I think egg salad is seriously underrated. It is a creamy, flavorful spread that is packed with protein and requires very few ingredients to bring together in a wonderfully delicious way.
This week, a strong craving for egg salad came over me, as it often does, and I knew I needed to make some soon. I had just baked a few loaves of French Bread and knew that some egg salad would be perfect over a thick grilled slice of soft bread. My belly is grumbling just thinking about it…
As long as you have a dozen eggs, some mayonnaise and a few basic ingredients, you can make some fabulous egg salad right now.
Let’s get started…
This first step is to hard boil the eggs. Everyone seems to have their own way of hard boiling eggs, but this is how I do it…
Place a dozen eggs into a large deep pan and fill the pan with cold water until all of the eggs are fully submerged. Place the pan over high heat until the water begins to boil. As soon as the water is boiling, cover the pan, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit over the same burner (turned off) for 10 minutes.
While the eggs are cooking, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl about 1/3 of the way with ice cubes and then add enough cold tap water to fill the bowl 2/3 of the way.
Once the eggs have cooked for 10 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and carefully transfer the eggs into the ice bath using a slotted spoon or spider strainer.
Let the eggs chill for 10 minutes and then peel and rinse (this is the only tough part about making egg salad, but peel on… it will all be worth it in the end).
Once the eggs are peeled and rinsed, they need to be mashed and my all time favorite way to do this is by running the eggs over a large grater. This is quick and results in evenly sized pieces, but you can also mash the eggs using a potato masher or a stiff fork.
The final stage is to add our flavoring and binder. For a dozen eggs, I start with 1/3 of a cup of real mayonnaise (I prefer Duke’s), 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard (honey dijon is great, if you have it!), 2 teaspoons of onion powder and 2 teaspoons of garlic powder. Mix everything together until fully incorporated and then take a taste. If the spices are too mild, add a bit more. I always end up adding more onion powder, but I think that 2 teaspoons is great place to start. That is enough for many people and you can always add more later.
This egg salad is perfect on grilled bread or with some crackers and I love dusting a little paprika or cayenne pepper over mine, but my husband loves it as is…
Garnish with green onions, chives or finely chopped parsley and enjoy for breakfast, lunch or an afternoon snack.
Classic Egg Salad
Ingredients
- 12 large eggs
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1-3 teaspoons onion powder
- 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
- a pinch of salt and pepper
- a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
- a pinch smoked paprika (optional)
Instructions
- Place 1 dozen eggs into a large saucepan and cover with enough water to fully submerge them
- Place over high heat and bring to a rolling boil
- Once the water is boiling, cover the pan and turn off the heat
- Allow the pan to sit on the burner (turned off) for 10 minutes
- Transfer the eggs into an ice bath and set aside for 10 minutes to chill
- Peel and rinse the eggs and set them onto a paper towel lined plate
- Mash the eggs with a potato masher or fork
- Add 1/3 of a cup of real mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard, 1-3 teaspoons of onion powder and 1-2 teaspoons of garlic powder (season to your liking) into the eggs and mix to combine
- Taste and add more seasoning, if necessary
