This Classic Egg Salad recipe is perfectly seasoned and creamy, and so simple to make! We love using leftover Easter eggs to make this salad, but it’s a great year-round sandwich idea!
This is one of my Sandwich recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
Growing up, we always had egg salad the day after Easter. All those fabulous dyed eggs made a reappearance in our favorite sandwich filling!
There are so many varieties of egg salad out there, and I have a tarragon shallot version here on the site already. But I realized I had never shared a good base recipe!
This recipe is a good place to start, and I’ve detailed some other varieties down below.
While making egg salad isn’t complicated, it’s essentially a two part recipe. First, you need some hard boiled eggs. My favorite method for making those is in my Instant Pot, but feel free to use whichever method you prefer best.
Secondly, you need to chop the eggs, and and stir in all the other ingredients! Read on to see just how to do it.
How to make egg salad?
This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.
- Chop hard boiled eggs. Feel free to chop as large or finely as you like. I prefer to do about a 1/2″ dice on mine.
- Add to bowl with other salad ingredients. Stir it all together really well.
- Cover and refrigerate. Chill for at least 1 hour for the best flavor.
- Serve.
Helpful Tip!
If the idea of chopping all those eggs sounds tedious to you, try out this trick. Place a wire cooling rack over a big bowl. Lay a peeled hard boiled egg on top of the rack and push it through using the heel of your hand. It chops the egg into perfect cubes for the salad! Maybe not practical for just a few eggs, but if you’re making egg salad for a crowd, it makes quick work of it!
Variations of this recipe
- Sweet pickles – this version uses dill relish, since my husband isn’t a big fan of sweet pickles, but sweet pickle relish was what we used when I was a kid.
- Celery – finely dice some crunchy celery and add it to the mix.
- Onion – either finely mince or grate some sweet or yellow onion into the salad. Keeping the pieces small is key; otherwise you might bite down on a piece of raw onion. Some sliced green onions would work as well.
- Spices – curry powder, cumin, cayenne, whatever you want to try!
- Herbs – I use fresh dill in this recipe, but basil, tarragon, parsley, thyme, or chives would all be great alternatives.
- Mayo alternatives – to cut back on a bit of the fat, you can use light mayo, or use plain greek yogurt.
FAQ’s
The simple answer is to add more hard boiled eggs. But if you don’t have any, or don’t want to boil more, just putting your egg salad in the refrigerator will firm it up a bit, or you could use instant mashed potato flakes, a little at a time, until it’s thick enough.
Don’t let your egg salad sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. After that point, the temperature of the egg salad can encourage too much bacteria growth to be deemed safe.
We don’t recommend freezing egg salad, since eggs and mayonnaise don’t particularly freeze well. We found the consistency was watery and the eggs were rubbery.
Making egg salad ahead of time
Egg salad is great for making ahead of time; in fact, I think it tastes so much better after it’s had at least an hour or so in the refrigerator.
All the flavors really come together well, and it tastes great chilled.
Storage
Egg salad should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
How to serve egg salad
There are plenty of ways to serve egg salad, but I’ll share a few of our favorites:
- Plain – just on a bed of lettuce and eat with a fork.
- Bagel – toast a sesame, onion, or everything bagel and top it with plenty of egg salad.
- Croissant – pick up some croissants from the bakery and pile the egg salad up high.
- Sandwich – any bread will do, but my jalapeno cheddar bread is a family favorite!
- Lettuce cups – using Boston bibb, living lettuce, or whichever lettuce you prefer.
My Favorite Mixing Bowls!
I love these mixing bowls for two main reasons: the non-slip bottoms make mixing easier, and the airtight lids mean you don’t have to transfer the contents to another container to refrigerate!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 8 large hard boiled eggs peeled
- 3-4 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard yellow or spicy brown can be used as well
- 1 1/2 Tbsp dill relish drained of excess liquid
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp minced fresh dill
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Chop hard boiled eggs, into approximately 1/2" pieces, or whichever size you prefer. Add to mixing bowl.
- Top with all remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.
- Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days. Stir before serving.
- Serve as desired and enjoy!
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
- Recipe has been tested using hard boiled large eggs. Other sizes may change the amount of mayonnaise, mustard, etc needed.
- We like to make Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs for this recipe. However, use whichever method you prefer.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Marisol says
Made this and the family loved. We used toasted bread and added crispy chopped bacon!
Catalina says
Egg salad is one of my favorite salads! Love how creamy your salad is!
Rakhinationwide says
Worth Appreciating. Great work.
Beth says
My hubby is going to love this recipe! Looks amazing and so tasty! Cant wait to give this a try!
Beti | easyweeknightrecipes says
My family would LOVE this Classic Egg Salad!! I am so excited to try it!
katerina @ diethood.com says
This Classic Egg Salad sounds amazing!! I can’t wait to try it!
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert says
I know for sure this Classic Egg Salad would be a huge hit in my house!
Pamela Emmett says
I love egg salad. I even eat it for breakfast on the go! I separate the yolks from the whites, and chop the whites with a pastry blender. It makes the perfect size chunks. The yolks are easy enough to blend with a fork and/or spoon.
Kathy says
I have GOT to make this! My Mom used to make it when I was a girl. I love your recipes here in the love to Bluegrass state of Kentucky! Like you, I cook! 🙂 Keep up the grstay safe!eat work! God bless &