Recipe updated: April 12th, 2024
What’s great about this classic egg salad recipe is it contains simple ingredients that you most likely have in your kitchen right now: eggs, mayo, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Don’t let the lemon juice fool you, though, because there is no lemony taste, I assure you. You can’t even taste the lemon in the recipe, but it sure makes the egg salad taste terrific. Who knows, it could possibly be the secret ingredient of this recipe. 🙂
🥚 Key Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon of table salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
👩🍳 How to Make Classic Egg Salad Recipe
These step-by-step instructions are accompanied by detailed photos for enhanced clarity and guidance.
Step 1. Prepare the Hard-Boiled Eggs
The first step of this simple egg salad recipe is to buy some fresh eggs at your local grocery store or farmers market. Then after that, we need to bake some hard-boiled eggs in the oven. For the full step-by-step instructions, you can follow our perfect hard-boiled eggs recipe made in the oven, or you can boil the eggs on the stove. Whichever way you choose, it doesn’t affect the outcome of the egg salad.
For a condensed version of making hard-boiled eggs in the oven, just preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, place eggs (eight of them) in a muffin pan, then put them in the oven for 30 minutes. Don’t forget to use heat-resistant oven mitts when putting anything in or taking anything out of the oven.
Then, after the eggs are done, remove them from the oven using the oven mitts. Put them in an ice bath (that’s basically a bowl of ice and water, hence, ice water bath) for 10 minutes. This cools the eggs and stops the cooking process. If you don’t have any ice, no problem. Just fill a large bowl half full of very cold water and place the eggs in it, although you may have to change out the water a few times.
Note: Muffin pans come in six or 12 cup sizes. It’s okay to put eight eggs in a 12 cup muffin pan.
Step 2. Peel Eggs, then Chop Eggs
Remove the eggshells from the eggs. Then, chop, slice, or dice the egg whites and egg yolks to the size you prefer. For example, some folks like big chunks of eggs in their egg salad, and some folks like small pieces. And then there are folks like me, who like a mixture of both. Therefore, if I may, I would suggest a mixture of both.
Step 3. Add the Chopped Eggs to the Other Ingredients
In a medium bowl, add the chopped egg whites and egg yolks together with 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of table salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper.
Step 4. Combined all the Classic Egg Salad Ingredients
Using a fork, stir all the ingredients together, and mash some of the egg yolks during stirring, into a smooth and creamy texture for sandwiches, or spread over the top of many foods such as celery, lettuce, crackers and so much more.
You can put this delicious egg salad in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat. Egg salad tastes good right when it’s made, or after chilling it in the refrigerator. Do not leave it sit out on the countertop.
🌟 Recipe Variations for Classic Egg Salad Recipe
- Add 1/2 cup of your favorite onions to the egg salad mixture, such as chopped raw yellow onions, or green onions. If you love onions, you can always add more than 1/2 of a cup.
- Dice up about one rib of celery or a red onion and add it to the egg salad ingredients.
- Sprinkle a little bit of your favorite fresh herbs, such as fresh chives, or fresh parsley on top of the egg salad before serving.
- If you want more of a pungent taste and smell, add 1 ½ teaspoons of yellow mustard or Dijon mustard, or some chopped fresh dill or sweet pickles.
- You can squeeze fresh lemon juice from a lemon for the 1/2 teaspoon used in this recipe.
🙋 FAQs for Classic Egg Salad Recipe
Put any leftover egg salad in an airtight container, then store it in the refrigerator. You should eat it before three or four days. Do not leave any leftover egg salad sit on the countertop at room temperature. It contains mayonnaise, and if it is left on the countertop for too long, it can make you sick.
It’s not a good idea to freeze egg salad, although you can. Eggs and mayonnaise don’t taste exactly the same after being frozen, then thawed. The eggs will become tough and rubbery, and the texture of the mayonnaise can change and become watery.
✏️ Final Thoughts
This is an easy recipe to serve and so tasty. Some suggestions are to make lettuce wraps by spreading some egg salad on a lettuce leaf and fold it in into a wrap, or spread some on veggies, and serve with your favorite chips and fruit.
Or even on occasion, when you want something light and quick to make for lunch or dinner, make yourself a delicious sandwich. I like to have egg salad sandwiches and potato chips for dinner sometimes, along with tomato soup or chicken noodle soup. This egg salad makes the best egg salad sandwiches you’ve ever eaten. It tastes great spread between two slices of whole wheat bread, or spread on different kinds of crackers. I hope you enjoy this easy egg salad recipe as much as we do.
📑 Recipe Card
Classic Egg Salad Recipe (Easy)
🧂 Ingredients
- 8 large eggs (hard-boiled)
- 6 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
👩🍳 Instructions
- Peel the shells off the eggs.
- In a medium-size bowl, add the chopped hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Stir together all the ingredients. Mash some of the egg yolks during stirring.
- Refrigerator until you are ready to eat.
*️⃣ Recipe Notes
- Egg salad can not only be spread on two slices of bread, but also as a topping on crackers, celery, or on a bed of lettuce.
🥰 More Great Recipe Ideas You Will Love
- There is mayonnaise, yellow mustard, sweet pickle relish, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper (for a touch of hot) in this amazing southern deviled eggs recipe.
- Here is a simple and delicious potato salad recipe with hard-boiled eggs, yellow mustard, sweet pickle relish, mayo, chopped onions, celery, and salt and black pepper.
- Noodles with Scrambled Eggs (Fried) – Cook up some pasta noodles and then smother them in scrambled eggs. So good!
A wife, a mother to a son and a daughter, and a grandmother to three granddaughters. Flo loves sharing recipes passed down from her own mother, her mother-in-law, and her grandmother as well as new recipes created with her daughter, Tamara Ray.
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