Egg salad recipe

Egg salad recipe – Make boiled egg salad in 2 easy ways with & without mayonnaise. A classic egg salad is made with hard boiled eggs, mayonnaise, onions, herbs, black pepper and mustard. It can be served over toasted bread or as a filling in wraps, sandwiches or rolls. Making a creamy, flavorful and delicious egg salad is super easy.

In this post I have shared 2 ways to make egg salad. The first one uses mayonnaise and the second one is made without mayo but uses lots of fresh chopped veggies.

Mayonnaise is the main ingredient that gives a creamy and silky texture to the egg salad. However if you do not prefer it, you can use the substitutes which I have mentioned below. Alternately use the second recipe.

Making this takes just 5 mins if you have the perfectly boiled eggs ready. This makes for a great easy breakfast even on a busy day.

More recipes,
Sandwich recipes
Kathi rolls
Veggie wraps

Boiling eggs

1. Rinse the eggs well under running water and place them in a pot. Pour enough water to cover them by 1 to 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil on a medium heat. Let the water boil for 2 mins. Cover and turn off the heat. Let the eggs sit in the hot water for 15 mins.

Alternate way is to boil until you see cracks on the eggs. If you are using first born or very fresh eggs then they won’t cook if you follow the first method. So follow this one instead.

Recipe 1

How to make egg salad with mayo

2. After 15 mins, remove the eggs and keep them in cold water for a while. Remove the shells.

3. Chop them to tiny cubes and add to a mixing bowl.

4. Add chopped onions, garlic, herbs, mustard and chilies .

5. Add mayo or strained curd (hung curd).

6. Mix well. If using hung curd, add some salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning as desired.

Serve the creamy egg salad over toasted bread or wrap it in roti.

Recipe 2

Mayo-free egg salad

Ingredients – Serves 2

• 1 small onion chopped
• ½ cup cabbage
• 1 small carrot grated
• 1 green chilli chopped
• handful of chopped coriander leaves
• black pepper powder
• salt as needed
• ½ to ¾ tsp chaat masala (adjust to taste)

1. Rinse and chop onions and cabbage. Add 1 tsp lemon juice and set aside until the eggs are done boiling. This step is optional. Adding lemon juice removes the pungency of onions and strong smell from cabbage.

2. Add them to a mixing bowl with grated carrots and chili. Give a good mix.

3. Cube the eggs to desired sizes. I do not chop very small, as my kids don’t like mushy yolk in this egg salad. Add half of the eggs, sprinkle pepper, salt and chaat masala.

4. Layer rest of the veggies and the eggs. Add chopped coriander leaves or parsley. Sprinkle a bit more of pepper powder and extra virgin olive oil or virgin coconut oil.

Cover the bowl and gently toss the salad. Delicious and healthy boiled egg salad is ready. This is best served immediately.

Tips

Using perfectly boiled eggs is very important to make great tasting salad. Avoid overcooking the eggs as it affects the texture and taste. If you are new to boiling eggs perfectly, check the step by step photos below.

A typical egg salad always has mayonnaise as it gives a creamy texture. If you do not prefer mayo, then substitute with cream cheese or strained yogurt. I have tried making with both of these and my kids loved them more than the one with mayonnaise.

Fresh herbs like celery, parsley, chives or coriander leaves go well in this. However depending on what is available locally you can use them here.

Mustard is another key ingredient used to spice up the egg salad. If you do not have the mustard sauce, then you may use ground mustard seeds like the way I used. Just note that ground mustard is much stronger than the mustard sauce so use only a little as mentioned in the recipe below.

Black pepper is used for heat. You may also use red chilli flakes.

Safety tip

Boiled eggs are unsafe at room temperature after 2 hours. So use up the salad within 2 hours or keep it refrigerated.

How to make healthy egg salad

You can make this boiled egg salad healthy by skipping the mayo completely from the recipe. We don’t eat mayo often at home so most times I make the egg salad without it. This mayo-free egg salad is my kids’ favorite and it goes very well in sandwiches and roti rolls.

If you are wondering how to make this? Just use lots and lots of veggies as you would use for any other vegetable salad. Then add the boiled & chopped eggs to it. A dash of lemon juice, salt, green chilies & lots of fresh herbs is all that is needed. I also sprinkle some olive oil or avocado oil to flavor up.

This is so good inside the wraps or kathi rolls. I smear some green chutney or yogurt sauce over the rotis and then put this salad inside.

Related Recipes

Recipe card

This post is from the Archives. First published in June 2015, republished in June 2020.