How To Make Egg Salad
Instructions
Step 1: Gather Ingredients and Tools
There's nothing worse than getting all excited to try your hand at a new recipe and finding out you don't have all the necessary ingredients and tools to follow through. Luckily, you don't need any fancy ingredients to make a great egg salad. In fact, most of the ingredients are kitchen staples. These are the ingredients needed to make a basic egg salad:
12 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise or creamy salad dressing
2 tablespoons mustard
2 teaspoons each salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons dill
1 stalk celery
1/2 a small onion
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Though most basic egg salad recipes include these ingredients, feel free to leave out whatever you don't like. All an egg salad really needs is hard-boiled eggs and a binding agent (like mayonnaise).
You'll also need to make sure you have the kitchen equipment to make egg salad.
Small- to medium-sized pot with a tight-fitting lid
Sharpened chef's knife
Cutting board
Mixing bowl
Step 2: Prepare the Eggs
Take the eggs out from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature for about fifteen minutes.
Place the eggs in the empty pot.
The pot you use should be small enough that the amount of eggs you are choosing to boil don't have too much room to move. If the pot is too large, the eggs could knock into each other while the water is boiling and crack their shells.
Bring the water to a rolling boil.
Remove the pot from the heat, and cover with a lid.
Let the eggs sit in the covered pot for 13 minutes.
Take the pot off the stove and set it in the sink, beneath the faucet.
Run cool water into the pot until the eggs are cool enough to handle.
Peel the eggs.
Unlike when making deviled eggs, the hard-boiled eggs will eventually be chopped, so less care to ensure the eggs remain whole and presentable is needed.
Using older eggs is an simple way to ensure an easy-peeling egg.2
Chop the eggs.
There is no rule as to what size the chopped up hard-boiled eggs should be. A large, rough chop will result in a chunky sandwich. A small, precise dice will make your egg salad more of a spread than a filling. Ultimately, it's completely up to you and your taste buds!
Step 3: Prepare the Dressing
Dice the vegetables. Though your eggs can be any size you like, it's best if the celery, onion and other vegetables are diced. This is egg salad, after all.
Make sure to wash all vegetables before cutting
Mix the mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice with the diced vegetables. It's best to mix up your dressing in the bowl you'll be mixing your egg salad in. Get a bowl big enough to work in. Trying to mix up egg salad in a small bowl is difficult, and you'll probably end up spilling or knocking food out of the bowl.
Once the wet ingredients and vegetables are completely mixed, add the herbs, salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3: Mix Together and Serve
Dump your eggs into the bowl in which you prepared the dressing. Using a large spoon, carefully mix the eggs and dressing together. Be gentle with your mixing, and try to use more of a folding motion. If you mix it vigorously, as you would a cake batter, your eggs will fall apart and the mixture will resemble a thick spread, unless that is the texture you're aiming for. Your egg salad is now ready to serve! There are countless ways to eat egg salad:
Spread your egg salad on a crusty bread with your favorite sandwich toppings, and enjoy it as a sandwich.
If you're watching your carbohydrates, have your egg salad on a bed of lettuce.
Dig in with a spoon!
Sprinkle with a sharp cheese such as Parmesan cheese for extra flavor
Change up the vegetables and spices that you add to change the flavor. Options include olives, diced peppers, sweet pickle relish, smoked salmon, or crumbled bacon.3
