result in pleasing, creamy, boiled eggs. Check out the best way to use your Instant Pot for boiled eggs here.
Will the Eggs Explode in the air Fryer?▼
Other recipes are guaranteeing that eggs won’t explode in the air fryer, but I’ll be honest with you and say yes they can. Look at these photos!
I had placed two eggs here and one of them exploded while the other was fine. They weren’t finished cooking but I had noticed a strange smell, so I went to check what was happening in the air fryer. And there it was! YES your air fried boiled eggs can certainly explode! The exact cause isn’t known, but it could be because of air pockets that had expanded due to the heat.
However, as I learned in 2026 (these photos are from my initial test in 2022!), this is because I used the “Air Fry” setting on my air fryer and not the “Bake” setting. The “Air Fry” setting circulates air rapidly and at very high temperatures. However, the “Bake” setting will be more gentle and can cook at lower temperatures.
My hope with this guide is to prevent any explosions from happening to you too - and the lesson learned here is that it’s not the machine’s fault - it’s probably yours!
If you’re curious, then you can watch the video of my original experiment from 2022 below to see what I was doing wrong and ensure that you don’t do the same!
Watch the recipe
Why Is there a green ring around my egg yolk?▼
Usually when eggs get over cooked and are not cooled instantly after cooking, the yolk develops a green ring on the outside. Transfer the eggs to an ice water bath after cooking to stop the cooking process and prevent a green ring to form outside the yolk.
What are the brown spots on my air fryer hard boiled eggs?▼
There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, you may not have cleaned your air fryer properly and debris might have cooked onto your eggs. So ensure you’ve scrubbed the air fryer well!
The second reason is a bit more complex. Some air fryers can go as low as 250 F while some can only go down to 300 F. The issue with going for hard boiled when your air fryer can only go down to 300 F is the temperature is too hot for the eggs. This results in the egg shell getting to hot while cooking and overcooks and burns the egg white in spots. This also makes it hard to peel the eggs since the shell will be cooked onto the eggs as you can see below. The wattage level of the air fryer can also impact the final result since no two air fryers are built the same.
It could be that this was just a touch too long and the shell was burning onto the egg white. Maybe this was because of my air fryer? I’m not sure. After I had finally managed to peel the shell off, the egg white and yolk were fine. However, the peeling process was quite a nightmare despite all of my easy-to-peel tips and tricks for other boiled egg methods!
What Temperature do you Air Fry Boiled Eggs?▼
I’ve tested the “Viral Hot Heat” air frying boiled eggs method in addition to the “Low and Slow” method. Here’s what the breakdown:
The “Viral Hot Heat” method involves you blasting the heat to 280F using the “Bake” setting (still not as hot as when I had set my air fryer to “Air Fry” at 300F) and cooking for 13 minutes to get hard boiled eggs. This can be risky since the heat is so high, and this is where the chance of explosion increases. To be honest with you, the egg did turn out to an excellent hard boil, as you can see below!
Furthermore, the taste was pretty decent too! The only downside was that the egg white was slightly rubbery. With that being said, I would suggest you avoid this method completely. The temperature is still too high, and while I got away with it, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will. In addition, I didn’t test trying to do this for a soft boil yolk, but in my opinion the timing would probably be quite varied.
Now, let’s review the “Low and Slow” method. Here, we’ll reduce the temperature to 260F, which is the lowest that my air fryer will go using the “Bake” setting. I did one hard boiled and one soft boiled egg. The results were superb! I still noticed the egg white was just slightly harder than classic stovetop boiled eggs, but if I didn’t have them side-by-side, I wouldn’t have noticed the difference! If you’re going to hard boil or soft boil eggs, then 260F (or even 250F if your air fryer can go that low) is the temperature I recommend. Again, I want to reiterate do NOT use the “Air Fry” setting!
How Long Does It Take to Soft Boil Or Hard Boil Eggs in the Air Fryer?▼
Refer to the chart below to guide you on making boiled eggs based on how you like the yolk!
Doneness Guide
Precision Cooking at 260°F
| Soft | Medium | Hard |
|---|---|---|
| 12Minutes | 13-14Minutes | 16Minutes |
How Many Eggs Should You Put in the Air Fryer Basket?▼
I used two eggs to for the sake of this experiment. But you should be able to cook about half a dozen at a time. Depending on your air fryer, you may or may not have a basket that is evenly heated. You may have hot spots which might prevent a fully stuffed basket from cooking all of those eggs evenly.
As I said before, experiment and get a feel of your air fryer and go from there.
Ingredients for Air Fryer Boiled Eggs
Again, only two things are needed:
- Eggs: I’m using standard large eggs, right from the fridge.
- Water: For your ice water bath!
Of course depending on how you’ll enjoy your eggs you will probably require other ingredients. I’ve got some ideas for how to use boiled eggs at the bottom of this post, so you can click those recipes to see what you’ll need! If you just want to enjoy Air Fryer Boiled Eggs as a snack, you may want to season with salt and pepper!
How to Boil Eggs in the Air Fryer
Set the Air Fryer to the “Bake” mode and set the temperature to 260F. Remove eggs straight from the fridge.
Insert a trivet to the air fryer basket and add the eggs.
For Soft Boiled Eggs: Cook for 12 minutes.
For Medium Boiled Eggs: Cook for 13-14 minutes.
For Hard Boiled Eggs: Cook for 16 minutes.
In the meanwhile, prepare an ice water bath by pouring water into a large bowl and add ice cubes.
Once the eggs are done cooking, place eggs in the ice water bath for at least 10 minutes.
Peel, slice, and enjoy!
Air Fryer Boiled Eggs Tips
- Older eggs will be easier to peel - the longer they have been in the fridge for, the easier the peel comes off.
- Do not overstuff the basket and add only a few eggs at a time.
- As soon as the eggs are done cooking, transfer them into an ice water bath. This will prevent a green ring from forming.
- For the easiest peeling process, allow your eggs to completely cool down before starting.
- Peel the eggs in the water of the ice water bath itself or under running water - it’s the easiest way for the shell to come off!
Stovetop vs air fryer vs instant pot - WHat’s the Best way to boil eggs?▼
This is my third boiled egg recipe, with Stovetop Boiled Eggs and Instant Pot Boiled Eggs. Note that in 2026 my opinion has changed compared to 2022! Originally, I believed that the air fryer method provided you with little control. However, the lesson learned here is that it’s not the air fryer’s fault, it’s the user’s fault - and that’s the hard truth, even for me! The issue was not using the correct setting, which ultimately resulted in poor results.
With these new findings, my verdict is that the Instant Pot and the Air Fryer are tied as the most convenient methods. You can free up an extra stove top and you there is no need to wait for the water to boil. For both of these methods, all you need is to press a couple of buttons and you’re on your way! I noticed that this is indeed very intuitive and part of human nature to just set and cook, and it frees up a lot of mental bandwidth not having to set a timer and constantly monitor your eggs that are boiling over the stove!
Now, if you have neither of these gadgets, then you can’t go wrong with the classic tried and true stovetop method. There is much more intricate control it can give you. Additionally, while you do have to account for time it takes the water to boil, the cook times aren’t too different across all the methods. Furthermore, if you need to cook eggs in bulk, the stovetop method is the best because you can use a large pot, where the size of the air fryer and Instant Pot can limit the number of eggs you can cook at a time.
In terms of taste, the Low and Slow air fryer boiled eggs are a 9 if the stovetop eggs are a 10! For the sake of convenience and ease, I now give my stamp of approval for air frying boiled eggs!
Storing Air Fryer Boiled Eggs
Store your Air Fryer Boiled Eggs in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 7 days. Depending on how you want to enjoy your boiled eggs, you can store them sliced, whole, or separate the yolks from the whites.
Serving Suggestions for Boiled Eggs
Boiled Eggs are extremely versatile! You can enjoy them for any meal of the day - not just breakfast! They’re an amazing delicious blank canvas, and there are so many ways you can use them! Here are just a few ideas to use your boiled eggs!
- Curries: I use boiled eggs in my Restaurant-Style Egg Curry and Chicken Nargisi Kofta Curry.
- Potato salad: Boiled eggs are a star in my Super Easy Potato Salad.
- Over a bagel: Replace the poached egg in my Bacon, Egg and Guacamole Breakfast Bagel
- Over toast: Check out the creative way I use boiled eggs with cucumber to make a cool design in my Fresh and Tangy Egg Toast. You could replace the fried egg with a sliced boiled egg in my Mashed Avocado Toast with Fried Egg or add it to my Cheesy Sautéed Mushrooms on Toast. You could simply just spread Guacamole or Chunky Mango Guacamole over toast and add the sliced boiled egg on top. In fact, nothing wrong with just buttering up toast and placing the boiled eggs on top!
- In biryani
- Scotch Eggs
- Devilled Eggs: I’ve even got a St. Patrick’s Day Devilled Eggs variation!
- Add to a Buddha bowl
- In sandwiches and wraps: You can’t go wrong with an egg salad sandwich! Try adding in mayo (perhaps Homemade Mayo!) or even my Homemade Yogurt Caesar Dressing! Spicy Mayo is the ultimate go-to for me.
- Alone as a delicious high-protein snack! You could enjoy them with some Hash Browns or even add a touch of pesto sauce!
2 comments
The air fryer craze is getting silly. I own one, a Ninja, and it's great. However, "boiled" eggs?! Behave. Even if you have a "busy stove", here's how difficult it is to do them the simple way: Soft boiled: place gently in boiling water.. reduce to a simmer.. remove after ~3 minutes. Medium - hard boiled: as above adding 2 - 5 minutes simmer time. Air fryers are great, but sometimes the old phrase "if it ain't broke don't fix it" is true. You're over complicating possibly the simplest thing. A microwave is for quickly zapping stuff you don't need to put in your air fryer pot. A toaster, toasts. Etc.
Hi there, Yes I agree with you 100%. I said all of this stuff in the video FYI if you haven't checked that out! I said say for sure that you're just over complicating eggs and you should just boil them the old fashioned way if you're doubtful! If you want to save a burner on your stove then the next best choice is definitely the Instant Pot. Thanks for your comment, I appreciate the discussion!
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