Best Egg Salad

This egg salad recipe is bound to become one of your favorite lunches! Thanks to lemon, mustard, and lots of herbs, it's bright, tangy, and fresh.

Egg Salad Recipe

If you have hard boiled eggs leftover from celebrating Easter or Passover, make this egg salad recipe! If you don’t, make it anyway. In my opinion, it’s what a classic egg salad recipe really wants to be. It still has a rich, creamy texture and tangy flavor, but it’s fresher and more complex.

It uses far less mayo than a traditional egg salad, and it gets bright, briny flavor from capers, lemon juice, and plenty of Dijon mustard. A pinch of celery seed, a dash of turmeric, and a handful of fresh herbs tie it all together. Stuffed into a sandwich with crisp veggies and greens, it’s the perfect spring lunch.

Hard boiled eggs

How to Make the Best Egg Salad

  • Start with good hard boiled eggs. Like with brownies and chocolate, your egg salad will only be as good as your hard boiled eggs. I make mine using this method, where I add the eggs to a pot of cold water and bring the water to a boil over high heat. When it reaches a boil, I remove the pot from the heat, cover it, and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 10-12 minutes. Then, I transfer them to an ice water bath for 14 minutes. Find my tips and tricks for making perfect hard boiled eggs here!
  • Maintain some texture. The best egg salad is a little chunky, with a rich, creamy dressing surrounding it. It’s ok if the yolks crumble a little as you fold the chopped eggs into the dressing, but don’t mash them up too much.
  • Go all in on the herbs. Fresh chives and dill add bright, oniony flavor to this recipe, and they make it feel really fresh. If you don’t have one of them, use more of the other, or add fresh parsley or green onions instead.
  • Add a pinch of celery seed. Celery seed is the secret ingredient in Jack’s mom’s famous deviled eggs, and it really takes this recipe for egg salad over the top! Its distinctive savory flavor pairs perfectly with the fresh herbs, bright lemon, and tangy mustard.

Mustard, mayo, and olive oil in a bowl Egg salad recipe steps

Egg Salad Sandwich Serving Suggestions

Once you’ve made this egg salad recipe, pile it onto a sandwich with your favorite fresh fixings! I love it with radishes, watercress or other greens, and pickled red onion. Enjoy your egg salad sandwich on its own, or pair it with a fresh salad or soup. These recipes would all be great choices:

For more ideas, check out my 37 Best Salad Recipes or 25 Best Soups!

If you’re not in the mood for a sandwich, feel free to serve the egg salad with crackers or pita or over a bed of spring greens. It will keep in the fridge for 3 days, so it’s a great recipe to make ahead for quick lunches throughout the week. See this post for my best meal prep tips!

Egg Salad Sandwich

More Sandwich and Toast Recipes

If you love this recipe, try one of these sandwiches next:

Then, find more healthy lunch ideas here!

Best Egg Salad

rate this recipe:
4.95 from 76 votes
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 35 mins
Serves 3
This egg salad recipe is bound to become one of your favorite lunches! Assemble it into sandwiches or serve it with crackers, pita or over a bed of spring greens.

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon capers
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 hard boiled eggs, diced
  • Pinches of celery seed
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, olive oil, mustard, capers, lemon juice, garlic, turmeric, salt, and several grinds of black pepper.
  • Mix in the eggs, then stir in the celery seed, dill, and chives. If desired, lightly mash the mixture if it's too chunky. Chill until ready to serve.

140 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Sara
    03.08.2023

    Omgoodness!
    This was quick, easy and delicious.
    Thank you for sharing! I cannot wait for my cookbook from you!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      03.10.2023

      So glad you loved the egg salad! Thanks for pre-ordering the cookbook too!

  2. Anjanette
    01.28.2023

    5 stars
    This is my go-to egg salad. It’s so delicious! I love everything about it. I usually add diced celery and onion, but it’s also good without these.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      01.30.2023

      I’m so glad you’ve loved it!

  3. Tiffany I
    11.27.2022

    5 stars
    Wow! All the flavors are really great together. Love this take on egg salad. I didn’t have turmeric, so I subbed ground ginger and paprika. Divided the called for quantity in half and it turned out amazing. Thanks you for sharing this recipe.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.27.2022

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  4. Anne
    11.06.2022

    5 stars
    I made this almost exactly as written (without the dill – didn’t have any. I’m sure it would’ve only improved the dish). It was more delicious than any I’ve ever had. All of the ingredients work great together. You do not need any more mayo than 1/4 C! Thank you for a great recipe!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      11.11.2022

      Hi Anne, I’m so glad you loved it!

  5. Sherry Burke
    10.07.2022

    Hi, real quick note. The egg salad recipe appeared in as a vegan recipe when I selected the filter. I will use tofu instead of the boiled eggs. Look forward to making this for breakfast

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.