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Classic Egg Salad

Name: Classic Egg Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 6 hard boiled eggs (cooled); 1 tablespoon yellow mustard; 3 tablespoons mayonnaise; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; fresh cracked pepper and salt to taste

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Classic egg salad, made with fresh eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper and a hint of garlic. This simple classic is great on sandwiches, toast or lettuce.

There are certain recipes that are classics. Recipes that everyone has made one time or another. Recipes that, simply put, don’t need anything fancy to make them good. Classic Egg salad is one of those.

Egg salad on a white bread

Don’t overcomplicate it! This recipe needs just a few basic ingredients and you’re good to go.

What ingredients do you need?

HARDBOILED EGGS: Obviously. I like to work with the eggs cool so if you’re hard boiling them right before making, give them a chance to cool off before you start chopping them.

MAYONNAISE: Guys. I only use Best Foods mayo. For you East Coasters it’s Hellman’s. Don’t use Miracle Whip here. It’s too sweet for this!

YELLOW MUSTARD: Stick to the basic here too. Specialty mustards have their place but it’s not in a classic egg salad sandwich. Yellow mustard gives you just the right amount of tang and color that you’re looking for.

SALT, PEPPER AND GARLIC: These are all the seasonings that you need. Again, we’re keeping it simple here.

chopped eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper and garlic in a glass bowl on a wooden cutting board.

STEPS FOR MAKING EGG SALAD:

Step by Step Photos for how to make egg salad. Photo 1: hard boiled eggs Photo 2: chopped eggs in glass bowl. Photo 3: all ingredients in glass bowl Photo 4: Egg salad in glass bowl with spoon.

STEP #1: Hard boil the eggs. You can do this ahead of time if you like. If you make them right before cooking just make sure to chill them first. Egg salad is best served cold.

STEP #2: Chop the eggs. I chop them all together, yolk and all. You can smash them too if you want things a bit chunkier.

STEP #3: Add in mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper and garlic powder and mix well.

STEP #4: Allow to chill about 30 minutes so that the flavors have a chance to meld.

My absolute favorite way to serve egg salad is on soft white bread. It is one of my all time favorite sandwiches and my family’s too. You can also serve egg salad on top of lettuce, in a wrap or on toast for breakfast!

Egg salad sandwich on a white plate.

We like our sandwiches pretty full so this recipe will make enough for about two. It can easily be doubled though!

Can you make this ahead of time?

Absolutely! I find it even better the next day. It will stay fresh in your refrigerator for a few days.

A spoonful of egg salad over a glass bowl on a wooden cutting board with a bowl of eggs.

Have some hard boiled eggs that you need to use? Check out these recipes:

Classic Deviled Eggs

Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing

Crispy Chickpea and Arugula Salad

Chef Salad from Lemon Tree Dwelling

Looking for more sandwich recipes? Here are some of my favorite sandwich recipes!

Fried Green Tomato BLT

Spicy Shrimp Sandwich

French Dip Sandwich

Pulled Chicken Sandwich

Note: this recipe was originally posted in 2009. It was updated with new photos and tips in 2020.