Simple Egg Salad with a Twist

How often does something simple kinda blow you away? That's my take on this easy egg salad, made with just the classic ingredients (cooked eggs, mayo, a little mustard, a little sweet pickle relish) plus my personal twist of some ... get this ... a little grated cheese. Another reason? Egg salad sandwiches are perfect for picnics, road trips, camping, lunchboxes and brown bags because even when made well ahead of time, the bread doesn't get soggy!

Real Food, Fast & Flexible. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Great for Meal Prep. Easily Scales from a Couple of Eggs to a Dozen or More. Low Carb. Low Fat. High Protein. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegetarian.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

All the Meat "Salads".

The English language is so imprecise.

• There's "salad" – the combination of leafy greens and/or vegetables all tied together with some sort of dressing, usually a side dish. Some samples, salad recipes.
• And then there's "salad" – bigger than above, often with proteins/grains etc, served as a main course. Some samples, see salad suppers.
• And then there's "meat salad" – cooked meat ground up and bound with a dressing (often mayo-based) and tucked into sandwiches. People probably know chicken salad and tuna salad best, but there's also beef salad and ham salad and even tofu salad and as of today, my childhood favorite egg salad.
• All these "salads"! So confusing!

About This Recipe

• Simple Egg Salad is a classic egg-salad combo but with a twist. The "classic" side is cooked egg mixed with sweet relish and a mayo-based dressing. The "twist" is the addition of grated cheese, matching the soft texture of the eggs.
• The distinctive ingredients are cooked eggs, the mayonnaise and the cheese.
• Ingredient List = whole cooked eggs, both the whites and yolks + mayonnaise + sweet pickle relish + mustard + grated cheese + salt & pepper
• It takes about 10 minutes to mix the egg salad, longer to make sandwiches.
• This egg salad is quite pretty, pale yellow in color with hints of green from the sweet relish.
• The yield depends on how many eggs you start with. The recipe is written for two but it's easy-easy to scale this up. For every egg, the yield is 1/3 cup of Simple Egg Salad.

What's In Simple Egg Salad? Pantry Ingredients!

In all my recipes and most well-written recipes, every ingredient serves a purpose. Each one matters. Each one contributes to the overall dish. Usually I'm a big fan of substitutes, in this case, I recommend sticking with the recipe, it just works.

• Eggs This recipe is written for large eggs, if you use medium or extra-large eggs, to the ingredients in the same proportion, you'll want to scale the other ingredients down or up. The eggs must be cooked at least a half hour or so ahead of time. My favorite way to "hard cook" eggs is to steam them, see How to Steam Eggs. No steaming basket? No problem. Just use a saucepan and follow this technique, Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs. Or buy whole cooked eggs!
• The "Dressing" The egg is bound by mayonnaise and a little mustard, not much, just enough to hold it all together.
• Sweet Pickle Relish This is the green pickle relish people put on hot dogs and burgers. Be sure to drain off the liquid a bit. FYI there's a "sugar free" version of sweet pickle relish, whoah it's super-super salty, overwhelmingly so.
• Cheese This is my long-time personal twist for extra-good egg salad. Grate the cheese so its texture is much the same as the soft cooked egg. You might not even know it's there except to think, "Hmmm, this egg salad is so good. What's in it?" Once I grated a little cold butter instead of cheese, also very good, not unlike the filling for Estonian Deviled Eggs.
• Salt & Pepper Taste first! It may not be needed.

How to Make Simple Egg Salad

The detailed recipe is written in traditional recipe form below but here are the highlights in just two easy steps. You can definitely do this!

STEP ONE Chop up the eggs, use one of three ways. The first two methods yield a rougher, chunkier egg salad. The third method yields a softer, smoother egg salad. Cooks choice!

• Just use a fork, a meat fork works especially well, pressing the tines across the eggs.
• Use an an inexpensive wire egg slicer (affiliate link).
• Grate the eggs on the large holes of a cheese grater. (I've had the same four-sided grater for years but like the looks of how this two-sided cheese grater (affiliate link) folds flat for storage. Handy!) As long as you're at it, grate the cheese as well.

STEP TWO Toss the eggs with the remaining ingredients. That's it!

The Best Thing About Egg Salad? Egg Salad Sandwiches.

The Best Thing About Egg Salad Sandwiches? They Keep.

I'm happy to spread egg salad onto toast for a simple breakfast. But mostly, in my kitchen, egg salad is for sandwiches.

They're very portable, not very messy and keep, literally, for a couple of days without the bread turning soggy.

During a recent driving trip from St. Louis to Florida, I packed sandwiches for the car so we could just drive-drive-drive, stopping only for fuel and bathroom breaks.

For bread, I used small-ish soft whole-grain rolls and filled them quite full and popped them into a cooler in individual sandwich bags for the drive.

We loved those sandwiches but ended up with a few leftover so popped them into our condo's fridge. The next day, they were still good to go, in better shape than we were after a long drive!

Frozen Bread Dough for Mini Sandwiches.

FYI this is not a sponsored post, it's just my sharing a store-bought food that works for me, in hope that it might interest readers as well. ~AK

It was a lucky break, checking the frozen seafood section for lobster tails. Nope, no lobster tails, no hoped-for affordable lobster.

But right next door was a shelf of Rhodes frozen breads. My mother used to swear by Rhodes frozen bread loaves – a coup given that Mom was one of the world’s best bread bakers.

What caught my eye, however, was a tray of nine small multi-grain rolls. I walked through my mental gauntlet.

• Price? Check. The price was right, $2.29, just $.25 a roll.
• Ingredient list? Check. It starts off with stone-ground whole wheat flour and unbleached white flour. Sugar is the fourth ingredient (and the rolls do have a certain sweetness) but that’s followed by sunflower seeds, flax seeds and millet.
• Reasonable calories? Check.
• Convenience? Triple Check. Just throw the tray of still-frozen rolls into a hot oven. Twenty minutes later? Done. Hot rolls for dinner.
• Taste? Could frozen rolls taste good? I have to say, I think the taste and texture are excellent. There’s that slightly nutty edge that comes with whole-grain bread. Check!

Sold!

Aren't they pretty? I love how you can actually see the sunflower seeds and flax seeds!

I now buy these Rhodes rolls regularly and keep a tray or two in the freezer all the time.

Plus little mini sandwiches were a huge hit at my book club last week, stuffed with my delicious Simple Egg Salad for three-bite but still-hearty sandwiches.

More Convenience Food Recommendations? Sure, we COULD make everything. But chances are, none of us do. What convenience foods would you recommend to other Kitchen Parade readers? Leave a comment, tell us what you love and why!

Bookmark! PIN! Share!

How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this recipe for such a simple egg salad (plus cheese!) hits the mark, go ahead, save and share! I'd be honored ...

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SIMPLE EGG SALAD &
MINI EGG SALAD SANDWICHES

Hands-on time: 10 minutes for Egg Salad
Time to table: 30 minutes for Egg Salad & Mini Sandwiches
Yields 2/3 cups Egg Salad, enough for 9 Mini Sandwiches

It's easy to scale up this recipe. In fact, I usually make a double batch with 4 eggs. For every egg, the yield is 1/3 cup.

SIMPLE EGG SALAD
• 2 large hard-cooked eggs (How to Steam Eggs, otherwise Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs)
• 2 tablespoons (16g) grated cheese (sharp cheddar, smoked gouda, Swiss and mozzarella cheese all work well)
• 2 tablespoons (28g) low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon (15g) sweet pickle relish, liquid drained off
• 1 teaspoon (5g) good mustard
• Salt & pepper to taste

MINI SANDWICHES
• 1 tray Rhodes Multi-Grain Rolls or another small roll
• Lettuce leaves, washed and patted dry

EGG SALAD Meanwhile, with a fork, mash the egg salad ingredients.

MINI SANDWICHES Bake the rolls according to package instructions. Let cool, then slice in half and separate the individual rolls. Spread a spoonful of the egg salad mixture onto the bottom half of a roll, top with lettuce, then close with the top half of the roll.

ALANNA’s TIPS These sandwiches can be made ahead of time. Just cover and refrigerate. I was surprised that even two days later, the leftover sandwiches were still quite fresh. So long as the sandwiches can be kept chilled, they’d be great for picnics, road trips, etc. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2011/04/mini-egg-salad-sandwiches.html

NUTRITION INFORMATION
Per 1/4 Cup: 114 Calories; 8g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat; 162mg Cholesterol; 232mg Sodium; 3g Carb; 0g Fiber; 2g Sugar; 6g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 3 & PointsPlus 3 & SmartPoints 4 & Freestyle 2 & myWW green 4 & blue 2 & purple 2 & future WW points

DISCLOSURE This is not a sponsored post. Rhodes has no idea who I am and I’ve never had any contact with the company. My Disclosure Promise

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Seasonal Eating: Early Spring Across the Years

Tender Pork Tenderloin Honey Mustard Chicken Moroccan Chicken Sole with Mushrooms & Onions Mango Chicken Salad Red Quinoa Salad Your Way Simple Egg Salad with a Twist Mojito Strawberries Sunshine Orange Muffins Upside-Down Rhubarb Cheesecake Strawberry Milk Sugar Cookie Bars

This Week, Elsewhere

~ Lobster Risotto ~
from Trattoria Marcella
~ more St. Louis Restaurant Recipes ~
My Weekly Column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

~ Bourbon-Glazed Roasted Carrots ~
~ How to Eat More Vegetables, Tip #10 (Take a Chemistry Lesson) ~
~ more Recent Recipes ~
A Veggie Venture

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Lots of Cooked Eggs on Hand? Here's How to Use Them Up!

more
~ cooked eggs ~

• THE RECIPE Deviled Eggs with Tomato-Herb Relish Easy but dramatic presentation of everyone's favorite deviled eggs.
• ANOTHER TAKE Estonian Deviled Eggs It's got a secret ingredient!

• THE RECIPE Mom's Potato Salad All the tricks for great potato salad.
• ANOTHER TAKE Simple "Sweet Potato" Potato Salad with Hardly Any Mayonnaise

• THE RECIPE Creamed Eggs with Spinach
• ANOTHER TAKE Easy Spinach Nests

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ cooked eggs ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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