Made with just a handful of simple ingredients, you’ll love this Easy Egg Salad Recipe. Flavourful and meal prep friendly, this egg salad is an easy protein packed meal that you can have for any meal throughout the day.
If you need another egg recipe, you need to try my Easy Deviled Eggs Recipe, Avocado Egg Salad Recipe and How to Hard Boiled Eggs.
Turning hard boiled eggs into this creamy and rich egg salad is surprisingly easy! It is such a simple but delicious lunch recipe that you can easily whip up a large batch if you need a last minute potluck or picnic dish. This egg salad recipe is keto-friendly, paleo-friendly, and whole30 as well, making it a super accommodating recipe that everyone can enjoy!
What is an Egg Salad?
Usually the words salad will make you think of leafy greens and salad dressing but you won’t find any of that in egg salad recipes. Egg salad is a recipe that is made primarily of chopped hard-boiled mixed with mustard and mayonnaise alongside some spices and herbs. You might find it often as a filling for egg sandwiches (see my 15 Healthy Summer Sandwiches for some examples!) or eaten on its own.
How to Make Egg Salad
Ingredients
- Eggs — I use free range large eggs and have extra omega-3. Free range eggs are said to contain more vitamin D as well as less cholesterol. You are more than welcome to use whatever eggs you have, including farm fresh eggs.
- Red onion — Make sure they are finely diced so they blend seamlessly into your egg salad.
- Homemade mayonnaise — I use my homemade mayo for this easy egg salad recipe. It only takes a minute to make but you’re welcome to use store-bought if you don’t want to make your own. I made my homemade mayo with extra light olive oil as regular olive oil will taste too strong. You can also make the mayo with avocado oil!
- Yellow mustard — To keep this whole30 friendly, I use yellow mustard. If you’re not keeping whole30, you can use Dijon mustard as well.
- Parsley — We add some finely diced parsley for some colour and herb flavour.
- Lemon juice — Be sure to use freshly squeeze lemon juice instead of bottled lemon juice for a tangy bright flavour. Store-bought bottled lemon juice does not taste as fresh and sometimes has a bitter taste to it.
- Salt and pepper — Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Optional: for the meal prep, you can add bell pepper as well as cherry tomatoes to serve with.
Instructions
Make the Hard Boiled Eggs
- To a pot, fill with enough water to cover a single layer of eggs. Bring water to a boil. Turn off the heat and cover the saucepan with a lid. Let the eggs stand for 10-12 minutes before transferring the eggs to an ice bath for 5 minutes.
Make the Egg Salad
- Peel the eggs and discard the eggs shells. Chop the hard boiled eggs (we like ours chunky) and add it to a bowl alongside the red onions, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, parsley, lemon juice salt and pepper.
- Mix all together. Serve either at room temperature or chilled. Do not leave the egg salad at room temperature for more than 2 hours. If the egg salad is not finished by then, be sure to refrigerate it! The egg salad should be discarded if it has been left out for more than 2 hours at room temperature.
Recipe Tips
- For perfect hard boiled eggs, try using older eggs! Once cooked, they tend to be much easier to peel than fresh eggs.
- The best way to peel your eggs? Under running water! This will help the shell slip away from the egg whites.
- With homemade egg salad, you control the texture. We like our egg salad chunky, but you can chop your eggs up more finely (or even mash them) for a smoother texture.
- If your red onion is too spicy, let it soak in cool water for around five minutes to dilute and reduce intensity.
- If you don’t have fresh parsley, crushed/dried parsley leaves will work just fine!
- I highly recommend using fresh lemon juice, rather than bottled. Bottled citrus juice can tend to taste stale, fresh has much better flavor and will increase the quality of this recipe overall.
How to Meal Prep Egg Salad
- Place an even amount of egg salad into your meal-prep bowls. Then, add red bell pepper and cherry tomatoes to the side. Ideally you use meal prep containers that have compartments. If not, you can use two smaller containers.
- Cover with the lid and place in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- I do not recommend freezing egg salad as the texture will not be creamy after it has thawed.
How to Easily Peel Hard Boiled Eggs
The easiest way to peel hard boiled eggs for egg salad is to peel them under some running water in your sink or inside of the ice water. Peeling the eggs in water will help the shells to slip off more easily. If you need to crack them a little more, pull them from the water and tap them gently on the kitchen counter or other hard surface.
To crack the egg, gently tap it on your countertops and apply light pressure to the egg and roll it under your palm. This should crack the egg enough for you to easily peel it.
Another tip for easier to peel eggs is to buy your eggs earlier. Older eggs are easier to peel than fresh eggs as the pH of the white albumen aren’t bonded as tightly to the membrane as it ages. This is why older eggs are easier to peel!
Got extra hard boiled eggs? Try making this Easy Roasted Veggies Meal-Prep Bowls!
What To Serve With Egg Salad
- Rolls or bread: Use my low-carb dinner rolls to make a mini egg salad sandwich with tomato, lettuce and avocado slices.
- Crunchy toast: Warm a piece of sourdough or rye bread in the toaster and top with egg salad, hot sauce and bean sprouts (or microgreens)!
- Crackers: Turn your egg salad into a dip for almond flour crackers, wheat thins or saltines.
- Other sides: I often serve this classic egg salad at a cookout or barbeque along with other sides like tuna salad, healthy potato salad, broccoli salad, easy coleslaw or corn salad.
Recipe Variations
- Add other seasonings & herbs: Try smoked paprika, regular paprika, rosemary, oregano, garlic powder, garlic salt, onion powder, dill (fresh or dried), curry powder or chili powder!
- Make deviled eggs: Instead of dicing your eggs for salad, simply halve them and then scoop the yolks from the egg whites to make my yummy lentil deviled eggs!
- Add more veggies: Think diced celery, chopped bell peppers, cucumber, chives, green onions, diced pickles, shallots, olives and more.
- Condiments: Mix in some Greek yogurt for extra protein or hot sauce for a spicy kick.
Want More Egg Recipes?
- Healthy Breakfast Meal Prep Bowls
- Easy Vegetable Frittata
- Avocado Egg Salad Recipe
- Breakfast Egg Muffins Recipe
- Sausage and Potato Breakfast Casserole
Easy Egg Salad Recipe
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Video
Ingredients
For the egg salad:
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup red onion finely diced
- 1/4 cup homemade mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 tbs parsley finely diced
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
For the meal-prep
- bell pepper sliced
- cherry tomatoes cut in half
Instructions
- Carefully, add the eggs in a single layer at the bottom of the saucepan. Fill with enough water to cover the eggs. Bring water to a boil. Turn off the heat and cover the saucepan with a lid. Let the eggs stand for 10-12 minutes. Time will depend on the size of your eggs and how you prefer your yolks to be.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the eggs from the saucepan and place them into a large bowl of ice water and let the eggs to sit for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and to cool down.
- Then, peel the eggs and discard the eggs shells. Chop the hard boiled eggs (we like ours chunky). In a medium bowl, add hard boiled eggs, red onions, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, parsley, lemon juice salt and pepper.
- Mix all together. Serve at room temperature or place it in the fridge for 15 minutes or until it’s cold for your taste.
Meal Prepping:
- Place an even amount of egg salad into your meal-prep bowls. Then, add red bell pepper and cherry tomatoes. Cover with the lid and place in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Tips
- Watch the Web Stories Here.
- Fresh lemon is preferred over bottled juice as the flavour is more fresh and bright.
- The easiest way to peel the eggs are to peel them under water so the water helps remove the shell.
- Older eggs are easier to peel than fresh eggs.
- To store: Store the egg salad in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
- To freeze: I do not recommend freezing egg salad.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
Watch the Web Story HERE.
ROSE DENMAN says
Thank You For this impo info!
I am so impatient peeling eggs!
Olivia Ribas says
You’re very welcome! Hope you enjoy it 😉
Roberta J Graser says
I use a pastry cutter to chop eggs. It works great! No celery?
Olivia Ribas says
You can add celery if you prefer!
Robbie says
Eggs that are steamed or cooked in a pressure cooker peel easier. My sis-in-law has chickens and I bought a bamboo steamer to steam the eggs over the wok, because fresh eggs DO NOT peel well. 😉 Now I use my insta-pot.
Olivia Ribas says
Great tip!
Mary Kennedy says
When my eggs are done and cooled, I crack shell and then roll in my hands. When cracked good peal a small piece of shell off use a medium spoon and insert and slowly turn and all shell peals right off. Practice makes perfect‼️. Good luck 👍
Olivia Ribas says
Thanks for the tips!