Got Hard-Boiled Eggs? Make This Time-Tested Egg Salad Recipe (2024)

Egg Salads
Easy Dinners
Easy Lunches
Boiled Eggs

Enjoying a simple egg salad sandwich is so satisfying.

Elise Bauer

Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.

Learn about Simply Recipes'Editorial Process

Updated August 29, 2023

15 ratings

In This Recipe

Making an Egg Salad Sandwich
Egg Salad Tips
Egg Salad Add-Ins
Avoiding a Soggy Sandwich
Peeling and Slicing Eggs

How to Make an Egg Salad Sandwich

How do you make an egg salad sandwich? Just chop up some hard boiled eggs, add a little chopped celery for crunch, some green onions or chives for the green factor, a dash of salt and pepper for seasoning, and a spoonful of mayonnaise to bind everything together. Easy!

For Easy-Peel Eggs, Try Steaming

Ever have hard-to-peel hard boiled eggs for egg salad sandwiches? Try steaming them!

Got Hard-Boiled Eggs? Make This Time-Tested Egg Salad Recipe (3)

Tips for the Best Egg Salad

Add a dash of curry powder. There is one more ingredient that will give your simple egg salad a special zing, and that is a dash of yellow curry powder. Not only will the curry powder give your egg salad sandwich a gentle spicy lift but it will also give it a bit more color as well.
To mayo or not to mayo? You can substitute the mayonnaise in an egg salad sandwich with some ripe avocado; if you do that you'll need to add some vinegar or lemon juice for an acidic component, and add more salt than you would expect. Personally, I prefer my egg salad sandwich with a hefty amount of mayonnaise. That said, the amount of mayonnaise is completely a matter of taste.

Got Hard-Boiled Eggs? Make This Time-Tested Egg Salad Recipe (4)

More Egg Salad Add-Ins

Since we first posted this recipe, so many of you have chimed in with your favorite versions of egg salad. Here are a few great ideas for add-ins.

Chopped bell pepper
Pickles or pickle relish
Smoked paprika
Chopped green or kalamata olives
Horseradish
Capers
Chopped cooked bacon

How to Avoid a Soggy Egg Salad Sandwich

The best way to avoid a soggy egg salad sandwich? Make your sandwich by laying a piece of lettuce over the toast, adding the egg salad, layering another piece of lettuce, and topping with the bread. The lettuce helps keep the bread from absorbing liquid from the egg salad.

The egg salad filling can also be prepared up to a day ahead and kept refrigerated. Wait to assemble your sandwich until just before eating.

Got Hard-Boiled Eggs? Make This Time-Tested Egg Salad Recipe (5)

Peeling and Slicing Eggs for Egg Salad

Peel the hard boiled eggs by gently tapping them several times on a clean counter or cutting board, cracking them all over. Then gently peel the shells away from the eggs. If the shells are stubborn or clinging to the eggs, try peeling them under running water. Some eggs peel easily, while others can be frustrating. That's just how it goes (FYI, the older the eggs, the easier they peel once hard boiled).

Use any one of these kitchen tools to quickly slice or mash them to make egg salad.

Egg slicer — slice then in one direction and then the other
Potato masher
Pastry cutter
Whisk

More Recipes for Egg Salad

Deviled Egg Salad
Curried Egg Salad with Mango Chutney
Tarragon Egg Salad

From the Editors Of Simply Recipes

Quick and Easy Egg Salad Sandwich

Prep Time10 mins

Total Time10 mins

Serving1 sandwich

This recipe makes enough egg salad for one sandwich. If you are making more than one sandwich, you can easily scale up this recipe.

To make easy-to-peel hard boiled eggs, fill a saucepan with an inch of water and insert a steamer basket. Bring the water to a boil and place the eggs in the steamer basket. Cover the pan and let the eggs steam from the boiling water for 15 minutes. Then shock with cold water and peel.

You can also make easy-to-peel hard boiled eggs bycooking them in a pressure cooker.

Ingredients

1 large egg, hard-boiled, peeled, and chopped (See Recipe Note)
1 to 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped celery
1 tablespoon chopped green onion or chives
Pinch curry powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Lettuce
2 slices white, wheat, multigrain, or rye bread, toasted or plain

Method

Make the egg salad:
Mash up the chopped egg a bit with a fork. Mix together the chopped hard-boiled egg, mayonnaise, celery and green onion. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and curry powder to taste. Mix with a spoon.
Assemble the sandwich:
Toast your bread slices if making the sandwich with toast. Put a layer of lettuce on one slice of bread, spread the egg mixture on top of the lettuce, put another slice of bread on top.
How do you like your egg salad? Leave a comment below and tell us all about it. Rate the recipe while you're at it!

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
428	Calories
28g	Fat
31g	Carbs
12g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Amount per serving
Calories	428
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 28g	36%
Saturated Fat 5g	26%
Cholesterol 198mg	66%
Sodium 838mg	36%
Total Carbohydrate 31g	11%
Dietary Fiber 2g	8%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 12g
Vitamin C 4mg	18%
Calcium 130mg	10%
Iron 3mg	17%
Potassium 245mg	5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.