Most people think of crafts when they think of reusing egg cartons. I think the association is ingrained in us from a very young age. We then pass the empty egg carton equals kid’s craft mentality on to our own kids. Many many years from now, when eggs come in some sort of space-age liquid gel packaging, we will still be able to buy empty egg cartons at the craft stores.
Regardless of all of that, there are still many other uses for the humble egg carton, as you may have read about in my earlier egg carton related blogs. For today, I am focusing on the kitchen. Makes sense, no? I mean, you won’t have to move very far from that last egg to the egg carton’s rebirth as a useful kitchen object.
One thing to consider when using empty egg cartons in the kitchen, you should probably wash the carton out carefully for food safety reasons. Because of this recommendation, the foam egg cartons make the most sense to reuse for the following ideas.
With those things in mind, here are some real kitchen uses for empty egg cartons.
You can use an empty egg carton to make ice cubes for drinks or for a cooler. I wish I would have known about this trick for my daughter’s last birthday party when we ran short of ice and I only had one ice tray.
Another way to use an empty egg carton as a mold is to make jello in it. Use the “wigglers” recipe you can find on the instant gelatin boxes and fill the cups of foam egg cartons. This is a fun treat for kids.
An empty egg carton is a very convenient way to freeze meatballs individually. You can do this one of two ways. Just place them in the carton and then place the carton inside a freezer bag. Or you can freeze the meatballs as is in the carton for 30 minutes, then empty them into a freezer bag and return them to the freezer. By “flash freezing” them this way, the meatballs won’t stick together. I prefer this method to placing them to freeze on a cookie sheet, since meatballs tend to roll. Remember that song, “On Top of Spaghetti?”
Do you know of any other kitchen uses for empty egg cartons?
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