This egg salad recipe makes the best creamy, flavorful egg salad! It is incredibly easy to make with just a handful of simple ingredients.
Egg Salad like Mom used to make
Growing up, my mom would often make us egg salad sandwiches for lunch. Her recipe was simple, with just eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper. I’ve based this egg salad recipe off of Mom’s, with just a few slight changes. This egg salad is creamy, flavorful and so easy to make!
You can make this classic egg salad ahead and refrigerate it for up to three days, so it’s great for meal prep. If you hard boil your eggs ahead of time, this egg salad recipe comes together in just minutes. For more delicious lunch ideas, try my Chicken Salad Recipe or Tuna Salad next!
Ingredient Notes
Here’s a look at what you’ll need for this recipe. If you have a favorite egg salad ingredient, add it in! This recipe is easy to customize to your tastes. My favorite variation is my Avocado Egg Salad recipe.
- Hard Boiled Eggs: I use 6 eggs to serve 4 people. You can scale the recipe up or down to make more or fewer servings. If you find yourself with extra hard boiled eggs, try them in my Deviled Eggs recipe!
- Plain Greek Yogurt or Mayo: To make the creamy dressing, you can use either plain Greek yogurt or mayonnaise. I usually use Greek yogurt because it’s a lighter option, and I’m not a big fan of mayo. You can use mayonnaise if you prefer.
- Dijon Mustard: I like to use smooth Dijon mustard, but grainy mustard or even yellow mustard will work!
- Red Onion: Chop the onion finely so that its sharp flavor doesn’t overwhelm the other ingredients. Or try adding finely chopped celery, shallot or green onion instead.
- Fresh Chives: For a pop of flavor and color. You can add other fresh herbs, like dill or parsley, in place of or in addition to the chives.
- Salt & Pepper: Adjust the amounts to your tastes.
Find the printable recipe with ingredient amounts below.
How to Make Egg Salad
Hard boil the eggs. My go-to method is on the stovetop, using my Hard Boiled Eggs recipe for perfect, easy peel eggs. You can also cook Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs or Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs. Once cooked, place the eggs in a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process.
Chop and combine ingredients. Peel the eggs, then coarsely chop them. Finely chop the red onion and chives. Combine the eggs, Greek yogurt or mayo, Dijon mustard, red onion, chives, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Stir everything together. Then taste the egg salad and adjust the seasonings to your tastes. If it’s not creamy enough, you can stir in a little more mayonnaise or Greek yogurt.
Ways to Serve Egg Salad
I love a good egg salad sandwich, but there are so many more delicious ways to serve it! Here are a few of my favorites:
- In a sandwich, between slices of whole grain bread.
- Wrapped in lettuce or over mixed greens for a low carb lunch.
- On a slice of toasted Whole Wheat Bread, topped with sliced avocado and everything bagel seasoning.
- With crackers.
- In a wrap made with a Homemade Flour Tortilla.
Egg Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt, or mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, or yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Cook eggs: Fill a medium saucepan or pot with enough water so that it will cover the eggs by ¾ to 1 inch when you add the eggs to the pot (but do not add the eggs yet). Heat over high heat until the water comes to a rolling boil. Then reduce the heat to a gentle boil and very gently lower the eggs into the water using a slotted spoon or metal strainer. Immediately increase the heat so that the pot comes back to a gentle rolling boil. Boil the eggs for 14 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle rolling boil.
- Immediately transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water and let them sit for 5 minutes. Peel the eggs.
- Coarsely chop the eggs and place in a medium mixing bowl. Add the plain Greek yogurt (or mayonnaise), Dijon mustard, chopped red onion, chives, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.
- Taste and adjust seasonings, as needed. If the egg salad isn't creamy enough, stir in a little more yogurt or mayo.
- Serve egg salad in a sandwich or wrap, on toasted bread topped with sliced avocado, in lettuce wraps, or as desired.
Notes
- Store egg salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
I originally shared this recipe in October 2018. Post updated February 2023 and March 2025 with new photos and more helpful information.
My family loves egg salad! I will have to try it with greek yogurt instead of mayo next time.
Thank you! It’s a great way to lighten it up, and I don’t think there’s much difference in taste.
I keep egg salad in my fridge at all times to eat at any time of the day or night! I can’t wait to try cooking the eggs in the IP…this is a time-saver for sure.
Also, to make the chopping of the eggs quick and easy, I put the peeled eggs in my large mixing bowl and use a pastry cutter to chop them. It gets the job done in a fraction of the time!
That’s a great tip about how to chop the eggs quickly! You are going to love cooking eggs in your Instant Pot! They peel so easy!
Kristine after the cold bath I like to shatter the eggs completely on sink edge most of the time the shell falls right off while doing that process in hand it’s so cool
An even easier way to chop eggs is to push them through a cooling rack.
Easy & Delicious Recipe! Thank you so much for the neat way to make Egg Salad Sandwich and also the proper way to hard boil eggs!
You’re welcome! I’m glad it was helpful to you!
I got home very late last week and didn’t have much to choose from in the way of food, but I saw I had 3 eggs in the fridge (the use-by date was still a few days away). Anyway, i found this recipe, and simply did half of everything….quick, and it was dee-lish!!! I simply used mayo, a bit of brown deli mustard, and salt/pepper, on whole wheat toast, and I was ‘da man!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! It is perfect for a quick meal!
First time in my life to STEAM eggs!! I will never do it another way! Thank you!
how to not end up with flat end on egg when it’s hard boiled
I did a quick Google search, and apparently the flat end can be a result of an air bubble that gets larger as eggs age. You can help to prevent the flat end by using fresh eggs. Some say you can also prevent a flat end by poking a small hole in the large end of the egg before cooking, but I’m not sure I would go to the effort.
Made this yummy egg salad using avocado mayo. Better than my mother’s, and hers was very good! Next time I will try half Greek yogurt and half avocado mayo. I’ve been craving egg salad and am so happy I found your recipe! Thanks for sharing it.
Cannot thank you enough for this recipe–delicious and so easy!!
I’m no cook, but since my wife says she is sick of cooking after 56 years I should learn a little something to cook for myself. So I started making my own breakfast, mostly eggs. While frying 3 scrambled eggs, I kept turning & chopping with the spatula. it began to look a lot like egg salad, so,I showed my wife and she agreed to make egg salad sandwiches for both of us (with mayo and chopped up,olives). We couln’t tell the difference, they were really good without the time & hassle of boiling and peeling eggs! My with said she never heard of anyone doing this before, could that be true? If you get a chance, please let me know what you think.
Thanks, Rick
I’ve never heard of making egg salad with scrambled eggs, but if you enjoyed it then I say do what works for you. 🙂
First off – best hard boiled egg directions and results! Love this recipe and had an awesome egg salad sandwich for lunch today! Thank you!
I totally agree. First time ever the peel came right off without ripping the eggs apart. Delicious recipe!
Delicious! Sometimes I mix cold pickled cucumbers for a different taste.
I hadn’t made egg salad in years and came across your recipe, which I followed line for line and
it came out delicious! This is now my go-to recipe.
Thank you!
Whoa, too dry. I pureed extra mayo, yogurt and avocado. That made it perfect plus I made enough to slather on my bread. Yummy!
Hi David,
I’m glad you found a version that fits your tastes. Thank you.
I went the sandwich route, and made this for my weekly lunches. This is like a deviled egg on a sandwich and I am a HUGE fan of deviled eggs, so suffice to say, I’m obsessed with this recipe. The Dijon mustard adds an excellent touch.
Didn’t use the recipe as written but did use all the ingredients. I eyeball the wet stuff! Lol But girl…adding a shallot was the key!!!! Turned out delicious!
I just prepped the dressing and will mix with eggs In the morning. The recipe calls for 6
Eggs but I’m not sure the dressing is enough for 3! I will find out tomorrow, smells good although I only used a bit of red onion.
To give it a little tang, I added a little sweet cube pickles. So yum, totally recommend you trying ?
Currently going through cancer treatments, and my mouth can’t tolerate anything that requires much chewing. This is a great soft food! I subbed some celery salt for some of the regular salt. Reminds me of my mom’s!
I like to add a bit of pickle relish to my egg salad.
Try a dash of curry! Yummee!
Hi Kristine!
I make egg salad a lot and follow many of your recipes. The only things I did differently was as to use medium brown eggs as large ones are no longer affordable for me. I ditched mayo for this because I wanted something different, so tried Ranch dressing instead and was blown away!! Also added cayenne to make it snappier, and used dried Chives as opposed to fresh. Turned out to be the best ever and I always throw in some Capers as well. My favorite recipe of yours is Enchilada Sauce! Thanks!
Delicious
I LOVE this recipe! This is going to be my new health lunch go-to.
This sounds exactly what I’m looking for
Thanks