Painting Easter Eggs Too Expensive? Some Parents Are Opting for Easter Potatoes

What began as a meme has been willed into reality. Eggs are notoriously pricy—and the cost of buying a dozen has only continued to rise in recent years. Shelling out for eggs to decorate or hide around the yard can make Easter fairly expensive. That’s why some families have ditched dyeing eggs altogether and are opting to paint Easter potatoes instead.

As Axios reported, the act of dyeing or decorating potatoes—which are comparatively less expensive than the inflation-hammered egg—began gaining momentum in the spring of 2023. The idea seemed to have originated as a series of memes in which, due to high egg prices, “children will have to hunt potatoes this Easter.”

Not one to let an opportunity slide, the potato advocacy group Potatoes USA began promoting the idea in earnest. Declaring 2023 “the year of the Easter potato,” the group declared spuds “an excellent canvas for family activities.”

“As a mom of two kids, I’m constantly looking for new activities,” Marisa Stein, director of marketing at Potatoes USA, said in a 2023 press release. “The idea of painting potatoes made me laugh, but honestly, it’s really fun. My kids loved experimenting with different designs. It was silly and a great way to spend time with my family.”

The cost of eggs has increased quite a bit since the potato-painting trend first took hold two years ago. The average price for a dozen Grade A large eggs hit $5.90 in February 2025. Inflation, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and bird flu are to blame for the rising prices.

Potatoes do have some advantages over eggs. They don’t need to be boiled or otherwise prepared in advance, and any left over from an Easter egg hunt are biodegradable. As with eggs, they can also be consumed if food-safe paint or dye is used for decorating. The downside: Painting a potato’s rough, uneven surface is a challenge, and most Easter potatoes are likely going to look more abstract or expressionist than children may like.

There are some tricks you can try to make the most of this unusual canvas. Potatoes USA recommends using food coloring if you’re looking for an edible dye; simply paint the dye onto the scrubbed potatoes (the organization recommends using hairspray to seal the color, though that would obviously make them inedible). If you’re worried about a potato’s brown base dulling your creative vision, consider using a layer of white paint as a primer before painting with any colors.

You can do more than just dye the potatoes. “This year, we’re slicing our potatoes and using cookie cutters and food coloring to paint Easter shapes and spring animals before putting them in the air fryer,” Kayla Vogel, mom and senior global marketing manager at Potatoes USA, said in a statement. “It’s a really fun activity. My kids love eating potato bunnies, and I love my kids eating their vegetables.”

The trusty tubers aren’t the only potential egg replacement. According to Parents, some families are also choosing to dye marshmallows or decorate plastic eggs.

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A version of this story originally ran in 2023; it has been updated for 2025.