The title alone strikes fear into the hearts of many. Most people, especially in the south, find their pickled eggs in a heavy vinegar brine in the grocery store or gas station. Variations of the recipe allow for pink, or even lime green colored eggs that often look anything but appetizing. I have tried multiple types of pickled eggs in my life, never having found one that I actually liked. I was blessed with an over-abundance of quail eggs and decided to try pickling them. This is no ordinary pickle, however, because it was inspired by the search for the perfect bloody mary. Below is my recipe for Bloody Mary Pickled Quail eggs. They’re super delicious and the small size of the quail eggs allows for that perfect tomato-ey bite! I could eat an entire jar of these guys in one sitting if given the chance.
Bloody Mary Pickled Quail Eggs
- As many quail eggs as you’ve got (I had 30 this time – which about half filled a quart jar – I know about 2 dozen fills a pint jar)
- 1c tomato sauce (I used my own homemade, you could use regular canned tomato sauce also)
- 1.5c apple cider vinegar
- 1T Worcestershire sauce
- 1t celery seed
- 1T prepared horseradish
- 1/4t crushed red pepper flakes
- 2T sugar
- 1/4t salt (to taste)
- Black pepper (to taste)
To hard boil your quail eggs, bring 2-3 inches of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add your eggs carefully once the water is boiling, and set the timer for 3 minutes (1 minute will be spent bringing the water back to a boil, 2 minutes spent boiling). Once the 3 minutes is up, immediately submerge your eggs in ice water to stop the cooking process.
Once the eggs are cool (after about 3-5 minutes in cold/icy water), peel them. Peeling can be a pain, but if you crack both ends and once on the side of the egg, then starting at the fat-end (with the air sac), peel in a spiral motion towards you. Quail eggs have a membrane which makes peeling them easy once you’ve broken the membrane.
Once peeled, place the eggs into a quart jar (or pint jar depending on how many you have).
Combine brine ingredients (tomato sauce through black pepper above) in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
After simmering, pour the brine over the eggs, completely submerging your eggs in the brine. Place container in fridge and let sit at least 1 week, preferably 2-3 weeks. This recipe will keep for a month or so in the fridge, however is not safe to can so must be used within that time period.