Egg salad

Boil eggs for 11 minutes, ice bath, peel, then mash the yolks into the dressing and chop the whites separately. That one step is the difference between egg salad and egg paste. Six eggs to ¼ cup of mayonnaise, and it keeps 3–4 days refrigerated.

The two things that decide whether it’s good

Fully set yolks. An 11-minute egg has a yolk that crumbles and mashes into the dressing, thickening it. A softer yolk smears instead, and the whole thing goes greasy and loose. This is the one recipe on the site where you genuinely want the yolk hard — see the hard boiled guide for the method.

Separate treatment for yolks and whites. Most egg salad fails because everything gets chopped together and stirred to a uniform paste. Mash the yolks into the mayonnaise first — they emulsify into it and become the sauce — then fold in hand-chopped whites so they stay as distinct pieces. You get a creamy base carrying pieces of egg, rather than a beige spread.

The recipe

Ingredients — serves 3 to 4

• 6 large eggs
• 60 ml (¼ cup) mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp fresh chives or dill, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced (optional, for crunch)
• 1 tsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Boil the eggs 11 minutes. Fridge-cold large eggs lowered into already-boiling water on a spoon. Adjust for egg size — about 30 seconds a step.
2. Ice bath 5 minutes. Stops the cooking, prevents the grey-green ring, and makes peeling far easier.
3. Peel and separate. Peel from the wide end under cool running water, then halve each egg and lift the yolks into a mixing bowl.
4. Make the dressing. Mash the yolks with the mayonnaise, Dijon, lemon juice and a good pinch of salt until smooth. It should look like a thick pale sauce.
5. Chop the whites and fold them in. Roughly, by hand — pieces about the size of a fingernail. Fold rather than stir.
6. Add the rest and season. Chives, celery if using, then black pepper. Taste and adjust; it usually wants more salt than you expect.

Ratios and variations

The dressing ratio is roughly 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise per egg. Less and it’s dry; much more and the eggs are swimming. If you want it looser without adding fat, a spoonful of the mayonnaise can be swapped for plain yogurt or a splash of the pickle brine from your fridge.

Worth trying: curry powder and a little mango chutney; capers and finely diced red onion; smoked paprika and a dash of hot sauce; or ditching the mayonnaise for mashed avocado and lime, which works but doesn’t keep past a day.

Storage

Refrigerate in an airtight container and eat within 3 to 4 days — shorter than the one-week window for plain boiled eggs in the shell, because these are peeled, chopped, handled, and mixed with dressing.

Don’t leave it out. Egg salad falls under the same two-hour rule as any cooked egg dish, and one hour if it’s above 90°F / 32°C. For picnics and lunchboxes, keep it on ice. Don’t freeze it either; mayonnaise splits and the whites go rubbery.

Troubleshooting

Watery after a day in the fridge. The whites released moisture. Salt them lightly and let them sit for a couple of minutes before folding in, or add the salt only just before serving.

Grey-green ring in the yolks. Overcooked, or cooled too slowly. Both fixable — see the doneness guide for why it happens.

Eggs wrecked while peeling. Very fresh eggs are the usual cause. Use ones that have been in the fridge a week or more, and see the peeling guide — or cook them in an Instant Pot, which peels even fresh eggs cleanly.