Best Egg Salad Recipe
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A few little additions take this classic egg salad recipe from basic to really good, while keeping everything you love about the tried-and-true favorite.
Egg salad is a simple, familiar favorite, but it can be surprisingly easy to get wrong. For me, a good egg salad recipe begins with perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs, then it’s all about balance. Mayo adds richness, while lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and a touch of Worcestershire bring brightness, tang, and depth. I add celery, scallions, and fresh parsley for crunch and freshness, which keeps the salad from feeling too heavy.
Pile it onto toasted bread for an egg salad sandwich, spoon it over greens, or serve it with crackers for an easy lunch.
“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: Properly cooked eggs are the foundation of a good egg salad. I like the yolks fully set but still creamy, without that dry, chalky texture you sometimes get from overcooked eggs. The method below will get you there.
- Mayonnaise: Forms the rich, creamy base of the dressing. Use a good-quality brand, such as Hellmann’s or Duke’s.
- Dijon mustard: Adds a little tang and sharpness to cut through the richness of the eggs and mayo.
- Lemon juice: A small amount of fresh lemon juice brightens the salad and keeps it from tasting heavy.
- Worcestershire sauce: My little extra. You only need a touch, but it adds savory depth and makes the whole salad more flavorful without calling attention to itself.
- Celery, Scallions & Fresh Parsley: These add crunch and freshness and keep the salad from feeling too rich. I like scallions here because they give you mild onion flavor without overpowering the eggs, while the parsley adds a fresh, herbal note.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Egg Salad
Hard-boil and chop the eggs: Gently lower the eggs into boiling water and cook for exactly 11 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath to cool, then peel and chop.
Mix the egg salad: Whisk the dressing until smooth and well combined. Add the eggs, vegetables, and herbs and gently fold everything together. Serve right away or refrigerate for up to 3 days. Always give it a taste before serving—the seasoning can mellow as it sits, so it may need a little salt, pepper, or lemon juice to perk it back up.
Got Hard-Boiled Eggs? More Recipes You May Like
Best Egg Salad Recipe
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 freshly 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
- Fill a medium saucepan with enough water to cover the eggs by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat. Using a slotted spoon, gently lower the cold eggs into the boiling water one at a time, taking care not to let them hit the bottom of the pan, which can crack the shells. Adjust the heat as needed to maintain a gentle boil and cook for 11 minutes; this gives you fully set but still tender, creamy yellow yolks.
- Meanwhile, fill a medium bowl with ice and cold water. As soon as the eggs are done, use a slotted spoon to transfer them to the ice bath. Let cool for 10 minutes. Gently crack the eggs all over, then peel under cool running water, starting at the wide end. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to use. Dry the eggs, then chop into ¼-inch (6-mm) 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.)
Notes
- Peeling Hack: Start peeling at the wide end of the egg, where there’s usually an air pocket. Peel off a small piece of shell at the bottom to expose the membrane, then slip the egg back into the water (ice water or room temperature water both work) for a minute or two. The water seeps under the shell and helps release it more easily.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: 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.
Nutrition Information
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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I thought this was delicious. Just enough dressing and great flavor. I also love chopping the eggs instead of mashing them.
I have one question. When you give a salt measurement is that for table salt, or kosher salt. I use kosher salt and though this needed another pinch or two after chilling.
Thank you. This will be my new go to egg salad.
Hi Steve, So glad you like the egg salad! When a recipe of mine says salt in the ingredient list, I am referring to regular/table salt. If it calls for something else like kosher salt, I will specify that in the recipe. Hope that clarifies. 🙂
Dear Jenn,
I am so confused! Help! I’ve followed your blog for over a year now and used dozens of recipes in every area of food from your site! I love it! However, whilst having my eye for quite some time on your Classic Egg Salad, I finally made it yesterday. I made it exactly measured , except doubled as I needed 12 eggs worth not 6 for our large family. I was precise in each measurement and only didn’t add the shallots….but —- it was like soup!! I was so disappointed. What did I do wrong please? Perhaps this is one of those recipes that don’t do well doubling? I can’t figure what happened, but 8 Tblsp of mayo for 12 eggs + 3 tsps of Lemon Juice and the mustard made soup! Help please when you can! It was my first try at egg salad, and for something so simple I feel puzzled. Thank you!!
I’m sorry you had a problem with doubling the egg salad. This recipe should translate okay into being doubled so I’m not sure what may have gone wrong. Is there any chance you made a measuring error?
No, I measured exactly….I was very careful. The only other thing I wondered was if I didn’t chop the egg fine enough. Could it having been too chunky have made it liquidy?
Hi Stephanie, That wouldn’t have occurred to me, but if the eggs were in pretty big chunks, that may have made a difference in terms of how much liquid got absorbed. Also, what kind of mayo did you use? (I like Hellman’s or Duke’s best.)
Could you have possibly made it while the eggs were still too warm?
Dear Mrs. M.
I make this and love it. I noticed you said 3tbs lemon juice and it would actually be 3 tsp. (1.5 tsp is in the original recipe). Maybe this is your error. Good luck. Jen
Thanks for another great recipe, Jenn! The balance of flavor was perfect! The addition of the mustard and Worcestershire made all the difference. So much better than the bland salad I’m used to! I used vinegar, next time I’ll try the lemon juice to see the difference
I’m not a celery fan and didn’t have any on hand, so didn’t miss it. Is there an alternative for celery that you would recommend for more crunch?
Also, thanks for the tips for boiling and peeling the eggs. They were perfectly done, although I still have trouble getting some of them out of the shell!
Glad you liked it! You could substitute the celery with diced jicama or water chestnuts to get that same crunch. 🙂
Awesome. I’ve never been able to crack the code for egg salad until now. Just the right amount of spice and crunch and not too much mayo. The best way to make hard boiled eggs is in your Instant Pot or other like machine. I cook at high pressure for 5 minutes, let release naturally for another 5, then place into an ice bath for another bath. They peel easily without massacring the egg white.
Yes, eggs cooked in the IP can be peeled very easily! Try it and you might never go back to cooking on the stovetop.
I use low pressure for 12 minutes with quick release.
It was great! Like mom used to make!
Wow! This was delicious. Grew up with just strictly mayonnaise and salt & pepper and eggs mashed with a fork. And, usually too much mayonnaise! This was light and so flavorful! I loved the way the egg were chopped not mashed.
I’ve never made a recipe from Jennifer that I didn’t like!
Mary
Just perfect! No matter how good you might think your egg salad is, this recipe takes it to a whole new level. Is there anything that doesn’t do that on this site?
❤️
Is it rude to lick the bowl after you make something? Well, I came very close. This recipe was fantastic!!!!
🙂
We used every last spec of this egg salad. Made my husband the last sandwich today. He just raved about it. I in turn heated up the next to last slice of the crustless broccoli quiche. That too was amazing. Froze the last slice for another day. Thanks so much for answering all our questions so promptly.
Made this egg salad yesterday. One of the tastiest ones I’ve had. I usually just put in celery, Old Bay seasoning and a touch of dry mustard. Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. I only had one difficulty. I followed the recipe exactly, but the eggs really needed to be cooked a tad longer. I usually boil as instructed, but follow my grandmother’s instructions to shut off heat and let sit 20 min. And I leave it on same burner(electronic). Other than that this will be my go to recipe. Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes.
Sunny D.☀️