It’s that time of year when many families with children find that their baskets and refrigerators runneth over with hard-boiled eggs. What to do with them all?! My favorite solution to the problem has always been deviled eggs, but today I am going to share with you my second favorite. Egg Salad Sandwiches! I love egg salad and as far as I’m concerned, the simpler the recipe, the better. Some things in life are not meant to be fooled around with and I believe that egg salad is one of those things. So, you will find nothing fancy in my egg salad and I’m pretty sure you’ll like it that way too! I learned to make it this way from my mother-in-law Sharon, who makes the most amazing egg salad but curiously, won’t eat it herself.
This recipe uses mustard powder rather than prepared mustard, and if you use enough, the salad will have a little bite. Feel free to add more mustard powder than the recipe says if you, like me, enjoy just a bit of that hot mustard burn. If not (wimp), just follow the recipe instructions, and you’ll have a nice, mild, creamy, eggy experience. Also, try using a pastry blender to chop your eggs…you won’t believe you actually used to chop them all by hand!
Update: To learn how to make perfect hard-boiled eggs, head over to Kalyn’s Kitchen for instructions and more hard-boiled egg recipes!
Easy Egg Salad
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
1/4 - 1/2 C. mayonnaise
1 - 2 t. Coleman’s mustard powder
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Place whole eggs in a bowl and, using a pastry blender, mash eggs until they are finely chopped.
- Add 1/4 C. mayo and 1 t. mustard powder then stir to blend. Taste and then adjust amounts of mayo and mustard powder to suit your own taste.
- Season well with salt and pepper.
- Serve on your choice of bread.
Yield: enough for two sandwiches
Never thought of using the pastry blender to chop the eggs. Great idea. I am a fan of the mustard burn too!
7:45 pm Apr 8th, 2007Love that mustard burn! Sounds like the perfect recipe. No pickles, thank you for that!
7:51 pm Apr 8th, 2007Christine: I know, I had always chopped the eggs by hand until I saw my mother-in-law do it this way. It works great! Thanks for stopping by!
Kalyn: Pickles in egg salad? Ewwwwww
7:54 pm Apr 8th, 2007Hey Nicole
8:00 pm Apr 8th, 2007Finally got to watch the video’s. Egg salad picture looks great as usual.
Hi,
in my home we use onion instead of mustard. Try this way, it’s healthy and delicious!
8:34 pm Apr 8th, 2007Ciao Padmaja: Thanks! I’ll get back to you soon about the coffee.
Brocha: Thanks for stopping by! Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of raw onion but I’m sure some of my readers will appreciate the idea!
8:40 pm Apr 8th, 2007Mm mm…the sandwich with coffee would make the perfect morning. Mustard burn would actually make the coffee taste even better. Call me ‘weird’ but…’daddy’ would suffice.
8:50 pm Apr 8th, 2007That is exactly how I make my egg salad! It’s wonderful and I always wonder why I don’t make it more often. (I also say that about corned beef.) Oh wait, yes I do…gas. Beano!
9:03 pm Apr 8th, 2007Nothing beats really great egg salad. I’m partial to Miracle Whip instead of mayo, but really anything will do. No pickles, no onion, and yes to mustard!
10:18 pm Apr 8th, 2007nice on toast.
12:21 am Apr 9th, 2007heheh this is just perfect for today.
this year we were traveling over the easter holiday weekend so we didn’t get to dye any eggs but normally i do just because it’s fun! i know i’m an adult but hey! who doesn’t love brightly colored eggs. i’ve never tried using mustard powder in egg salad but i bet it works fantastically. happy easter nicole! hope you’re having a great weekend!
1:18 am Apr 9th, 2007an easy recipe for a perfect egg salad! this is heaven for egg lover.
8:05 am Apr 9th, 2007Emon: Hmmmm…I don’t know about the egg salad and coffee thing. I prefer sweet things with coffee or nothing at all. I’ve actually never eaten this for breakfast and I’m not sure why. I think I’ll try it for breakfast next time.
Kat: So, does Beano actually work? I have a friend who swears by it but have never tried it myself! I don’t make egg salad that often either but it’s always been one of my faves!
Lydia: I’m not a big fan of replacing regular mayo with miracle whip in egg dishes but I do love miracle whip on fresh tomatoes! I don’t know what it is about the combination but it’s so good!
Indiea: You know it’s strange but I’ve never eaten egg salad on toast. Now I’m wishing I had some in the fridge so I could try it…sounds like a good breakfast!
Amanda: I love to dye eggs too but it’s been a few years!
Eliza: Yes, it is heaven
Thanks for stopping by!
10:28 am Apr 9th, 2007I love egg salad, plain, no veggies…I don’t know how many times I have taken a big bite of a soggy egg salad sandwich only to discover some kind of alien crunch, and either violently expelled it from my mouth, or slowly opened up with a “blahh” look on my face, and craddling the filth on my tongue, let it fall into a napkin or back into the cursed ziplock bag from which it came! Anyways, good stuff, I’ll try mustard powder.
4:16 pm Apr 9th, 2007The egg salad looks divine. At first I thought it was a pile of rich, buttery scrambled eggs; I’ve never seen egg salad look so absolutely appealing. I will be trying this very soon!
7:59 pm Apr 9th, 2007My daughter started using the big holes on a cheese grater for “chopping” the eggs. Works great until you get to the end of the egg - watch your fingers!
8:27 pm Apr 9th, 2007I love the idea of using a pastry blender to chop the eggs!
10:07 pm Apr 9th, 2007Pretty near perfect egg salad. Here’s one teensy improvement: make the salad and eat it while the eggs are still warm.
Of course, you can’t do that with left-over Easter eggs, but it’s the best. Especially with really fresh homemade or artisan bread. I first had this salad back in the 70s with fresh Portuguese rolls. I still remember the occasion.
10:27 pm Apr 9th, 2007Sounds yummy! I personally leave the mustard out, I like it super plain with mayo, salt and pepper! And I have to have white bread, so yummy with good old fashioned white bread, no funky breads!
10:54 pm Apr 9th, 2007My friend adds tuna to her egg salad, thats a big old YUCK if you ask me, but she swears by it.
Thanks Nicole!
I was too busy with other things to dye eggs this year, now I’m regretting it. I LOVE egg salad. I love them any way but with pickles. Mustard powder rules.
10:54 pm Apr 9th, 2007[…] Easy Egg Salad¬†– Learn to make an egg salad in four quick steps. […]
3:43 am Apr 10th, 2007I love that last pic, makes me want an egg salad sandwich right now!
4:05 am Apr 10th, 2007At this particular moment if I never see another deviled egg again it’ll be too soon. Ugh. Why did I let them decorate so many?
7:30 am Apr 10th, 2007You are so right. Do not mess with the egg salad recipe. Step away from additional ingredients and no one will get hurt!
7:52 am Apr 10th, 2007Using a pastry blender is a genius idea!
4:58 pm Apr 10th, 2007I make some ‘traditional’ and some with pesto!
5:43 pm Apr 10th, 2007My favorite egg salad:
2 hard-cooked eggs, grated on the large-hole side of a 4-sided grater
2 T mayo (or more)
6 pimiento-stuffed olives, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix it all together. Spread on whole-wheat toast. Mmmmm.
(I like my egg salad on the dry side, so I only use enough mayo to make it hold together. Add mayo to taste.)
(Grating the eggs makes a very smooth egg salad — no noxious hard-cooked egg white chunks.)
7:53 pm Apr 10th, 2007YUM. Did you make your own mayonnaise? I was thinking of doing a collective kitchen with various mayonnaises including sardine, shrimp and a nice aioli (although it’s hard to pick the right olive oil for that one) to name a few. Of course you can’t get me out of a jar of Helman’s either.
10:00 pm Apr 10th, 2007Hi Nicole
Your egg mayo looks yummy! I posted my mango lassi for you if you want to check it out 
12:08 am Apr 11th, 2007I always get a tummy ache after eating eggs, but this looks too good to miss.
Must leave out the salt, still on a diet
12:54 am Apr 11th, 2007Dustin: hahahahaha…nothing worse than a crunchy egg salad sandwich! That’s why I will never eat one unless I make it myself or I watched the person make it from start to finish. I live in fear of unexpectedly biting into a chunk of raw onion!
Clare: Thanks! Yes, it’s not easy to make an egg salad sandwich look appealing…it’s good to know that I was able to do it!
Vicki: That sounds like another great idea! I can see myself making a mess, though! But I make a mess every time I walk in the kitchen so that’s no big surprise!
Lisa: It works really well! I might try Vicki’s cheese grater idea too and see how that works.
Joey: Hmmmm…I don’t know if I’d like it warm. I’m very particular about having my egg salad well-chilled. Although I suppose I should try it before saying I don’t like it!
Ruby: Ewwwww…I don’t think I’d like tuna in my egg salad. As for the bread…I’ll eat it on anything as long as it’s not stale.
Mary: Make some!
Brilynn: Thanks! I was feeling the same way about that caramel photo at your site!
Michelle: You let them decorate so many because it’s fun!
Angie: Your comment cracked me up!
Kristen: Yes, it really does speed up the process!
Janelle: Pesto!? I love pesto but I never would have thought to try it in egg salad. Interesting idea!
Meg: Thanks for sharing your recipe! Vicki also mentioned the idea of grating the eggs. I’ll have to try it sometime and compare the two methods. And although I said I like my egg salad plain, I’m intrigued by the chopped olives because I LOVE olives!!
8:00 am Apr 11th, 2007Jonathan: To tell you the truth, I’ve never tried making my own mayo…not sure why. I always use Hellmanns (Best Foods if you live on the west coast). I’m looking forward to the mayonnaise edition of Collective Kitchen although you won’t find me anywhere near a sardine!
Jeena: Yay! I’m heading over to your site right now…thanks!
Misslionheart: I hope you enjoy it…I’m a salt addict so I’ve never tried it without the extra salt!
What a funny doincidence - Heidi at 101cookbooks posted recently about egg salad sandwiches too. Now I really can’t stop thinking about them. My ideas were to use some arugula, but not mixed in, on top. And/or homemade basil mayo. Anyway, yours looks so tempting! Thanks for the great post. Hope your holiday was fun.
8:29 pm Apr 13th, 2007BTW Emeril has a great mayo recipe I used for a potluck a while back…
http://www.emerils.com/recipes/by_name/mayonnaise_version3.html
4:15 am Apr 17th, 2007You know you’re talented when you can make egg salad look this appetizing!
2:44 pm Apr 18th, 2007I also like to add a bit of vinegar to my egg salad. I imagine it gives the salad a similar bite that the mustard powder does, but it makes the egg salad a little less dry. I have some homemade vinegars that I’ve seasoned with dill and rosemary that I love in a good egg salad.
9:34 pm Apr 18th, 2007Pam: I saw Heidi’s post…the photo is beautiful, isn’t it!
Ruby: I’ll check it out, thanks!
Susan: Thanks, Susan!
9:30 pm Apr 19th, 2007Sarah: I used to add vinegar to mine, also. Sometimes I still do but I really like this basic recipe. Mmmmm…dill and rosemary vinegars sound wonderful! I’ve never tried flavoring my own vinegars at home. Would you mind sharing some tips?
Whoa that looks awesome.
8:26 am Apr 21st, 2007Actually I think the food taste the best just by looking at the food in the picture. Too bad I have physic mind :p
Watched “The Secret”? Learn how I used it… http://infinitetreasure.thesgrprogram.com“
8:28 am Apr 21st, 2007Hi Nicole, this easy recipe is delicious. Thank you for sharing. I translated it in Dutch and placed a link to your weblog: http://uitdekeukenvanarden.blogspot.com/2007/04/woodleaf-furn-en-recept-eiersalade.html
11:49 pm Apr 24th, 2007Sinead: Thanks!
Arden: Glad you liked it and I think it’s so cool that my recipe has been translated into Dutch! Thanks!
2:01 am Apr 25th, 2007this easy recipe is delicious
7:32 pm May 1st, 2007you can see also
http://www.about-recipes.com//recipe.php?id=2002
[…] Jonathan, an American living in Denmark and star of Rub My Chicken, chose to feature my very own Easy Egg Salad in his latest video adventure. Although his version of egg salad is based on my recipe, he gives it […]
6:48 am Jun 20th, 2007Nothing wrong with a little “salty language” and I think this food topic is good. A reinvention of egg salad is needed. I’ll ponder the *&^$* possibilities!
1:05 pm Jun 20th, 2007This recipe look delicious. I love egg salad but never try the one with mustard powder. Will try yours soon. The recipe I always follow is about the same with yours, but instead of using mustard powder, I used freshly ground pepper black pepper. Anyway thanks for sharing
Jann
7:05 am Dec 9th, 2007I totally agree that this basic egg-salad recipe, is nearly perfect. I like a dash of cayenne in mine, otherwise, the recipe we’re discussing has the taste of ‘tradition’. However, I worked for a cool lady years ago, who made her own recipe, a real twist on egg-salad, with cream cheese in lieu of mayo, and used a flour sifter to get her hard boiled eggs soft, fine and dry, a powdery consistency, then folding the sifted egg into the soften cream cheese. Nothing else, other than salt and fine white pepper to taste, served on crust-less white bread, cut into triangles, squares & round finger style sandwiches, and served at room temperature. It was excellent and fun to eat, with a texture between a egg-cheesecake and pate’.
10:01 pm Jan 28th, 2008My mom always used a pastry blender - I had no idea people ever chopped their eggs by hand!
But now I use an egg slicer - slice first one way, then turn the egg and slice again. It makes tiny little matchstick-shaped egg pieces. It seems to make a lighter, less mashed egg salad.
9:44 pm May 19th, 2008[…] what’s so special about my deviled eggs? Absolutely nothing. Just like my egg salad, I prefer my deviled eggs free of any additions. I don’t add anything sweet, I don’t […]
11:26 am Jun 27th, 2008