Classic 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 is a simple dish that’s undeniably delicious when done right (and, let’s be honest, falls a bit flat when it’s not). The trick is to begin with perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs, aiming for tender whites and creamy yolks. 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? An egg salad that’s rich and creamy yet also vibrant and fresh — perfect for sandwiches, wraps, or simply on its own.
“Without a doubt THE best egg salad ever! It was so good I made a second batch.”
What You’ll Need To Make Egg Salad
- Eggs: Hard-boiled and chopped, they’re the protein component and base of the salad.
- Mayonnaise: Adds creaminess and binds the salad together. Use a good-quality brand, such as Hellmann’s or Duke’s.
- Dijon mustard: Introduces a tangy depth and sharpness.
- Fresh lemon juice (or white wine vinegar): Adds brightness and acidity, balancing the richness of the eggs and mayo.
- Worcestershire sauce: Offers a hint of umami and complexity to the salad, deepening the flavors.
- Celery: Provides a crunchy texture and a fresh, slightly bitter contrast to the creamy components.
- Scallions: Add a mild onion flavor and a touch of color, enhancing the freshness of the salad.
- Fresh parsley: Contributes a pop of color and a fresh, herbal note.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
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.
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. Then dry the eggs and chop into 1/4-inch pieces.
Meanwhile, finely chop the herbs, celery, and scallions.
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, then 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.
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!
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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
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- 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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Best egg salad I have ever had! No changes, made it following the recipe! Do you have a great tuna salad recipe too😋? We love all your recipes, thank you Jen!
So glad you liked this! As of now, I don’t have a proven recipe of my own for tuna salad. I’ll have to add that to my list of recipes to potentially develop — thanks for the suggestion!
Hi Jenn,
I take tuna sandwiches with me when I spend the day outside skiing.
I don’t care for mayo. I use plain yogurt. I also add a diced avocado, scallions or green onions, celery, and a jalapeño. I put it in a flour tortilla, a perfect sandwich for me!
I have a tuna fan club who enjoys these sandwiches too!!
Made this yesterday and popped it in the fridge overnight for lunch today. WOW! Definitely the most flavorful egg salad I have had! I will admit, I was nervous about the Dijon and thought it might be too strong of a taste but the flavors do mellow out after sitting in the fridge. This is definitely my new go-to egg salad! Jenn, thank you AGAIN for another delicious recipe!
Made this today and it really IS lovely. I didn’t think you could improve on it but this takes an old favourite to a new level. Thanks!
I just made this recipe for a quick lunch to take to work on sourdough bread! Delicious! I’m thinking of adding some diced dill pickles next time though just to add a little more zing. Thanks so much for the recipe!
This is great!!!! The first time I made this EXACTLY as written and opted for the vinegar. The second time I added some fine chopped red onion and used the scallion for garnish and did 1/2 lemon juice and 1/2 vinegar and I now have my new favorite egg salad! Worcestershire is brilliant.
Excellent!
I was so sick and tired of my own boring egg salad, I knew I had to find an actual really good recipe and this is it!
I did make a few changes: I finely chopped up half of a small onion because I didn’t have any scallions and I pressed the eggs through a large-hole potato ricer.
I think the unusual blend of ingredients is what makes this egg salad so good. It’s definitely a 5-Star recipe!
This is the best! Love your recipes
Spectacular! My Mom hates vinegar while my father and l love it. Surprise! Everyone loved this recipe. Bravo!
Delicious egg salad recipe. Preparing eggs for can be tricky and this recipe does a fantastic job of having the eggs end up perfect. This is a definite, “go to” recipe for egg salad. I plan on passing it along.
forgot to add the 5 stars:)
This was absolutely the most delicious egg salad ever!!!!! I only got a few tastes before making a huge sandwich for my husband and sharing the rest with a friend who loves egg salad. She just about fell over!! I know I will make this and only this egg salad from now on!! Those extra ingredients elevate the basic to the phenomenal.
I made it on the fly and didn’t have any scallions left so I used a small leek chopped small. And I already had a small bowl of chopped fresh parsley, sage and rosemary so I tossed those all in. Your recipes are always the best. Thank you!
So good! Best egg salad ever.
Thank you for another delicious and easy to make recipe! I used my instant pot to make the boiled eggs (1 cup water, place on trivet, manual high pressure 5 min, natural release 6 min, then dunk in cold water, peel when cool – use Jenn’s suggestion of starting at the round bottom and using the air pocket).
The flavors worked harmoniously together without one in particular being the dominant flavor. Terrific egg salad that we will certainly make again.
This is so good! Easy and really brings an egg salad sandwich to life! Another winner in my house! Thanks again Jenn!
I was so excited to try this recipe, but I just didn’t love it. I found it a bit too salty and it just seemed to be missing something. I might try the horseradish others have suggested. For those having a hard time peeling their eggs, Google the science of steaming eggs…it works!
Followed recipe exactly as written, but my yolks were still a little soft, are they suppose to be that way, and I had an extremely HARD TIME peeling the eggs despite following your directions precisely. An interesting play of flavors, but I prefer a more traditional egg salad.
Hi Carol, The yolks should be just cooked through. You may have had very fresh eggs, which can be hard to peel.
Can this recipe be doubled?
yep!
I’m allergic to dijon. Could I substitute ordinary yellow hotdog mustard?
Sure, Lesley – that’ll be fine.
I have never been a fan of egg salad, because as you said, they are usually mayo laden and flat out boring. I made your recipe because I needed to use up some eggs and holy moley! This was flat out the BEST and most delicious recipe I have ever tasted for this simple, classic stand by! I didn’t change a thing because to me, I dislike reviews when someone has altered the ingredients and then complains about the outcome. I had enough to share with my neighbor and she raved about how yummy it was. I’m also going to add it to my tea sandwich collection for parties! Thank you, Jenn! I’d give it 10 stars if I could! Well done!
I was skeptical about the amount of sauce for the amount of eggs and didn’t initially add any sugar BUT, BOY, was this delicious as written!!!! Fresh, not overly mayonnaise-y and just really hit the spot for us today. I had made my fresh baked whole grain bread and this was a superb accompaniment! So Good!! Love your recipes Jenn!
Just made this egg salad for lunch. I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect, like all of your recipes! The eggs came right out of their shells, the seasoning was balanced and bright, and so much less mayo than usual. I served it on honey oatmeal-whole wheat bread (KAF recipe), with arugula and pickled pepper rings. Totally delicious! Thank you, Jenn!
Excellent, served on sourdough bread, used Boar’s Head Deli Mustard. Thank you.
This is really good. I made it exactly as per the recipe and it was delicious. I made it a second time but added peeled and seeded cucumber and substituted equal parts of sour cream and cottage cheese for the mayo. Both my girlfriend and her mom said it was the best egg salad sandwich either of them ever had!
I made it exactly as described above (accept for one thing, instead of sugar I put a spoonful of sweet pickle relish), It was delicious!
Cooking eggs this way in Denver, CO results in egg whites that will be too soft! Impossible to peel! Just wasted 6 eggs…will try again using the 12 minute boil rule. Really want to try this recipe!
Hi Carla, Yes, from what I understand the temperature at which water boils declines as elevation rises, so it takes a bit longer to cook hard-boiled eggs at higher altitudes.
I am 63 and ate egg salad for the first time last year. I made it and it was good. Today I decided to look for a recipe. Typically I use recipes as a guide, rarely following them exactly, this one I followed exactly. This recipe has made me an egg salad fan, it is kind of amazing. Thank you
Great egg salad !! but added a bit too much scallions by mistake .. what can i do to fix and get rid of the strong onion flavor ?
Hi Anita, not sure there’s an easy fix for that–perhaps you could make another 1/2 batch of the recipe and add it to the egg salad you’ve already prepared. That will help to dilute the scallions a bit. 🙂
Wonderful! This was my first recipe to try off this site and it was delicious. Looking forward to trying more recipes!
Delicious! I have never added Worcestershire to my egg salad but it is a nice addition. Thank you!
Best egg salad!
This was a delicious recipe, thank you! I added pickle relish and left out the celery, scallions, and parsley because I didn’t have any on hand. I will try it next time!
I was among those who said “What? No pickles?” but it is OK! I used the white wine vinegar option and did everything as written. Delicious! I really enjoyed this recipe and since my chickens are in fine form right now, I will be making it again. 😉
Delicious! So yummy. (I made it without the sugar).
Not a big fan of celery, so I used cucumber for crunch; also, a sprinkle of Cajun spice for kick. I’m trying these egglette things, as I’ve never been very good at hard boiling eggs 😉
Yum I am going to try cucumber next time and maybe the cajun seasoning. I did add paprika.
Is it good without green onion and that stuff?
Hi Addie, the scallions, celery, and fresh herbs definitely give the egg salad a lot of flavor, but I think it would still be tasty without it.
Very good recipe, I doubled the eggs to 12 and still had a nice taste.
What a delicious sandwich this recipe makes! I used a pinch of monk fruit sugar instead of regular, otherwise following the ingredients exactly. Truly outstanding!
Delicious. I thought I’d miss the pickles, but this version is wonderful.
This was too harsh in flavors and too dry. I almost double the mayonnaise, 1/3 diced celery, salt, and pepper. Sometimes I use 1/2 tsp. yellow mustard. Don’t wreck a good thing.
then make it good next time. this recipe is awsome
This recipe is amazing. I always want to spruce regular plain egg salad but never experiment and these flavors are a perfect combination. I have tried a few of your recipes and each one has been excellent. I look forward to trying more!
Oh my goodness Jenn! Another home run recipe!! I haven’t made egg salad in years (because as you pointed out, it is typically very bland). This is not!! The dressing is so flavorful and the lemon juice gives it such a lovely zip, without being overpowering. I left out the Worcestershire sauce because I thought it might dominate the flavor. But this egg salad is so delicious, next time I will be more adventurous and add the Worcestershire. Thanks Jenn for expanding my repertoire!!!
Best egg salad ever, hands down. Enjoyed on a warm baguette — delish!
Hi Jen,
Can you substitute the mayo with sour cream because my husband is allergic to mayo?
Thank you,
Mary
Hi Mary, I think that would work but because sour cream has a more tart taste than mayo, I’d suggest eliminating the lemon juice/white wine vinegar, to reduce the tart flavor a bit. Please LMK how it turns out with the sour cream!
I am a cook. I am SUPER picky about recipes, a perfectionist. This recipe absolutely rules. Please make this.
THIS IS THE BEST EGG SALAD I EVER MADE !!!!
THANKS SOOOO MUCH
The. Best. Egg. Salad. Ever. As with all the recipes on your website, Jenn, this one is super. You’re my go-to girl.
Catherine Low, Vancouver, BC
Could I ask where you got that bread. It looks amazing?
Hi Lisa, I believe it was from Whole Foods – the multigrain.
Love the egg salad recipe. I have found that a dollop (to taste) of a good horseradish sauce is fabulous with many mayo based dishes. It is essential in tartar sauce…also great in egg salad.
JC
Great recipe – always a winner. Just a tip on egg prep: try steaming them in a steamer for 13 min. Then plunge in cold water for 15 min. MUCH easier to peel…enjoy.
Except for the sugar this is how I make my egg salad so I’m giving this recipe 5 stars because I know it’s delicious. Kind of cool when an excellent chef like Jen validates a recipe I’ve been using.
😊
Can you tell the nutrition informtation?
Hi Lakshmi, I knew I forgot something when I posted this late last night! I’ve added it underneath the recipe. Hope that helps!
I made it but a little too salty for my taste. I will try again with less salt!
This is very much the way I make mine too but I also add a tsp of horseradish….makes it very tasty…I do love your recipes!