This pale yellow, creamy deli-style egg salad is made with smashed hard boiled eggs, two types of mustard, and a few simple seasonings — less than 10 ingredients total!
Making this egg salad takes less than 20 minutes (including hard-boiling the eggs), but just like my popular deli-style tuna salad recipe, it is best after spending several hours in the fridge to really bring that classic deli egg salad flavor to life.
I love serving this deli-style egg salad on freshly baked soft ciabatta bread or knotted, oversized Kaiser rolls.
I first learned the joy of smashed hard-boiled eggs in Michelin-star chef Nancy Silverton's egg salad and bagna cruda toast recipe. Silverton's recipe uses homemade mayo, recommends separating the cooked yolks from the whites, and hand-tearing the eggs "into small pieces (about 8 pieces per egg)."
Don't get me wrong, there's a time and place for putting that amount of effort into an egg salad. But when I'm making egg salad, I don't really want to get my hands or kitchen any dirtier than I need to. I want to make my egg salad fast and get it in the fridge even faster.
Instead of separating the yolks from the whites, I smash the whole hard-boiled eggs into irregular pieces which simultaneously mashes the yolks into a creamy paste with the mayonnaise and mustard.
It may not be as elegant as delicately hand tearing each individual egg, but it sure does get the job done.
I find that cooking the eggs so they have a perfectly soft, slightly jammy yolk and mashing the egg salad together while the eggs are still warm, I can make a deli-style egg salad that ends up extra creamy without being overly weighed down by mayo (and I say this as someone who loves mayo).
I find full fat mayonnaise gives my egg salad the best creamy texture. If I'm feeling particularly extra sometimes I use homemade mayonnaise.
I use a combination of two different mustards in my egg salad. Brown mustard, which is sometimes called "deli mustard" or "spicy brown mustard" has a robust flavor, but I use just a small amount to get that mustard flavor without any real heat. And whole grain dijon mustard, which is one of my personal favorite mustards. I know it's not particularly traditional in egg salad, but I use it for the added texture.
I also use white pepper instead of black pepper when making egg salad because it has a slightly milder pepper flavor, which goes well with the sharpness of the mustard. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it doesn't add any color to the egg salad.
Optional Egg Salad Garnishes: Smoked paprika, fresh dill, fresh chives, capers, bacon bits, freshly cracked black pepper, quick pickled red onion, green onions, horseradish, etc.
🔪 How to Make Egg Salad
I use my favorite method for hard boiling (direct from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt at the New York Times) to make eggs for egg salad, but if you any other method that you prefer, you can certainly use that instead.
The best hard boiled eggs for egg salad will have a yolk that is fully cooked through but still soft and slightly jammy in the center. Not runny or liquid, but just barely solid.
Bring an inch of water to a boil in a small pot. Lower the eggs into the water.
Cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a rolling boil.
Peel the eggs and cut them in half.
Mash! Mash! Mash!
I use a cocktail muddler to smash my eggs but you can use a potato masher, or press them through the wires on a cooling rack to chop them up. If you don't mind getting messy, you can also tear the eggs by hand, a la Nancy Silverton. I find the cocktail muddler works best for me, but you do you.
There will be more time to mash the egg later, so don't break the egg whites down too far during this initial mashing.
While you can serve this simple egg salad immediately, it is infinity times better if you let it chill in the fridge first. This gives all the flavors time to meld and mix together and gives you that classic "deli" flavor.
I wait to garnish the egg salad with dill, smoked paprika, capers, etc. immediately before serving or, if I'm serving it serving family-style or buffet-style, I serve the garnishes on the side for guests to add themselves.
The Practical Kitchen Recommends
📖 Recipe
Creamy, Deli-Style Smashed Egg Salad
Recipe Notes
- Scaling: To scale this up or down, assume 1.5-2 large eggs per person.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days (Source: FoodSafety.gov Cold Food Storage Chart). On days 3 and 4 the "deli-style" flavor will be more intense as the flavors continue melding into each other.
- Serving: Egg salad should be served cold, and should not sit out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours. If you're serving it somewhere where it needs to be out of the fridge, make sure you are at least serving it over an ice bath or bowl of ice to keep it cool.
- Garnishing: Save any ingredients that add strong flavors or colors like dill, capers, and smoked paprika to use as a garnish. If you add strong ingredients when you mix the egg salad, they will overwhelm the rest of the egg salad or might even change the color. Serve them on the side or use them to garnish the top of the egg salad in its serving bowl.
- Onions: If you want to add onion to your egg salad, I recommend a mild option like a finely minced shallot or the whites of a green onion. You can also soak the minced onion in water, then pat it dry before adding it to the egg salad to help cut back on the overpowering nature of raw onion flavor.
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (35 grams)
- 1 teaspoon brown mustard
- ¾ teaspoon whole grain mustard
- ¾ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt (use half as much of any other brand)
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon chives (finely minced)
Optional Toppings
- fresh dill
- smoked paprika
- Capers
- chives
- bacon bits
Instructions
- Bring an inch of water to a rolling boil in a small sauce pan. Gently lower an egg in the water, cover the pot, and adjust the burner to keep that rolling boil going. Cook the egg for 11 minutes. Drain the water and fill the pot with cool tap water, just to make the eggs cool enough to handle (use a paper towel to handle them if needed). Crack the eggs gently on all sides, rolling it against a paper towel on the counter, to create a fine web of cracks around the shell. Then peel under cool running water.
- Mash the hard boiled eggs with the cocktail muddler until the yolks are pretty broken up but there are still some large chunks of egg white left. Add the mayonnaise, both mustards, salt, white pepper, and paprika.
- Mash again until well combined and the egg white pieces are no bigger than a grape. Switch to a spatula or spoon and fold in the chopped chives.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. It is best after 12 hours.
Vicky says
This recipe is fantastic! As fast as promised and the seasoning is perfect once it's cold. I made mine with just Dijon because it was all I had and no paprika because I was out and it still worked great!
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Yum!! This is definitely a recipe that can handle a few swaps and tweaks based on whats in your pantry lol. Glad you liked it!
Karol says
Rebecca, I am looking forward to trying your recipe! Your detailed instructions and suggestions for adjusting the recipe to accommodate what a person has available and likes are fantastic. Love your writing style and friendly outreach..Confident your recommendations will improve my egg salad’s taste and presentation.