Quick and Zesty Egg Salad Recipe

This time of year eggs tend to be bountiful. It’s also a great time to head out and enjoy some picnics before the bugs get bad. What a perfect time for a quick and zesty egg salad!

Jump to Recipe

I feel like people are in one of two camps when it comes to egg salad. Either you like it or you don’t.

For the most part, I’ll pass on egg salad for something different. But for some weird reason lately I have been really jonesing for a creamy, zesty, egg salad sandwich.

I headed to our huge stash of cookbooks and went straight to the section of old church cookbooks. Surely the church basement ladies wouldn’t steer me wrong.

I was shocked to discover that only one, ONE of a half dozen cookbooks had an egg salad recipe. And it was just okay. No offense to the United Presbyterian Women of Stephen Minnesota, circa 1978.

So I sort of meshed that recipe with my homemade potato salad recipe, added in a few things, and TA DA! I scrumptious and easy egg salad recipe from scratch.

How to Hard Boil the Perfect Egg

This really couldn’t be easier if you want it perfectly cooked and with perfectly orange/yellow yolks. No green here!

Place however many eggs you want to hard boil in a saucepan over high heat.

Bring the pot to a rolling boil. I mean really rocking.

Cover, turn off the heat, and set a timer for twelve minutes.

After the timer goes off, remove the eggs from the heat. Pour off all the hot water and place your pot under the faucet and let cold water flow over them.

Once their temperature has rapidly dropped, peel them under a cool stream of water.

How to Peel Hard Boiled Eggs Beautifully

Sorry friends I can’t help you here. Some say to add vinegar to the water. Some say salt.

All I know is that older eggs, two weeks or more, will peel easier.

One crazy thing I discovered when making eggs recently, is that my brown eggs peeled hideously. BUT, my green eggs that were picked the exact same day, peeled with absolutely no problem whatsoever.

Anyone else experience this??

Homemade Mayo

You can make egg salad with Miracle Whip, store-bought mayo, or homemade mayo. Here’s an easy recipe for mayo that barely takes any time at all to make.

Combine the following ingredients in a blender or food processor:

• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, white wine, or substitute 1 Tbsp water and 1 Tbsp vinegar
• 1/4 cup now, and 3/4 cup later – olive oil or other plain oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder

Set aside 3/4 cup of olive oil, and blend the rest together until smooth.

With your mixer running, take 3/4 cup of the chosen oil and slowly drizzle it into the mixture. We’re talking an itty bitty stream here. Within a few seconds it will start to thicken up.

Remove it from the blender and season with salt and pepper to taste. You can also add in a little cayenne pepper, paprika, or other herbs you want to try out.

Supplies for Homemade Egg Salad

• Sauce Pot
• Bowl
• Spatula
• Cutting Board
• Knife

Ingredients for Easy Egg Salad

• 6 Hard Boiled Eggs
• 4 Tablespoons Celery
• 4 Tablespoons Pickle
• 4 Tablespoons Mayo or Miracle Whip
• 1 Tsp Vinegar
• 1-2 Tsp Pickle Juice
• 1/2 Tsp Dry Mustard
• ]Salt and Pepper to Taste

How to Make Zesty Egg Salad

Begin by boiling and peeling the eggs as instructed above. While your eggs are boiling you can have everything else prepped and ready to mix.

Next, chop or dice the pickles and celery, depending on how chunky you like your egg salad.

Add to a bowl the mayo, vinegar, pickle juice, and mustard. Whisk together until smooth.

Next, stir in the pickles and celery.

Chop up the eggs into chunks and add them to the bowl. Mix gently with a spatula. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you’d like a smoother consistency, smoosh it all up with a fork.

Tastes best on fresh-made bread or just eaten by the forkful while you clean up your cooking mess.

Pin it for Later

Thanks for checking out my quick and zesty egg salad recipe! Let me know how yours turns out in the comments below.