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Classic Egg Salad

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Egg Salad

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Searching for the best homemade egg salad? Look no further — this is the only egg salad recipe you’ll ever need!

Egg Salad on a thick slick of bread.

Egg salad is one of those classic dishes that seems simple, but it can be tricky to get right. Many egg salads out there are uninspiring, weighed down by too much mayo and not enough flavor and texture. But with the right technique and recipe, egg salad can be so delicious! To start, it’s crucial to cook the eggs properly so that the whites are tender and the yolks are creamy. From there, it’s all about amping up the seasoning with a good-quality mayo, a squeeze of lemon, a spoonful of Dijon mustard, and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. For a little crunch and color, I like to stir in some celery and fresh parsley, and finish it off with scallions for a subtle onion flavor. The result is an egg salad that’s creamy and rich, yet also vibrant and fresh — perfect for sandwiches, wraps, or simply as a standalone dish.

What You’ll Need To Make Egg Salad

ingredients for egg salad

Step-by-Step Instructions

Begin by hard boiling the eggs. Place the eggs in a saucepan in a single layer, and fill the pan with enough cold water so that it covers the eggs by about an inch. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes.

eggs simmering in boiling water

Carefully pour out the hot water; place the pan in the sink and run cold water over the eggs until the pan is lukewarm, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and refill with cold water; let stand until the eggs are room temperature, about 10 minutes.

cooling eggs under the tap

Gently crack the eggs all over and peel under running water. Then dry the eggs and chop into 1/4-inch pieces.

peeling eggs under running tap water

Meanwhile, finely chop the herbs, celery, and scallions.

chopped parsley, celery and scallions on cutting board

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and sugar.

whisked dressing in mixing bowl

Add the chopped eggs, celery, scallions, and parsley.

dressing, eggs, and add-ins in mixing bowl

Using a rubber spatula, fold to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary, then serve or refrigerate until ready to use.

egg salad mixed and ready to serve

If you refrigerate the egg salad, be sure to taste it again before serving and adjust the seasoning; I find the flavors mellow out a bit after some time in the fridge.

Egg Salad on a thick slick of bread.

Photo by Our Salty Kitchen

Video Tutorial

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Classic Egg Salad

Searching for the best homemade egg salad? Look no further — this is the only egg salad recipe you’ll ever need!

Servings: Makes 2½ cups, or enough for 4 sandwiches
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 large eggs
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • ¼ cup finely diced celery, from 1 stalk
  • 3 tablespoons finely sliced scallions, from 2 to 3 scallions
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

  1. Place the eggs in a saucepan in a single layer, and fill the pan with enough cold water so that it covers the eggs by about an inch. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes.
  2. Carefully pour out the hot water; place the pan in the sink and run cold water over the eggs until the pan is lukewarm, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and refill with cold water; let stand until the eggs are room temperature, about 10 minutes. Gently crack the eggs all over and peel under running water. Dry the eggs, then chop into ¼-inch pieces.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and sugar. Add the chopped eggs, celery, scallions, and parsley. Using a rubber spatula, fold to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve or refrigerate until ready to use. (If you refrigerate the egg salad, be sure to taste it again before serving and adjust the seasoning; I find the flavors mellow out a bit after some time in the fridge.)
  4. Make Ahead: The eggs can be cooked, peeled, and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator 3 days ahead. If you keep the eggs in their shell, they can last for up to a week. The egg salad will keep well in a covered container in the fridge for about 3 days.
  5. Tip: When peeling an egg, start at the wider end -- there's usually a small air pocket in there, which makes the egg shell easier to remove.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (4 servings)
  • Calories: 214
  • Fat: 18 g
  • Saturated fat: 4 g
  • Carbohydrates: 2 g
  • Sugar: 1 g
  • Fiber: 0 g
  • Protein: 10 g
  • Sodium: 248 mg
  • Cholesterol: 285 mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Comments

  • Skipped the sugar and parsley, still a really tasty egg salad! We had with Swiss on toasted sourdough.

    • — Kels on March 14, 2024
    • Reply
  • What a delicious recipe. I was starving and could not even wait for the egg salad to chill before putting it in a sandwich. It was still fantastic!

    • — Pris on February 28, 2024
    • Reply
  • So delicious! The only egg salad recipe I’ll ever need. Thanks!

    • — Karen on January 23, 2024
    • Reply
  • Thank you for this recipe – I’m a noob in the kitchen but this was easy and turned out great.
    I will make this again for sure.
    Much appreciated.

    • — Steve V on January 4, 2024
    • Reply
  • I often love using lemon juice to “lighten” flavors, but it didn’t work for me here, and threatened to make the whole salad too runny, with the Worcestershire, as well. And the latter didn’t add much either, which surprised me. Not bad, but not a standout.

    • — Donna T on December 3, 2023
    • Reply
    • Well Donna-Clearly you’re not making it right…this is hands down the best egg salad I’ve ever made and it barely lasts 24 hours when I make a double batch…the only thing I have now done to make my life easier is to use the Tik Tok viral video for no peel hard boiled eggs by cracking all the eggs in an oven proof dish and then placing it in another bigger dish filled 2/3 with water and baking in the oven for 30 min at 350 degrees. No more peeling eggs! Another amazing recipe by Master Chef Jenn!

      • — Tara on December 27, 2023
      • Reply
  • Excellent recipe. Followed it exactly and everyone enjoyed! Thank you!

    • — Marty Feldkamp on November 24, 2023
    • Reply
  • Egg salad should never have anything green in it.

    • — Bobby on October 16, 2023
    • Reply
    • based on your comment im at a loss as to why you would even make it then. i doubt you did.
      the stuff youre talking about is readily available at am/pm.

      • — joe on December 30, 2023
      • Reply
  • This is THE BEST egg salad recipe – the addition of lemon juice and Worchester sauce takes it over the top! I have been cooking your recipes for a long time and they never fail to deliver! Thank you for making me look like a real chef!

    • — Gail Szentesi on October 15, 2023
    • Reply
  • Perfect ratio of ingredients! That being said, I had to made some substitutes for what I had in the pantry/fridge. I found pickle juice to be a good sub for the vinegar/lemon juice, tsp. dried parsley, whole seed garlic mustard for the Dijon, and fine diced cucumber instead of celery. Thought folks might find it interesting, and it tastes wonderful! Thank you so much!!

    • — Jenn Chesney on September 4, 2023
    • Reply
  • For some reason every time I make this, it ends up watery after it goes in the fridge. I am careful to dry my hard boiled eggs. Any idea what it could be?

    • — Jacee on August 17, 2023
    • Reply
    • Hi Jacee, I’m sorry you’ve had a problem with this! What brand of mayo are you using? I really like Duke’s or Hellman’s.

      • — Jenn on August 18, 2023
      • Reply
    • Mine does too. I think that when I add the lemon juice to the mixture, I could be inadvertently adding too much juice. It’s still delicious! And if you look at Jenn’s photo, hers leans toward a “wetter” version of egg salad.

      • — Kimberly B. on August 19, 2023
      • Reply
  • I’ve made this recipe about 5 times. I LOVE it! My kids love it. I do sub fresh dill for the parsley (we are dill lovers) and leave out the sugar (not big sugar fans and we love the acid without the sugar to neutralize it). But it’s a family favorite!! My daughter asks for it in her school lunches often.

    • — Christine on July 15, 2023
    • Reply
  • While I was mixing up this recipe my husband walked into the kitchen and said he could smell the egg salad from his office and it smelled wonderful. Then he stood there and waited for me to finish chopping and mixing (he did assist by putting things away as I used them). Two bites into his first sandwich he told me to not bother putting the leftovers away-he was going back for more. Didn’t have green onions but had more chives in the herb garden than I knew what to do with, and they made a great substitute. Looks like this recipe is a keeper😄

    • — Judy on June 25, 2023
    • Reply
  • This is delicious; however, I did substitute dill for parsley as I prefer the flavor of dill.

    • — Paul Gardner on June 17, 2023
    • Reply
  • I haven’t made egg salad in years. Since I discovered this recipe, I have made it 3 times in the past month! Delicious! However, I still cannot peel hard boiled eggs worth a darn.

    • — Karen on April 22, 2023
    • Reply
    • I recently heard of this trick, I need to try this! https://temeculablogs.com/no-peel-hard-boiled-eggs/

      • — Michelle Phan on May 17, 2023
      • Reply
    • If you own an Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker) the eggs I hard boil in mine peel like a dream. Depending on your altitude (longer cook time in a pressure cooker for higher elevation) they cook in about 5 min after coming to pressure then 5 min before releasing the pressure. I am at 4500 ft so do mine for 8 min & 5 min.

      • — KathyH on May 18, 2023
      • Reply
    • Karen, the secret is to steam the eggs. When the water comes to a boil, put in the steamer and eggs, cover and steam for 12 minutes. Follow with an ice water bath, crack the eggs, let sit for a minute and voila the shell comes right off. Always works for me and yolk is perfectly done

      • — Carol on June 4, 2023
      • Reply
  • The absolute best ive ever eaten. I just dont see how you could improve on this. I threw away my other egg salad recipes when i found this one. Wow!

    • — Joe on April 18, 2023
    • Reply
  • Delicious! I love eggs any way served, but this has to be the best egg salad recipe I have found! Will be making again and again. Thank you for sharing.

    • — ANNE LADY on April 15, 2023
    • Reply
  • Wow, this is even better than my mom’s egg salad!

    • — James on April 14, 2023
    • Reply
  • Excellent egg salad. My only change would be to let eggs sit in water for only 8 minutes after boil. Makes a creamier yolk.

    • — Dan Gray on April 6, 2023
    • Reply
  • Without a doubt THE best egg salad ever! It was so good I made a second batch. I also add a touch of truffle oil to make it really special

    • — Marsha Porter on March 15, 2023
    • Reply

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