The Best Egg Salad Recipe

by donuts2crumpets | Apr 19, 2023 | Salads

I love all things eggs. Over easy, scrambled, poached, baked, hard boiled, soft boiled, deviled or egg salad – I’ll eat them all! This past weekend I posted how to hard boil eggs in your instant pot, so now it’s time for me to share the best egg salad recipe you have ever tasted! This egg salad uses those easily made hard boiled eggs and is delicious on croissants, on toasted sourdough bread, as an English tea sandwich, or even on romaine or butter lettuce leaves.

Traditional egg salad has just a few ingredients; eggs, mayo, mustard, salt and pepper, but we are going to vamp up this egg salad with ingredients that will make you wonder why you don’t make it weekly! One of the secret ingredients to this egg salad? A little bit of sweet relish! You know – like the kind you put on a hamburger or a hot dog. That little crunch and pop of acidity makes all the difference!

Egg salad is a very versatile recipe, so I have included some tips below with suggested substitutions or additions in case you see an ingredient that you don’t have or absolutely don’t like. Just read through the tips and recipe before you get started and you will be all ready to create the egg salad of your dreams!

A couple of tips for this recipe:

My favorite way to make hard boiled eggs is in the instant pot using the 5-5-5 method. Click here to read the post on how to do it, you won’t believe how easy and hands off it is! If you don’t have an instant pot, you can absolutely hard boil your eggs however you like – for the stovetop method, place the eggs in a single layer on the bottom of your saucepan. Cover with enough cold water that the eggs are covered at least by an inch or so. Place the pan over high heat and let the eggs come to a boil. Once they are boiling, turn off the heat and cover the pot with the lid. Leave the eggs for 10-12 minutes, (I usually go the whole 12 for egg salad.) Strain and move them to an ice bath for 5-10 minutes, then peel the eggs.
Sometimes I like to add in extras to give my egg salad a crunch – try the optional 1/4 cup of finely diced red onion or finely diced celery. (Or add both!)
If you don’t like mayo, you can absolutely substitute Greek yogurt.
Finely diced sweet pickles are a great substitute for sweet relish. If you don’t like pickles or relish, leave it out – but it adds a wonderful zingy flavor and texture to the dish.
For a spicier egg salad, try a few dashes of Tobasco sauce, a 1/4 tsp of Harissa or Calabrian chili paste, or some red pepper flakes!

Ingredients:

8 hard boiled eggs
1/4 cup mayo
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp sweet relish
1 Tbsp freshly chopped parsley (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp dried chives
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion and/or celery

Instructions:

Hard boil the eggs using one of the methods in the notes or your favorite method, chop them up and set aside. (I use a dough cutter to chop mine up – it works perfectly!)
In a bowl, whisk together the mayo, apple cider vinegar, mustard, sweet relish, chopped parsley, chives, sugar, salt and pepper.
Add the mixed dressing to the chopped eggs and stir until well combined.
Optional: Stir in chopped onion and/or celery.
Refrigerate covered until ready to serve.