Quail eggs

Quail eggs turn up as party canapés, as a garnish and in Japanese bento boxes. BBC Food describes one as about the size of a very large olive, with a brown speckled shell. It cooks in a couple of minutes, so hen-egg timings go wrong. Here is how many to use, how long to boil them and how to peel them.

How many make one hen's egg

American food data from the USDA puts the inside of a quail egg, without the shell, at about 9 g. It weighs a medium American hen's egg at about 44 g and a large one at about 50 g.

So about five quail eggs hold as much as a medium American hen's egg. A large one takes five or six. We worked those ratios out from the USDA weights.

The sizes on a UK box of hen's eggs are shell-on weights, set in law. A box marked medium holds eggs of at least 53 g and under 63 g. For baking, weighing the cracked quail eggs against the recipe gives the closest match.

How long to boil them

Great British Chefs says a quail egg takes less than two minutes to soft boil, and just over that to hard boil. Fine Dining Lovers boils them for 2 minutes and 30 seconds for hard-boiled, then cools them in ice-cold water.

A soft-boiled quail egg is a lightly cooked egg. The Food Standards Agency tells caterers that eggs from birds other than chickens "should not be used in raw or lightly cooked dishes". The NHS lists raw or undercooked quail eggs among foods to avoid in pregnancy.

Peeling

BBC Food warns that quails' eggs can be quite tricky to shell, so it suggests allowing extra time. Fine Dining Lovers peels them once they are cool enough to handle. It then rinses the peeled eggs to wash off any bits of shell.

The safety advice in full

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) catering advice covers England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Its latest version is dated 20 August 2026. It says eggs from species other than chickens carry a higher risk of Salmonella. In its checklist, the FSA tells kitchens to "always cook non-hen eggs thoroughly". Food Standards Scotland gives Scottish caterers the same advice.

At home, the FSA's newer advice on runny eggs for vulnerable groups is dated 21 August 2026. It covers hen eggs with a British Lion mark or from the Laid in Britain scheme.

The NHS adds, in its pregnancy advice, that duck, goose and quail eggs "can be eaten if they're well-cooked". Its page carries a review date of 15 June 2026.

Canapés and kitchens

BBC Food calls soft-boiled quails' eggs a popular canapé in the UK, often served with celery salt. Cooks also use them hard-boiled, and as a garnish, BBC Food adds. Great British Chefs shows how a Scotch egg shrinks to a bite-sized canapé with a quail egg in place of a hen's egg.

The FSA's catering advice says non-hen eggs "should always be cooked thoroughly before being served". Kitchens planning a canapé menu can check the full page before they choose how to cook them.

Keeping them

For storage, the FSA's home advice is somewhere cool and dry, and the fridge if possible. It also says eggs can be frozen once cracked into a sealed container.

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