The classic egg salad recipe I come back to time and again! It’s perfectly creamy, slightly chunky, and flavored just right with Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and plenty of fresh herbs.
Why You’ll Love This Egg Salad
Even though egg salad is such a simple dish, it’s all about nailing the right proportions and texture for that perfect deli-style salad. My version is a nod to that classic egg salad we all know and love—the kind that makes regular appearances layered into lunchtime sandwiches or served up for summer picnics, and holiday parties like Easter. It’s straightforward with no unexpected ingredients and tastes just like home. Here are a few more reasons why it’s the best:
- The texture is perfect. There’s no mushiness here! It’s delightfully chunky, with all the ingredients still visible—just as it should be.
- The flavor is just right. With a touch of Dijon mustard, crisp red onion, and loads of fresh herbs, it’s flavorful enough to enhance the eggs without overpowering them.
- It’s customizable. Want to jazz it up? I’ll share a few delicious variations below. I love treating this egg salad recipe as a blank canvas to add spices and flavors, similar to my chicken salad, tuna salad, or shrimp salad recipes.
Egg Salad Ingredients
- Hard-Boiled Eggs: Since the eggs are the star ingredient, make sure to follow my hard-boiled egg recipe for a perfectly cooked batch. You don’t want the eggs too hard and rubbery, too soft and not mixable, or overly cooked with a green yolk. I think 12-minute eggs are the best!
- Mayonnaise: Fresh homemade mayonnaise is always my go-to, but you can use store-bought or mix in some yogurt if you’d like a creamier texture with less mayo.
- Dijon Mustard: I prefer Dijon mustard over yellow mustard for its robust and tangy flavor. Yellow mustard tends to have a more muted taste.
- Red Onion: Red onion adds a vibrant pop of color and a satisfying crunch. Alternatively, you can use thinly sliced green onions.
- Lemon Juice: Just a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice brightens the salad and keeps the flavors fresh.
- Fresh Herbs: I’m using plenty of parsley and chives, but feel free to swap in other herbs like dill. In my opinion, the more herbs, the better!
How To Make Egg Salad
Make the hard-boiled eggs. Bring water to a boil in a medium-sized pot, reduce the heat to low, and use a skimmer to gently add the eggs to the water. Then, turn the heat back up to a boil and set a timer for 12 minutes.
Chill the boiled eggs. While the eggs are boiling, prepare an ice-water bath. Once the eggs are done, use the skimmer to remove the eggs, and immediately submerge them in the ice water bath to stop them from cooking. Then, peel the eggs once they’re cool to the touch.
Mix the salad together. Slice your eggs into chunks (but don’t slice them too small) and add them to a mixing bowl along with the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, red onion, lemon juice, parsley, and chives. Give it all a stir until it’s well combined. And that’s it! Super easy.
Egg Salad Variations
There are so many ways to keep a salad like this fresh and exciting. Here are a few tasty ideas, though I’d love to hear any other ideas you may have in the comments below!
- Avocado Egg Salad: Swap some of the mayonnaise for one avocado. This will give a deliciously creamy avocado base for the salad.
- Curried Egg Salad: This version has sliced green onion, grated carrots, and a pinch of curry powder for that beautiful golden color.
- Pickle Egg Salad: Add chopped dill pickles, sweet pickle relish or some of my pickle de gallo for a tangy twist. A splash of pickle juice instead of lemon juice can enhance the flavor further as well!
- Spicy Egg Salad: Stir in a dash of hot sauce, Sriracha, or chopped jalapeños for a spicy kick. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper for extra heat.
Ways To Enjoy Egg Salad
- Egg salad sandwich. You can enjoy egg salad as an open-faced sandwich with a sprinkle of microgreens on top, or a classic egg salad sandwich with butter lettuce leaves topped on bread. For an extra-green spin, top it on my falafel flatbread!
- Egg salad wrap. Wrap the egg salad in a tortilla or romaine lettuce leaves with sliced cucumber, bell pepper, and other simple veggies you love.
- Egg salad bowl. Make a salad bowl with leafy greens, diced avocado, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and dollops of egg salad on top.
More High-Protein Salads
- Cobb Salad (or Turkey Cobb Salad): Protein-packed and vegetable-heavy.
- Turkey Salad: The best way to use leftover holiday turkey.
- Salmon Salad: Tossed in the best creamy lemon dressing.
- Cucumber Shrimp Salad: Another delicious way to enjoy a shrimp salad.
- Or enjoy these other delicious salad recipes or egg recipes!
If you make this egg salad recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below! Your review will help other readers in the community. And if you’re hungry for more healthy food inspiration and exclusive content, join my free newsletter here.
Best Egg Salad
Description
Video
Equipment
- Glass Mixing Bowls My favorite set of mixing bowls!
Ingredients
- 6 eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup red onion, finely diced
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons parsley, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons chives, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Boil the eggs. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Then turn the heat to low so there's no bubbles. Use a skimmer to slowly and gently place the eggs in the pot. Turn the heat back to high and boil the eggs for 12 minutes.
- Chill the eggs. Transfer the eggs to an ice water bath to stop the cooking process and cool completely (at least 15 minutes).
- Mix the salad. Peel the hard-boiled eggs, and slice them up to your preferred level of chunkiness. Add the chopped eggs to a mixing bowl along with the red onion, chives, parsley, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir all of the ingredients together, until well combined.
- Enjoy the egg salad straight from the bowl, or in a sandwich or wrap. I have more ideas in the post!
Lisa’s Tips
- Make-ahead tip: You can prep the hard-boiled eggs a day in advance and store them in the fridge.
- Storage tip: Egg salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Never leave it out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (or 1 hour if it’s particularly warm outside). Otherwise, it may start to go bad.
- The eggs may crack if you introduce cold eggs straight to the boiling hot water. So I leave my eggs out prior to boiling, or run them under lukewarm water for a few seconds, as well as turn off the boil right before placing the eggs in the pot.
- I also use a skimmer to introduce the eggs to boiling water gently, so they don’t hit the bottom of the pot and crack.
Nutrition
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This recipe was originally posted April 2019, but updated to include new photos and information for your benefit!
Best egg salad I’ve ever made! Delicious and will definitely use this as my go to recipe. Thanks!
Hi Maria – Happy to hear you found your new go-to egg salad recipe!
This was really good! I would probably use a little less red onion next time but so tasty I had 1.5 sandwiches. The addition of fresh dill really takes it over the top. I do my hard boiled eggs in my air fryer: 250 for 15-18 minutes depending on how you like your yolks and so easy to peel.
Hi Linda – Happy to hear you’re loving this egg salad recipe! Great idea on making hard-boiled eggs in the air fryer too.
Really delicious and simple salad. I left the lemon juice out but it was still very good!
Happy to hear you enjoyed this egg salad recipe, Suleika!
this sounds delicious! I would’ve never thought to add lemon juice. I’m gonna make this within the next day or two.
I add my eggs to cold water to keep them from cracking. (Bring them to a boil, add a lid and turn them off. I let mine sit 10 to 12 minutes, then ice water). My grandmother taught me that and I’m almost 70 myself.
I really enjoy your recipes that I receive in my email. Something must be wrong with my clock though, I scroll through recipes for 10 or 15 minutes, but my clock shows its been nearly an hour. Anyone else have problems like that?
Hi Jackie – I hope you enjoy this recipe when you make it. Let us know what you think of it!
Loved this and it was easy to make. My husband noticed the difference from my usual egg salad and raved about this. Definatley a keeper.
So happy you and your hubby loved this egg salad, Debbie!
Yessss. Made this and will def make it again. So many (easy and simple) components that add to the flavors and crunch of the onion. Love it.
Thanks, Masha! So happy you loved it.
I love this salad
Super tasty! How big is 1 serving if you’re making the version that has 6 eggs? 1/2 cup or so? Thanks! I’ve been making this for my lunches for weeks.
Jess, it will make a whole lot more than half a cup. I’d say 1 1/2 to 2 cups.
Awesome recipe! I love the added flavor from the dijon. My old way of making egg salad was just mixing eggs and mayo, but this has so much more flavor.
I’m glad you like this version of egg salad. I think that extra punch of flavor is everything. :)
Lisa, you did it again! This truly is the BEST Egg Salad EVER!! I followed your instructions with your unique preparation of how to get the perfect hard boiled egg. The texture of the eggs were sublime and I deeply appreciated the use of less mayo, more fresh herbs. The only thing I swapped out was the parsley for tarragon. You make cooking so rewarding! Thank you!!
Hi Joanna – Wonderful! I’m so glad you’re loving this egg salad recipe. Also, love the tarragon addition.
This recipe was great! I cracked my eggs in a Pyrex pan and baked them a la TikTok. I also added finely chopped green onions. Absolutely delish♥️
Hi Kisha – Glad you’re loving this egg salad recipe!
I added Tabasco at the end, about 8 drops or 1/4 teaspoon for warmer and 1/8 teaspoon for milder. I sprinkled paprika on top after putting a scoop on a piece of butter lettuce,, for mom the day before Mother’s Day lunch. Great recipe, thanks for sharing!
Hi Chris – Love the idea of adding a hint of heat to this egg salad!
Quick and so simple! Great combination of healthy ingredients! Thanks
Hi Forbes – Happy to hear you love this egg salad!
Sorry not the best egg salad..was one of the worst recipie I tried actually. The Dijon mustard and lemon overpowered the dish.
This is the first site that using the same method for cooking the eggs that my sister taught me over 20 years now! Neither of us are Spring Chickens anymore but we still stand by this method of hard boiling eggs. I would like to offer one more step as very fresh eggs are hard to peel. Add a heaping tsp of baking soda to the water and it will help greatly with the peeling. Don’t know the science behind it but it works.
Delicious! This is my new go-to egg salad recipe! Super easy and tastes great.
So happy you loved it, Julia!
I live at 9,000 ft in Colorado. Everything takes longer to cook up here. I would be the 12 to 14 min. guy if I were at sea level. Before I ruin the eggs, what is your thinking on the time. Thanks!
This looks amazing and rather simple. I am a man taking care of his mom who is 83 years old and I do all the grocery shopping, food prep and cooking. I am always looking for something different to change things up and this recipe appears to be a real winner. I can hardly wait to try it. “I have left over wrap in the fridge after doing tacos”. Thank you so much for sharing!!! :)
Hi Brian – Glad this egg salad was a hit!
Making this for the second time in less than a week. It’s very versatile too, like I can totally add finely chopped celery and maybe some pickles. Also followed the hard boil recipe and it’s also perfect. Thanks for sharing!
Happy you loved the recipe, Stephanie!
Egg salad turned out great!
Glad this egg salad recipe worked out perfectly!
A repeat recipe in our house
Happy to hear this has become such a staple, Olivia!
I have never been a fan of mushy egg salad. I found your recipe and I was thrilled! I made it exactly as recipe states and is it so delicious. I crave it now. Thank you for sharing this yummy goodness!
Glad you found a winning egg salad recipe, Chantelle!
This egg salad recipe was perfect for a quick, satisfying lunch!!
You can always count on an egg salad for a speedy and delicious lunch!
Easy to make and delicious, thank you for a great recipe!
Glad you enjoyed this egg salad recipe.
Love the egg salad and perfect for hot summer weather!
It sure is! I’m happy you love the recipe, Marie.
This was delicious!
I followed the recipe almost completely, but added pickles and was short on mayo, so used about 1/8th cup mayo and 1/8th cup plain greek yogurt, and I upped the dijon a little bit, because I’m obsessed with it!
I served as sandwiches, on toasted, thin-sliced, wheat bread with butter, a slice of heirloom tomato and some arugula. YUM!
Love the idea of adding pickles to this!
Very easy to make and makes great sandwiches or just right out of the bowl when it’s done.
Such a versatile dish!
Hello, my family and I really enjoyed this recipe! We track macros, so can you share how I can measure an actual serving size? Thank you! We appreciate you.
I would say each serving is about 1/2 a cup.
Perfect in every way!
Delicious!! Added cayenne pepper for a kick & ran out of mayo, so used non fat Greek yogurt.
I love this salad! It is so easy to make and also tastes great… Well, just like all Lisa’s recipes :) I actually tried it with homemade mayonnaise and it was heavenly <3
Just love it.
A straightforward and delicious recipe! Thank you for covering classic recipes too.
I always have the water fully boiling and use a spoon to carefully put the eggs in. Has happened a couple times that they crack a little and have some white come out but it doesn’t bother me and I make sometimes 30 boiled eggs in a week so that’s not a lot of times it happens ;) and wow, 12 mins! I do 8.5 mins so they don’t get dry :)
I need to check out the chicken salad recipe you mentioned in a comment
Nice to cut the eggs in bigger pieces! Haven’t made egg salad in a while, gonna have to do it again! So handy to have in the fridge when I need something quick! I like to put tuna in mine too :)
Just made this for the first time. It’s excellent!! I’m not a big red onion fan, so I substituted diced celery for the onion. I’ve always chopped the eggs much smaller, but I love this chunky, delicious version. It will be my new go-to recipe!! Can’t wait to share with others. Thank you, Lisa!
So happy you loved the recipe, Kelly!
thanks for reminding me of simplicity. I needed someway to use up a lot of eggs and went through the video. The simplicity struck me. I used red onions, finely diced celery, spring onions and coriander as the vegetables… keeping it overnight so the flavors can really develop.
Love this recipe! I added half an avocado, caper berries, and used avocado oil Mayo and it was delish! Definitely making again!!!!
Glad you loved this egg salad recipe Allison!
Do you think this egg salad would be out of place at. BBQ? Served with green salad & your broccoli salad , honest opinion please
Hi Kay – I don’t think so at all! An egg salad is such a classic side dish to make :)
This recipe made me like (if not love) egg salad! Highly recommend!
Is a serving considered a cup or half of a cup?
I would say about 1/2 a cup.
I loved this. Only things I added was a dot of celery because I like crunch and fresh tarragon. Used primal kitchen Mayo and it was so good. Thank you for sharing. This will easily be in my rotation for lunches!
Glad you enjoyed this egg salad! If you love tarragon, you’ll also love my chicken salad recipe :)
I just made this for the first time. I was skeptical as I’m not a huge egg fan, but this is actually delicious!! The dressing is a hit. Thank you.
Wonderful! I’m so happy you enjoyed the egg salad, Gina!
Tried this for Christmas egg salad, everyone loved it! Easy to follow, easy to make! Thank you so mu xx for sharing!!
Tasted absolutely delicious !! I am going to make this salad often. :)))
I just have to ask: Is 197 kcl per 2 servings or per 1 or per 100 gr.?
The nutritional information will always be per serving.
What is the serving size?
wow, just made this for my VERY picky husband. I forgot the lemon juice, even though I had it. He is now downstairs with TWO egg salad sandwiches. I normally do not eat it, or even try it to taste, but have to say when I did try it, wow, it was really full of flavor! He just came upstairs and said WOW. SO THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thrilled to hear both you and your husband enjoyed this egg salad recipe Bernadette!
Yum! We always seem to have eggs in the house. What an easy lunch idea.
You can’t beat an egg salad for a versatile recipe!
Hi there, your recipes sound lovely. As I am on a strict keto eating plan, and need to stay on 15 gr carbs a day, it would help to know how many carbs for a specific portion of your recipe. Is that something easy you can do for me? In particular looking at the egg salad recipe.
Hi Christina – This recipe is based off of 4 servings :)
I never thought I’d like egg salad!! I figured why not try it, and I love it! I used primal kitchens avocado mayo, and primal kitchens spicy mustard. I didn’t have parsley on hand so substituted 1/4 tsp of dill. Onions are too high in sugar, for myself, so I omitted them. This is a great quick dinner for those on keto, and those non-keto as well. The serving size is quite generous too, at 100g per serving. Im so glad you included to leave the egg a bit chunky, very helpful. Thank you!!!
Happy to hear this recipe changed your mind about egg salads! This is surely a summer must have :)
This was delicious! I had no fresh chives or tarragon (alas). I added capers & just about followed your recipe to a ‘t.’
Glad this still turned out perfectly without the chives and tarragon! Next time you’ll definitely have to try it.