Grocery prices keep going up and with supply chain issues keeping us on our toes, eggs have once again become a staple in my diet. They’re inexpensive, versatile, and don’t go bad too quickly. And it just doesn’t get any easier than a simple egg salad. So if you’re short on time, want something filling, cheap, and quick, make some egg salad! This is my super easy and delish version, but I’ve got lots of ideas for variations below, too!
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Keep it Simple
When I was looking around at different egg salad recipes on the internet, they all seemed to be a little too complicated for my busy life. Almost all of them included fresh herbs, one single rib of celery, or other things that I don’t usually keep on hand. So I made my egg salad as simple and delicious as possible. Just a few simple ingredients that you can keep in your fridge, and nothing fancy. But if you want something fancy, I’ve got ideas for that, too. ;)
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for egg salad:
- Hard boiled eggs
- Mayonnaise
- Relish
- Dijon mustard
- Lemon juice
- Salt & pepper
That’s it! Simple and delicious.
What Else Can You Add to Egg Salad?
Alright, here’s where you can have some fun, if you happen to have some of these ingredients on hand. Try adding some of these to your egg salad to take it up a notch:
- Hot sauce (sriracha, Tabasco, gochujang, chili garlic sauce, etc.)
- Green onion
- Crumbled bacon
- Kimchi (finely chopped)
- Avocado (in place of the mayo)
- Everything bagel seasoning
- Pickled red onions
- Capers
- Jalapeños (fresh or pickled)
- Fresh herbs (dill, parsley, scallions)
How to Serve Egg Salad
Everyone knows about the classic egg salad sandwich (on toast or a croissant with lettuce), but you can also serve egg salad with crackers for scooping, you can serve it in lettuce cups, or even in an avocado half! You could also serve it up wrap style in a tortilla with lettuce, or as a salad topper over a bed of greens.
How Long Does Egg Salad Last?
I purposely made this a small batch recipe so you don’t have to worry about leftovers, but if you choose to make a larger batch, the leftovers should stay good in the refrigerator for about 4-5 days.
The recipe below scales up very easily. Simply adjust the number of servings in the recipe box and the ingredients will auto adjust for you.
Easy Egg Salad
Servings 2 about ¾ cup eachIngredients
- 4 large eggs ($0.93)
- 3 Tbsp mayonnaise ($0.22)
- 1 Tbsp dill relish ($0.08)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard ($0.06)
- 1/4 tsp lemon juice ($0.01)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp pepper ($0.01)
Instructions
- Add the eggs to a saucepot and cover with water. Place a lid on the pot and turn the heat on to high. Bring the water up to a full boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat off and let the eggs sit in the hot water (lid on) for 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes in the hot water, transfer the eggs to an ice bath or run under cold water until cool. Peel the eggs then chop them into ½-inch pieces.
- Add the chopped egg to a bowl along with the mayonnaise, Dijon, relish, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine, mashing some of the egg yolk into the dressing as you stir.
- Taste the egg salad and adjust the ingredients to your liking. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Egg Salad – Step by Step Photos
Add four large eggs to a pot and cover with water. Place a lid on the pot and turn the heat on to high. Allow the water to come up to a full boil. Once boiling, turn the heat off and let the eggs sit in the hot water (lid on) for 12 minutes.
After 12 minutes, transfer the eggs to an ice bath or run under cold water until cooled. Peel and chop the eggs into ½-inch pieces.
Add the chopped eggs to a bowl along with 3 Tbsp mayonnaise, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp dill relish, ¼ tsp lemon juice, and ⅛ tsp each of salt and pepper.
Stir all of the ingredients together until well combined, mashing some of the yolks into the dressing as you stir. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking.
Serve the egg salad immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat! (serving suggestion pictured: egg salad sandwich on toast with mixed greens)
Love simplicity.
Thanks for this! It’s exactly what I needed – a great basic recipe and suggestions for how to improvise based on what I’ve got in the fridge. Just had a delicious egg salad sandwich for lunch, and will definitely be coming back to this one!
Looks good but can I use sweet pickle relish instead?
If you don’t mind that sweet flavor in your egg salad then that’s fine! Just be aware that it will taste a bit different that the original version.
Thank you so much. This looks simple and delicious! Jesus loves you. Have a great day!
I don’t know how I got to 32 years old before I tried egg salad. I guess it always looked weird to me, but as a deviled egg lover, I don’t know how it never occurred to me that it’s basically the flavor of deviled eggs, but on a sandwich. Anyway, this was delicious! Highly recommend. I can see myself making this many times over, as it’s very easy, and I almost always have the ingredients lying around.
Easy recipe. Delish
Don’t follow this way of hard boiling an egg. They will not be cooked!
My eggs cooked just fine with this method. I wonder if maybe your water didn’t get hot enough? It needs to come up to a full boil, and then you put a lid on to trap the heat inside.
Exactly how I do my eggs too! Comes out perfect everytime. Pasta too
Love the recipies
Nothing beats an egg salad sandwich. Dijon adds some nice zing!
Just what we wanted – something cheap and easy! Served on honey wheat bread with a little bit of spinach.
is it ok to se miracle whip instead of mayo? i grew up in the midwest where miracle whip is popular.
That’s just going to be up to personal preference. :)
Yum. I cooked my eggs for 8 minutes by directly dumping into boiling water. Personally I like more mayo so I had a generous hand there. For chopping the eggs I use my pastry knife so I chop them in the same bowl as the rest of the mixture (saving dishes).
Prepped this for lunch this weekend, and very happy once I gave it a taste before popping in the fridge. Some small changes: added vinegar to the water for boiling (I don’t know if this actually helps with the shells…my mom did it so I do it? IDK), I used hot dog relish instead of separate relish & dijon mustard (since I had it from making your cheeseburger skillet!), and I am indeed that person who adds celery to the egg salad, so I did :) Thanks for a solid and flexible recipe!
There are probably endless personal variations of egg salad, but I like mine with far less mayo — approximately equal amounts with either dijon or yellow mustard, and closer to dry than soupy. Add finely diced celery, onion and grated carrot. Toss in a few sunflower seeds, and add a slice of cheese to the sandwich. A quick and easy way to chop them is to put them through the little manual egg slicer once, then turn the slices 90 degrees and put them in the slicer again.
I notice you have given directions the way I have always boiled eggs – put them in a saucepan and cover with cold water. However, we have a friend who occasionally provides me with fresh eggs from their show hens. Some of these eggs are no bigger than a robin egg. The boiling part was easy, but peeling them was really difficult. I read ‘somewhere’ the suggestion that we do it ‘my Mother’s way’ – to boil the water first and then add the eggs gently once the water has boiled. This truly has helped my frustration because this method realoy helps peeling these tiny eggs. Just a thought!