Classic Egg Salad Recipe - Real Food with Jessica (2024)

FAQs

How many days is homemade egg salad good for? ›

Egg salad is always better fresh, but you can certainly store it for up to 4 days in the fridge for quick lunches or for potlucks and picnics.

To prevent this, make sure to shock the eggs in an ice water bath as soon as you're done boiling them. Then, let them chill fully before you cut into them. And if you've already overcooked the eggs and added the mayo, there's still hope for salvaging the salad.

Spices can elevate a dull, bland egg salad to extraordinary, and many seasonings can be used to spice up egg salad. Let's start with an obvious one: salt. It's an essential seasoning in cooking, especially for egg-based dishes, as salt intensifies an egg's rich, savory flavor.

Egg salad is a classic sandwich stuffer, but with gobs of mayo mixed in, it can be high in unhealthy fats, sodium and calories. An average deli egg salad sandwich can have more than 550 calories, 30 grams of fat and 600 milligrams of sodium.

If left longer, it can develop dark spots and mold. You might also see little bubbles or fizzing when stirring the salad; these are also surefire indicators of microbial growth. If your egg salad looks fine but tastes sour or bitter, you should also throw it away.

According to the USDA, egg salad that's been stored properly in the fridge will be good for three to five days. To maximize that timeframe, use an airtight container and place the egg salad in the coldest part of the fridge promptly. Make sure your fridge is set to 40 F or lower.

What Makes Egg Salad Watery? Every ingredient that goes into egg salad has water in it. Salt and sugar in the dressing draw the water out of the ingredients as they sit, and they make your egg salad watery regardless of whether it's in the fridge or in a sandwich.

Place the eggs in a mixing bowl and use a co*cktail muddler, potato masher, or even a large fork to break them up into uneven, irregular chunks. You can also use a potato masher, or press the hard boiled eggs through the wires on a cooling rack to chop them up.

The egg salad itself can get watery after it sits for a while, though. To counter this tendency, make sure the eggs aren't overcooked, chill them well before chopping, and add a tablespoon of very fine bread crumbs to the salad.

Squeeze some lemon juice or orange juice over your dish. The sour flavor provides a new layer of complexity to the meal and should mellow out the salt. Drizzle in a mild vinegar like all-purpose vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar to help mask the salt with acidity by distracting the taste buds.

Why does my egg salad smell like sulfur? ›

Great egg salad starts with properly cooked eggs. You want the yolk to be firm, yellow, and moist with no greenish-gray tint and sulfur smell – a sign that the egg has spent too long in hot water and is most likely overcooked.

In the contest of mayo versus Miracle Whip, the latter is lower in fat and has fewer calories than mayonnaise. However, Miracle Whip's higher sugar content (from high fructose corn syrup) doesn't necessarily make it a “healthier” option.

Since a single serving of egg salad usually contains the equivalent of around two eggs, it might be best not to eat it every day, but you can still enjoy it from time to time unless your doctor says otherwise.

Egg salad is versatile enough to be served in sandwiches, with crackers, or even stuffed into veggies like tomatoes and lettuce leaves. We've rounded up 15 egg salad recipes that are sure to satisfy, whether you want to keep things basic, or bump up the flavor with additions like tangy horseradish and fresh basil.

According to the USDA, you might have a little more time to finish egg salad than you may think. If the egg salad has been properly stored—in a sealed container in the refrigerator—it is safe to eat it within five days.

Make Ahead: The eggs can be cooked, peeled, and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator 3 days ahead. If you keep the eggs in their shell, they can last for up to a week. The egg salad will keep well in a covered container in the fridge for about 3 days.

Once prepared, egg mayo will keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. It's not suitable for freezing. You can also boil the eggs in advance – these will keep, unpeeled, in the fridge for up to 1 week.

After making homemade mayonnaise with pasteurized eggs or egg products, keep it refrigerated and use it within four days. Do not freeze mayonnaise. Emulsions such as mayonnaise will separate and appear curdled after freezing.