Easy egg salad recipe 🥚
Egg salad is one of those simple recipes where a few small changes can make a surprisingly big difference. For this version, I wanted the filling to be properly creamy, but I didn't want to mash all six eggs into one smooth mixture. I still wanted plenty of pieces of egg in every bite.
The easiest way I found to get both was to use just two of the cooked egg yolks for the creamy base. I mixed them with mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, garlic powder and a little smoked paprika until smooth and creamy. The remaining eggs were simply chopped into pieces and gently folded into the dressing. This way, the dressing gets that rich egg yolk flavour while the salad itself stays nice and chunky.
While the eggs are cooking, there is plenty of time to prepare everything else. I finely chop the pickles, red onion and fresh chives so they're ready to go as soon as the eggs have cooled. The pickles bring a little crunch and acidity, the onion adds some bite and the fresh chives work really well with the eggs without overpowering them.
Once everything is mixed together and seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, the egg salad is already good enough to eat straight from the bowl. But for this recipe, I turned it into a loaded toast.
Crispy toast gets topped with ham, cheese and curly lettuce before adding a generous amount of the chunky egg salad. A little Sriracha goes on top for some heat, followed by fresh chives to finish it off.
It's simple, filling and made from everyday ingredients, which makes it perfect for breakfast or an easy lunch. You can also make the egg salad ahead of time and keep it chilled in the fridge, then toast your bread and assemble everything when you're ready to eat.
📝 Ingredients
Egg Salad
6 eggs
1 tsp salt, for the cooking water
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 heaped tbsp sour cream
1 tsp mustard
2 tbsp pickles, finely chopped and well drained
1½ tbsp red onion, finely chopped
1½ tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp smoked paprika
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Toast
2 slices of bread
2 slices of cheese
Ham slices
Curly lettuce leaves
Sriracha, to taste
Fresh chives, for garnish
🥄 Instructions
Serving Suggestions🍽️
This loaded egg salad toast is filling enough to serve on its own for breakfast or lunch, but you can easily add something fresh on the side. A few sliced tomatoes, cucumber or a simple green salad work particularly well.
If you want something a little more substantial, serve it with some crisps or homemade potato wedges.
The egg salad itself doesn't have to be served exactly as I did here either. Spoon it onto plain toast, use it as a sandwich filling, add it to a wrap or simply serve it alongside some fresh vegetables.
You can also play around with the toppings. Add extra Sriracha if you like things spicy, use crispy bacon instead of ham, add some sliced jalapeños or simply leave out the meat for an easy meat-free version.
Why You’ll Love It⭐
Creamy and chunky at the same time: Using only two egg yolks for the dressing gives you a creamy base without having to mash all of the eggs.
Plenty of texture: Chopped egg, crunchy pickles, red onion and fresh chives mean the filling isn't just one soft mixture.
Simple ingredients: There's nothing particularly fancy here. It's made with ingredients that are easy to find and many of them may already be in your fridge.
Easy to customise: Change the bread, leave out the ham, add bacon, increase the Sriracha or pile on some extra pickles.
Great for making ahead: The egg salad can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until you're ready to make your toast.
💡 Pro Tips & Variations
Use two yolks for the creamy base. There's no need to mash all six eggs. Mixing just two cooked yolks with the mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard creates enough creamy dressing while allowing the rest of the eggs to stay chunky.
Don't overmix the chopped eggs. Once they go into the creamy dressing, gently fold everything together. Mixing too aggressively will break the egg pieces down and you'll lose that chunky texture.
Drain the pickles well. After chopping them, remove as much excess liquid as possible. This helps keep the dressing thick and creamy.
Prepare your vegetables while the eggs cook. There's no reason to wait around for the eggs. By the time you've chopped the pickles, onion and chives, most of the preparation is already done.
Cool the eggs before peeling. A few minutes under cold running water cools them quickly and makes them much easier to handle.
Rinse the peeled eggs. A quick rinse helps remove those annoying tiny pieces of shell that sometimes remain after peeling.
Assemble just before serving. The egg salad contains plenty of moisture, so leaving it on the toast for too long will eventually soften the bread.
✨ Final Thoughts
What I really like about this egg salad is the texture.
Instead of mashing all of the eggs together with mayonnaise, only two yolks are used to make the creamy dressing. The rest of the eggs stay in proper pieces, so you get that creamy egg salad flavour without losing the texture of the eggs themselves.
The pickles, red onion and chives also make a big difference. There's a little crunch, a little sharpness and plenty of freshness, but nothing takes over the whole filling.
And while I loaded mine onto crispy toast with ham, cheese, curly lettuce and Sriracha, that's really just one way to serve it. The egg salad itself is the important part, and once you've made that, you can turn it into whatever you like.
Pile it onto toast, make a sandwich, put it into a wrap or just grab a spoon and eat some straight from the bowl. I won't judge. 😄
If you give it a try, let me know what you like to add to your egg salad.
Happy cooking ❤️
