Egg Salad

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Egg salad! It’s the classic egg salad recipe that can be eaten plain or turned into a delicious sandwich or wrap. All you need are hard-boiled eggs and a few other simple ingredients for this quick and easy recipe.

A plate of egg salad

Before I dive into this recipe I have to be honest with you. Until recently, I was not a fan of most egg salad recipes. I found them to be far too mushy with too much mayonnaise. But good news – my version is different! It has texture and it’s chunky so you can see all the ingredients. There’s no mushiness around these parts! And of course, my version tastes amazing (if I do say so myself).

This classic egg salad recipe is what you’ve likely come across at parties, picnics, and holidays (like Easter). Or what you’ve purchased at the deli counter or enjoyed for a healthy lunch layered in a sandwich. It’s a true delight for a light and fresh meal.

Once you’ve mastered this classic recipe, make sure to give my curried egg salad and avocado egg salad a try for tasty variations.

Ingredients for egg salad on a table

Egg Salad Ingredients

I’m sticking to simple ingredients in this recipe with nothing funky to surprise you. But I do add more fresh herbs than other recipes, because fresh herbs make everything taste better. Here’s what’s in it:

  • Hard Boiled Eggs: The star ingredient of course. Just follow my tutorial for easy to peel hard boiled eggs.
  • Mayonnaise: I’m using my quick homemade mayonnaise, but any store-bought version works.
  • Dijon Mustard: I always opt for Dijon mustard over yellow mustard. It has a more robust, and zingy flavor. Yellow mustard falls a little flat with a muted flavor profile.
  • Red Onion: I love red onion for a pop of red color and crunchy bite. But you could use thinly sliced green onion as well.
  • Lemon Juice: Just a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice keeps the salad fresh.
  • Fresh Parsley and Chives: These herbs pair well with the eggs and mustard. And of course add a pop of green!

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

Making Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

Given that this recipe is all about hard-boiled eggs, you’ve got to make sure you use perfectly hard-boiled eggs. You don’t want the eggs too hard and rubbery, too soft and not mixable, or overly cooked and green around the yolk.

I’ve shared with you how to make perfect boiled eggs previously (step-by-step), so make sure to check out that post and video. I use 12-minute hard-boiled eggs in this recipe, but anything between 12 to 14-minutes is fine.

How to Make Egg Salad

Cool hard-boiled eggs. Make sure you hard boil your eggs ahead of time (or the night before) and allow time for them to cool. Once the eggs are boiled and cooled you’re good to mix the salad together.

Egg salad ingredients in a bowl

Mix everything together. Slice your eggs into chunks (but don’t slice them too small) and add them to a mixing bowl along with the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, red onion, lemon juice, parsley, and chives. Give it all a stir until it’s well combined. And that’s it! Super easy.

Mixed egg salad in a bowl

Ways to Enjoy Egg Salad

  • Straight from the bowl. I’ll often eat this straight out of the bowl with a fork because it’s that good! 
  • Top it on bread. You can enjoy egg salad as an open faced sandwich, on either gluten-free toast or my falafel flatbread, with a sprinkle of microgreens on top.
  • Wrap it up. Layer slices of cucumber, bell pepper, and other veggies inside tortillas, butter leaf lettuce leaves, or collard greens. Then wrap it up! 
Egg salad wrapped in collard greens

Storage Tips

Egg salad will stay good in a sealed container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Just make sure that you don’t leave it out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Otherwise, it may start to go bad.

A white plate of egg salad

Easy Egg Salad Recipe Video

While this recipe is easy to whip up, it always helps to watch a quick tutorial video. Give it a watch below! 

More Easy Egg Recipes

Eggs are truly one of the most versatile ingredients. Here’s a few fun and tasty egg recipes you’ll love!

If you make this egg salad, let me know how it turned out! I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.

Egg salad on a white plate.

Best Egg Salad

4.96 from 88 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Lisa Bryan

Description

A classic egg salad recipe that's easy to make and tastes amazing. Perfect hard-boiled eggs and fresh ingredients make it the best egg salad recipe. Watch the video above to see how quickly it comes together!

Video

Ingredients 
 

  • 6 eggs, room temperature
  • ¼ cup red onion, finely diced
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons parsley, finely diced
  • 2 tablespoons chives, finely diced
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions 

  • Bring a pot of water to a boil. Then turn the heat to low so there’s no bubbles. Use a skimmer to slowly and gently place the eggs in the pot. Turn the heat back to high and boil the eggs for 12 minutes. 
    Boiling eggs in a pot.
  • Transfer the eggs to an ice water bath to stop the cooking process and cool completely (at least 15 minutes).
    Cooling the hard boiled eggs in an ice water bath.
  • Peel the hard-boiled eggs, and slice them up to your preferred level of chunkiness. Add the chopped eggs to a mixing bowl along with the red onion, chives, parsley, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir all of the ingredients together, until well combined.
  • Enjoy the egg salad straight from the bowl, or in a sandwich or wrap.

Lisa’s Tips

  • The eggs may crack if you introduce cold eggs straight to the boiling hot water. So I  leave my eggs out prior to boiling, or run them under lukewarm water for a few seconds, as well as turn off the boil right before placing the eggs in the pot.
  • I also use a skimmer to introduce the eggs to boiling water so they don’t slam into the bottom of the pan and crack.

Nutrition

Calories: 197kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 251mg | Sodium: 226mg | Potassium: 116mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 580IU | Vitamin C: 4.6mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1.3mg
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Egg Salad, Egg Salad Recipe, How to Make Egg Salad
Did you make this recipe?Mention @downshiftology or tag #downshiftology!

Recipe originally posted April 2019, but updated to include new information.

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About the author

Lisa Bryan

Lisa is a bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and YouTuber (with over 2.5 million subscribers) living in sunny Southern California. She started Downshiftology in 2014, and is passionate about making healthy food with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients.

4.96 from 88 votes (13 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




167 Comments

  1. Super tasty! How big is 1 serving if you’re making the version that has 6 eggs? 1/2 cup or so? Thanks! I’ve been making this for my lunches for weeks.5 stars

  2. Awesome recipe! I love the added flavor from the dijon. My old way of making egg salad was just mixing eggs and mayo, but this has so much more flavor.5 stars

  3. Lisa, you did it again! This truly is the BEST Egg Salad EVER!! I followed your instructions with your unique preparation of how to get the perfect hard boiled egg. The texture of the eggs were sublime and I deeply appreciated the use of less mayo, more fresh herbs. The only thing I swapped out was the parsley for tarragon. You make cooking so rewarding! Thank you!!5 stars

    1. Hi Joanna – Wonderful! I’m so glad you’re loving this egg salad recipe. Also, love the tarragon addition.

  4. This recipe was great! I cracked my eggs in a Pyrex pan and baked them a la TikTok. I also added finely chopped green onions. Absolutely delish♥️5 stars

  5. I added Tabasco at the end, about 8 drops or 1/4 teaspoon for warmer and 1/8 teaspoon for milder. I sprinkled paprika on top after putting a scoop on a piece of butter lettuce,, for mom the day before Mother’s Day lunch. Great recipe, thanks for sharing!5 stars

      1. Sorry not the best egg salad..was one of the worst recipie I tried actually. The Dijon mustard and lemon overpowered the dish.1 star

  6. This is the first site that using the same method for cooking the eggs that my sister taught me over 20 years now! Neither of us are Spring Chickens anymore but we still stand by this method of hard boiling eggs. I would like to offer one more step as very fresh eggs are hard to peel. Add a heaping tsp of baking soda to the water and it will help greatly with the peeling. Don’t know the science behind it but it works.

  7. I live at 9,000 ft in Colorado. Everything takes longer to cook up here. I would be the 12 to 14 min. guy if I were at sea level. Before I ruin the eggs, what is your thinking on the time. Thanks!

  8. This looks amazing and rather simple. I am a man taking care of his mom who is 83 years old and I do all the grocery shopping, food prep and cooking. I am always looking for something different to change things up and this recipe appears to be a real winner. I can hardly wait to try it. “I have left over wrap in the fridge after doing tacos”. Thank you so much for sharing!!! :)5 stars

  9. Making this for the second time in less than a week. It’s very versatile too, like I can totally add finely chopped celery and maybe some pickles. Also followed the hard boil recipe and it’s also perfect. Thanks for sharing!5 stars

  10. I have never been a fan of mushy egg salad. I found your recipe and I was thrilled! I made it exactly as recipe states and is it so delicious. I crave it now. Thank you for sharing this yummy goodness!5 stars

  11. This was delicious!
    I followed the recipe almost completely, but added pickles and was short on mayo, so used about 1/8th cup mayo and 1/8th cup plain greek yogurt, and I upped the dijon a little bit, because I’m obsessed with it!
    I served as sandwiches, on toasted, thin-sliced, wheat bread with butter, a slice of heirloom tomato and some arugula. YUM!5 stars

  12. Hello, my family and I really enjoyed this recipe! We track macros, so can you share how I can measure an actual serving size? Thank you! We appreciate you.5 stars

  13. I love this salad! It is so easy to make and also tastes great… Well, just like all Lisa’s recipes :) I actually tried it with homemade mayonnaise and it was heavenly <35 stars

  14. I always have the water fully boiling and use a spoon to carefully put the eggs in. Has happened a couple times that they crack a little and have some white come out but it doesn’t bother me and I make sometimes 30 boiled eggs in a week so that’s not a lot of times it happens ;)  and wow, 12 mins! I do 8.5 mins so they don’t get dry :)

    I need to check out the chicken salad recipe you mentioned in a comment 

    Nice to cut the eggs in bigger pieces! Haven’t made egg salad in a while, gonna have to do it again! So handy to have in the fridge when I need something quick! I like to put tuna in mine too :) 

  15. Just made this for the first time. It’s excellent!! I’m not a big red onion fan, so I substituted diced celery for the onion. I’ve always chopped the eggs much smaller, but I love this chunky, delicious version. It will be my new go-to recipe!! Can’t wait to share with others. Thank you, Lisa!5 stars

  16. thanks for reminding me of simplicity. I needed someway to use up a lot of eggs and went through the video. The simplicity struck me. I used red onions, finely diced celery, spring onions and coriander as the vegetables… keeping it overnight so the flavors can really develop.

  17. Love this recipe!  I added half an avocado, caper berries, and used avocado oil Mayo and it was delish!  Definitely making again!!!!5 stars

      1. Do you think this egg salad would be out of place at. BBQ? Served with green salad & your broccoli salad , honest opinion please

      2. Hi Kay – I don’t think so at all! An egg salad is such a classic side dish to make :)

  18. I loved this. Only things I added was a dot of celery because I like crunch and fresh tarragon. Used primal kitchen Mayo and it was so good. Thank you for sharing. This will easily be in my rotation for lunches!5 stars

    1. Glad you enjoyed this egg salad! If you love tarragon, you’ll also love my chicken salad recipe :)

  19. I just made this for the first time. I was skeptical as I’m not a huge egg fan, but this is actually delicious!! The dressing is a hit. Thank you.5 stars

  20. Tried this for Christmas egg salad, everyone loved it! Easy to follow, easy to make! Thank you so mu xx for sharing!!5 stars

  21. Tasted absolutely delicious !! I am going to make this salad often. :)))

    I just have to ask: Is 197 kcl per 2 servings or per 1 or per 100 gr.?5 stars

  22. wow, just made this for my VERY picky husband. I forgot the lemon juice, even though I had it. He is now downstairs with TWO egg salad sandwiches. I normally do not eat it, or even try it to taste, but have to say when I did try it, wow, it was really full of flavor! He just came upstairs and said WOW. SO THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!5 stars

  23. Hi there, your recipes sound lovely. As I am on a strict keto eating plan, and need to stay on 15 gr carbs a day, it would help to know how many carbs for a specific portion of your recipe. Is that something easy you can do for me? In particular looking at the egg salad recipe.

  24. I never thought I’d like egg salad!! I figured why not try it, and I love it! I used primal kitchens avocado mayo, and primal kitchens spicy mustard. I didn’t have parsley on hand so substituted 1/4 tsp of dill. Onions are too high in sugar, for myself, so I omitted them. This is a great quick dinner for those on keto, and those non-keto as well. The serving size is quite generous too, at 100g per serving. Im so glad you included to leave the egg a bit chunky, very helpful. Thank you!!!5 stars

    1. Happy to hear this recipe changed your mind about egg salads! This is surely a summer must have :)

  25. This was delicious!  I had no fresh chives or tarragon (alas).  I added capers & just about followed your recipe to a ‘t.’5 stars

    1. Glad this still turned out perfectly without the chives and tarragon! Next time you’ll definitely have to try it.