I love egg salad, and finding the right balance of seasonings to make the creamy dressing that takes a simple egg to another level of deliciousness is easier than you think.
The first step in creating delicious egg salad is learning the secret to cooking the eggs.
The secret to making the best egg salad is learning how to cook an egg properly. If you’re doing it right, the correct term is hard-cooked eggs, not hard-boiled eggs.
For another classic, try out my homemade coleslaw recipe, it is a true crowd pleaser!
What is the difference between hard-cooked eggs and hard-boiled eggs?
The difference is in the cooking technique. Hard-boiled eggs are boiled the entire time, which can lead to rubbery eggs. If you’ve ever noticed a green ring on the outside of the yolk, it’s caused by cooking eggs for too long or at too high a temperature.
Hard-cooked eggs are boiled for a shorter time and left to finish cooking in the hot water. This process keeps the eggs softer and the yolks creamier.
Everyone loves simple egg salad sandwiches, and our homestyle recipe is guaranteed to become a family favorite.
If you love making delicious homemade salads, make sure to try our homestyle tuna salad and deli-style chicken salad recipes.
Ingredients to make Homestyle Egg Salad
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make our easy egg salad recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the Mise en Place, which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Can I change up the recipe?
Absolutely. Think of egg salad as a blank canvas. It can be made with simple ingredients for a mild creamy mixture or can include a variety of seasonings and other ingredients added to make a signature egg salad.
We added chopped celery to the recipe, but if you prefer a creamy version without any districtracting bits, leave the celery out. For a chunkier (or more interesting) version, you can add chopped red onion or sweet onion to the mixture. You can also add chopped green onions, dill pickles, sweet pickles, or sweet pickle relish.
Instead of using all mayo, you can add Greek yogurt or sour cream to the mixture, as well as mashed avocado. Instead of yellow mustard, use Dijon mustard, spicy brown mustard, or stone-ground mustard.
For a spicy version, add hot sauce, harissa paste, sriracha, crushed red pepper, or cayenne pepper to the mixture.
Add fresh herbs to the mixture. Some of my favorites are fresh dill, tarragon, or chives. Lemon juice, lemon zest, apple cider vinegar, or rice wine vinegar can also be added to adjust the flavor.
How to make Homestyle Egg Salad
Remove the fresh eggs from the refrigerator about half an hour before cooking to allow them to come to room temperature.
- Place the eggs in the bottom of a medium saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover one inch above them. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the water to a rolling boil.
- Boil the eggs for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow the eggs to rest in the water for 20 minutes without a lid.
- After 20 minutes, remove the eggs from the hot water and place them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Allow the eggs to rest in the ice bath for 10 minutes to cool.
- Crack the eggs while in the ice water, and begin to peel them in the water.
*If the water is too cold, you can add a little warm water to it to warm it up enough to work in. - Dice the celery.
- Dice the cooked eggs to your size preference.
- Add the mayonnaise and yellow mustard to a medium bowl.
- Whisk to combine.
- Add the salt and black pepper to the mayonnaise mixture.
- Whisk to combine.
- Add the diced eggs, diced celery, and half of the fresh parsley to the bowl with the dressing.
- Gently fold the ingredients together using a rubber spatula.
Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. If time permits, let it sit overnight; it will improve the flavor.
The creamy texture of the egg salad with a little crunch from celery makes the best egg salad sandwiches! Served on toasted sourdough bread, 12-grain whole wheat bread, or just plain white bread for a delicious light lunch.
To kick up the flavor profile another notch, add crispy bacon strips, lettuce, and tomato to make an egg salad BLT.
You can also use our classic egg salad recipe to make lettuce wraps, add it to a tossed salad, or eat it by the spoonful.
Leftover egg salad should be stored refrigerated in an airtight container or well-covered in plastic wrap for 3 – 4 days.
You can also mix leftovers with potato salad to make potato egg salad.
Recipe FAQ’s
One of the main reasons it’s hard to get the shell off a hard-cooked egg is its freshness. The fresher the egg, the harder it will be to peel. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true.
Placing the eggs in an ice water bath will also help remove the shell. The ice bath stops the cooking process and shocks the egg white, causing it to shrink back from the shell, making it easier to peel.
Peeling them right away (while in the ice bath) will also make the process easier. Cracking the shells while the eggs are submerged allows the water to flow into the space between the egg white and membrane, helping to separate them.
Absolutely! To make them in an instant pot, add one cup of water to the pot. Put the wire rack insert in, and place the eggs on top of the rack. Cook them on high pressure for 5 minutes, with a 5-minute natural release. Remove the eggs from the instant pot and put them in an ice bath for 5 minutes.
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Homestyle Egg Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- ¼ cup celery finely chopped
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon Italian parsley finely chopped – reserve some for the garnish.
- ½ -1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika garnish – optional
Instructions
- Remove the fresh eggs from the refrigerator about a half hour prior to cooking them to allow them to come to room temperature.
- Place the eggs in the bottom of a medium saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover one inch above them.
- Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the water to a rolling boil.
- Boil the eggs for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow the eggs to rest in the water for 20 minutes without a lid.
- After 20 minutes, remove the eggs and place them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.
- Allow the eggs to rest in the ice bath for 10 minutes to cool.
- Crack the eggs while in the ice water, and begin to peel them in the water.*If the water is too cold, you can add a little warm water to it to warm it up enough to work in.
- Dice the celery.
- Dice the cooked eggs to your size preference.
- Add the mayonnaise, and yellow mustard to a medium bowl and whisk together until fully combined and creamy.
- Add the salt, and black pepper to the mayonnaise mixture and whisk together to combine.
- Add the diced eggs, diced celery, and half of the fresh parsley to the bowl with the dressing. Gently fold the ingredients together using a rubber spatula.
- Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. *If time permits, let it sit overnight; it will improve the flavor.
- Garnish the egg salad with sweet paprika and finely chopped Italian parsley.
- Serve on toasted bread, lettuce wraps, as an addition to a tossed salad, or as is.
Robin
Good recipe except too salty for me. It should be 1/2 tsp. I just doubled the recipe and didn’t add salt the 2nd time and it was fine. Thankfully, I was able to fix it!
Good otherwise!
Libba
Don’t look any farther. This is the very best egg salad recipe! Often, simple is the best, and this is classic. No fancy ingredients.
I like to break the egg by hand, as it gives it such a rustic, homemade look and texture, and sprinkle a little ground pepper on my sandwich before adding the top slice of bread. (I love pepper!)
Thx for posting. Love all your recipes!
Chef Dennis Littley
You’re very welcome, and thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the egg salad.