This Easter, with egg prices through the roof, why not learn how to dye potatoes like Easter eggs? We tried it and have tips to make colorful Easter Egg Potatoes!

How to Dye Potatoes Like Easter Eggs

With the price of eggs these days, I’ve seen a lot of jokes along the lines of “why don’t we just dye potatoes instead of Easter eggs?!” So I wondered, could we really do it? And if you’ve also been wondering, can you dye potatoes like Easter eggs, we’ve tried it and got the scoop so you can try it too!

Short answer: YES! You can dye potatoes like Easter eggs, using food coloring. However, the process is slightly different if you want to get the optimum bright colors. But don’t worry, it’s still easy and you probably already have most of the supplies needed at home.

Now if you’re wondering, why would you want to do this? It’s really just for fun! I think our family will still be dyeing eggs this year because we always eat them afterwards. (Store-bought eggs are still good to eat if they are not out of the fridge for more than 2 hours). But these Easter egg potatoes turned out so cute that I just couldn’t wait to share!

Another plus to using potatoes, aside from the fact that they’re cheaper than eggs, is that potatoes are not breakable! And you don’t have to hard-boil them or do any preparation before you start dyeing.

Also, when you hide them in the yard, it’s no biggie if you don’t find them all. You never know, you may end up with a surprise potato plant a few weeks later!

Supplies

Yukon Gold Potatoes — This is simply a suggestion for a common type of potato that will work for this project. Any light-colored potato should work.
Water Based Food Coloring — Do NOT use gel food coloring. The gel will not work the same and takes almost 24 hours to dry, if it ever dries at all.
Small Paint Brushes — This is the tool we used to apply the food coloring to the potatoes. You can try using a variety of sizes if you’d like to paint designs. You may also want different brushes for each color.
Hairspray — A coating of hairspray on the dry, painted potatoes helps lock the color in place and keep the dye from bleeding.
Painting and Cleaning Supplies — You may also want small bowls of water for washing paintbrushes, plenty of paper towels, plastic gloves to protect skin from the food coloring, etc.

Instructions

Squirt one drop of food coloring directly on top of a potato.
Use a small paintbrush to spread the dye around the surface of the potato, just like you would regular paint.
Add another drop of dye and continue painting, until you’ve covered the entire potato.
Place the dyed potatoes on paper towels to dry completely. Once dry, you can coat the potatoes with hairspray to keep the colors in place, but this is optional.

Prep Tips

We tested dyeing potatoes the traditional way, by dipping them in a bowl of colored water. While this DOES work, the colors aren’t as vibrant as the paintbrush method. However, if you’re looking for a way to dye the potatoes that is more colorfast or less likely for the dye to rub off, the water bath method may be the way to go.
I highly recommend protecting your workspace with old newspapers, a cheap plastic tablecloth, etc. just like you would when dyeing regular Easter eggs! When the weather is nice, our family actually goes outside to dye eggs at the picnic table on our patio because it’s much easier to clean up any accidental spills!
When using food coloring, remember, a little bit goes a long way! That’s why we start with one drop at a time and add more as needed. If you add more dye than you actually need, the potatoes will take a little longer to dry.
Always make sure that the potatoes are completely dry before moving them or storing them.

Another Easter Potato Activity: Potato Stamping

If you bought a big bag of potatoes, you can also try making stamps with them! These Easter Egg Potato Stamps are a fun kids art activity and create beautiful keepsake works of art to display at the holiday or gift to family and friends.

Note: Since this does require a knife for cutting, adults should handle that step. But once all the stamps are made, kids can create, create, create!

Make Them: Check out the full potato stamp activity instructions here!

More Ways To Dye Easter Eggs

If you’re still thinking about dyeing regular eggs for Easter, we have tried a lot of different methods over the years! Here are some of our favorites:

Natural Easter Egg Dyes (That Actually Work!)
Marbled Easter Eggs with Nail Polish
Homemade Easter Egg Dye with Food Coloring

How to Dye Easter Egg Potatoes (Printable Instructions)

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basket full of potatoes dyed like Easter eggs

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