13 Delicious Ways to Use Extra Eggs

How can you use all those extra eggs in spring?

Every morning, rain or shine, I walk to the chicken coop with a bucket of feed and a jug of water. Diddle, the barn cat, walks with me but waits politely outside the door, rolling in the sandy dirt and hoping I'll scratch his belly before I open the door.

I hear the hens clucking in anticipation on the other side of it, and the old rooster gives a long, drawn-out crow as he waits.

Inside, the girls weave in and out around my feet, waiting for their treat of a handful of scratch feed before I open the sliding door to the run. I empty the bucket into the feeder and the jug into the five-gallon waterer, and then turn my attention to the nest boxes.

The favorite nest holds half a dozen eggs in varying shades of brown amid the soft hay. (Hens like to share their nest; there are six cubbyholes but they lay in one, or maybe two of them.)

The eggs are still warm from a hen that jumped out of the nest when she heard her breakfast coming. I tell you, there is nothing "cooler" than holding a warm egg in the morning. The shell is hard and yet its matte texture is almost velvety. This is something basic and primal, and I hold it in my hand.

After a winter of few eggs, while the "girls" are molting and resting, spring arrives and BAM! You have more eggs than you know what to do with!

Even though each hen lays no more than one egg a day, you can soon be swimming in eggs. Or rather, your refrigerator won't have anything else in it but eggs. Cartons of eggs. Mixing bowls full of eggs.  Loose eggs that roll on the shelves and sometimes come to a bad end on the floor.

So what can you do with all those eggs?

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Eat them

This was probably the first thing you thought of when we started talking about what to do with eggs. Just eat more eggs, right?

Eventually though, your family might be ready for a break from fried and scrambled eggs. Or even omelets. Fortunately there are many more ways to eat eggs.

I collect egg-heavy recipes to use in spring when eggs aren't a precious commodity - when, in fact, I need to use up a surplus. Here are enough egg recipes to fill an egg carton - plus a few more.

If you still have dozens of eggs to deal with, check out these six ways to preserve eggs to use later.

All photos are used with permission.

Eggs for breakfast

Here are some delicious ideas to have something different for breakfast, even though it's still eggs. Maybe you'd like to make some of these dishes for "breakfast for dinner" too.

These pan-fried eggs and tomatoes from Delightful Plate is a fresh twist on the usual fried eggs for breakfast. The addition of tomatoes and onions makes the difference.

Or try these easy bacon and egg cups from Divine Lifestyle for a quick breakfast on a busy day.

An apple puff pancake made in a cast iron skillet would make a delicious weekend breakfast (or dessert), from Honest and Truly.

Eggs for lunch

These two egg-and-tomato dishes make me glad it's almost tomato season.

For a really delicious change of pace, make this fresh tomato and egg tart from Foodall. The tomatoes are the star in this dish, paired with fresh herbs and tangy goat cheese.

Why make the usual egg drop soup when you can make this tomato and egg drop soup from Delightful Plate instead?

Hard-boiled eggs

Hard boil some eggs to slice up and eat as snacks, top a green salad, and add to potato or macaroni salads. Whether or not you sprinkle your eggs with salt is up to you. (I do.)

Fresh eggs are almost impossible to peel though. I used the oldest eggs in my refrigerator to make hard boiled eggs, and I still ended up peeling off a large percentage of the egg white.

Then I found Alton Brown's method: baking instead of boiling eggs! This method works best with the freshest eggs you can find, which is perfect for backyard chicken raisers. You'll find the instructions here. 

Then use those hard boiled eggs to make egg salad sandwiches for lunch. Cooked by Julie has the directions as well as a video.

My favorite use for hard boiled eggs is deviled eggs, something I don't make nearly often enough. They're not just for potlucks, picnics and church suppers. Make them for Sunday supper and show your family you love them.

Mom's Dinner has a classic deviled eggs recipe, just the way I like them.

Eggs for Dessert

Eggs are famous as ingredients for baking, of course. They appear in cookies, cakes and more. The Chief's favorite cake is angel food cake, which is an amazing way to use eggs. Well, egg whites. Then you're left with the egg yolks, but you can use them to make egg noodles.

Way back in seventh grade my Home Ec class made ice cream from scratch. I don't remember much about it except that the recipe called for eggs (which I thought was really weird) and something about an ice cube tray, which one of the teams managed to dump on the floor. We won't talk about who dropped the ice cube tray, ok?

I'm sure our clumsy attempt to make ice cream - if we'd been able to taste it - wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as this dark chocolate custard ice cream from Christina's Cucina!

This whole food version of New York style cheesecake from Raia's Recipes looks absolutely decadent. I think I'll top mine with my triple berry jam.

I've tried making bread pudding several times; it's a comfort food from the Chief's childhood that his mother used to make. Unfortunately I was never successful in my attempts. This recipe though - these directions for custard bread pudding with vanilla sauce from Drive Me Hungry - might be his new favorite bread pudding, because it's definitely going to be my favorite.

More uses for eggs

Mayonnaise made from scratch with fresh eggs is phenomenal. You might never buy a jar at the store again. Try these simple directions for easy homemade mayonnaise from Raia's Recipes.

Or make egg noodles from all those eggs. In fact, you can make noodles and freeze them, which is an awesome way to "preserve" eggs to eat later. You won't need a pasta machine with this recipe for egg noodles from A Farm Girl in the Making.

Sell those extra eggs

Laws vary from state to stage regarding the sale of eggs without a license. Here in Oklahoma, we are allowed to sell fresh eggs from the farm. In other words, the buyer is supposed to come to the farm to purchase the eggs.

The ease of selling eggs also varies from place to place. Where I live, on a dirt road far from the highway and with few neighbors, egg buyers are few and far between. Most people have their own laying hens.

But if you have backyard chickens, you might find it much easier to sell a dozen eggs than I do! Sell them to friends, coworkers, at a roadside stand, or give them to family members or, if your state laws allow it, donate them to a local food pantry.

Are you interested in raising chickens in your backyard?

If you're interested in raising your own laying hens so you too can have a refrigerator packed with eggs in spring, here's how to get started by "brooding" chicks. Or, if you start with laying-age pullets (young females), this post will tell you what a chicken coop needs.

You can also find all of my chicken-keeping posts here.

Preserving eggs

Check out this post to learn more about how to preserve spring eggs.

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