I’ve had an egg salad sandwich on my mind as of late—I’m not sure if it’s the turn to spring or just the fact that it’s been too darn long since I’ve last had one, but I’ve got a hankering. Whatever the impetus for my egg salad sandwich craving, I came to the realization that I’ve actually very little experience preparing egg salad myself; growing up, my grandma was the one who made it, and since then, I’ve only really indulged in the egg-based dish when eating out.
Determined to make diner-quality egg salad at home, I reached out to a handful of culinary experts to ask for their top tips on making egg salad. While the experts had a variety of advice, there was a single tip that all four agreed was the ticket for the best egg salad.
The Experts I Asked
The Top Tip for the Best Egg Salad
All four chefs concur that the most important part of making egg salad is getting the texture right. “Egg salad can go wrong when the texture is mushy,” says Jawad. “Some egg salad recipes include mashing the eggs until they almost become a paste, which makes it feel like baby food to me.” And no one wants a baby food salad sandwich!
There are three main methods of avoiding this unsavory baby food outcome: how you cook the eggs, how you mix the salad, and what ingredients you use.
Cooking: “If the eggs are overcooked or not properly chilled, both texture and flavor are affected,” says Wells, recommending that after the eggs cook they be “immediately transferred to an ice bath for 20 minutes to ensure they peel easily and stay tender.” Where undercooking eggs risks ingesting harmful bacteria, “overcooking them leads to rubbery whites and dry yolks,” explains Audet, adding that if the eggs are left boiling for too long, you’ll get “that dreaded gray-green ring around the yolk.” Most of the experts agree that around 9 minutes is the golden window for perfectly textured eggs.
Mixing: This was the most important of all the texture-controlling steps in egg salad-making, according to these chefs. Put simply, do not overmix. Instead, advises Awada, “use a fork or a gentle chop so you can keep some nice, soft chunks—this will make every bite more satisfying.” Jawad agrees, saying the eggs must always be“ “chopped, not mashed.”
Ingredients: For the final texture tip, the experts all advise adding a single ingredient into your egg salad: celery. “Add a little crunch,” suggests Awada, “to level it up a good egg salad, add some texture with finely chopped celery.” She also likes bacon or red onion for the added crunch factor. Audet agrees, saying that along with celery she finds “finely diced pickles adds much needed balance.’’
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