Herbed Egg Salad
This Herbed Egg Salad is full of flavor with the bright and bold flavors of fresh herbs, capers, red onion, and celery. No bland eggs here!
For me, egg salad has always the most boring of the boring-est foods. It was a fairly bland affair that I always thought of as simply a way to use up leftover eggs. It always appeared immediately after Easter and I never, ever looked forward to it.
Most of the egg salads I’ve ever had were basically mashed, boiled eggs with some mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper. And that’s the way I made it, too. Boring. Blah. Bland.
However, BeeBop loves the stuff. I can’t explain that. He just does. So I dutifully made it every once in a while as a treat for him. I’d fix him an egg salad sandwich, usually for Saturday lunch, and opt for some pimiento cheese for my lunch instead.
If you’ve seen my recipe for Alpine Eggs, you’ll know that I’ve fallen out of love with eggs over the last few years. Boring. Blah. Bland. Tasteless eggs.
Whoever thought I’d fall for an egg salad? Least of all me! But I did. Fell head over heels for this full-of-flavor, delicious Herbed Egg Salad.
This egg salad brings the bright, bold flavors of fresh herbs, capers, red onion, and celery to the front and center without completely masking the eggs. It’s definitely still egg salad, but instead of boring, blah, and bland, it’s full of sass.
If you, like me, have fallen out of love with eggs, here’s a recipe that I hope will help turn you around.
🥄 How to Make Herbed Egg Salad
I believe that cooking a good boiled egg is one of those culinary basics that all good cooks need to master. I admit that when I was a young cook, more often than not, I grossly overcooked boiled eggs. It took a while, but I finally figured out a method that works for me.
Here’s what I do: Place the eggs in a medium saucepan with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, cover the pan and immediately remove from the heat. Don’t let the eggs continue to boil. Just let them sit in the hot water.
For a hard boiled egg with a very slightly moist center, I let the eggs stand for 7 minutes. Then drain off the warm water and add enough cold water and ice to almost cover the eggs. Let them stand in the cold water for a couple of minutes.
Drain the water and ice leaving just the eggs in the pan. Put the lid on the pan, hold it securely, and shake the eggs back and forth in the empty pan to crack the shells. Peel the eggs and set aside.
Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, cilantro, parsley, red onion, capers, and celery in a medium bowl.
Coarsely chop the eggs and gently mix with the mayonnaise dressing until combined. Serve with lettuce on pumpernickel bread.
Questions? I’m happy to help!
If you have more questions about the recipe, or if you’ve made it and would like to leave a comment, scroll down to leave your thoughts, questions, and/or rating!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
📖 Recipe
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Herbed Egg Salad
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped capers
- 1 rib celery finely chopped
- Lettuce
- 8 slices Pumpernickel bread
Instructions
- Place the eggs in a medium saucepan with just enough water to cover.
- Bring to a boil, cover the pan and remove from the heat. Let the eggs stand for 7 minutes.
- Drain the warm water and cover the eggs with cold water and ice. Let stand for 2-3 minutes. Drain the water and ice.
- Cover the pan and shake the eggs in the empty pan to crack the shells. Peel the eggs and set aside.
- Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, cilantro, parsley, red onion, capers and celery in a medium bowl. Add the chopped eggs and gently mix until combined.
- Serve with lettuce on pumpernickel bread.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
The secret is in the mayonnaise……DUKE”s
I agree! Always Duke’s for us.
I love egg salad but I grew up with chopped green olives in it and always make it that way. That’s what boosts the flavor, but I’m so digging your recipe with the capers, etc. I’m trying this next time!
I hope you’ll try this version with all the fresh herbs and capers. We really enjoy it!
From Cynthia: Add chopped chicken or chopped ham to egg salad to make Chicken or Ham Salad
Put Egg, Chicken or Ham Salad over a bed of mixed salad greens to make a healthy and flavorful meal.
Better than any egg salad U ever tasted. I made some with Sunbeam sandwich bread making extremely light and very tasty finger sandwiches. The pumpernickel is good as well but forget cutting off the crusts for a party presentation. Caught my sweetie putting all the leftovers on Ritz Crackers on Saturday — none for me.😢
This recipe goes into the keeper file.
Made this for a HEP lunch (Happy Episcopal People) got lots of compliments and told the story of knowing Lana for one whole year of sixth grade! Handed out her blog address via text to some friends.
Oh, how kind, Merrill! I’m so pleased that you and your sweetie enjoyed the recipe. And thanks for passing on the blog address, it’s much appreciated.
We use less mustard, and replace the cilantro with fresh dill. We’ve always loved Egg Salad, and have made it in numerous ways. The possibilities are endless, but the ‘key’ is to use a good quality mayonnaise.
A few years back, I read an article about the famous egg salad sandwiches and pimento cheese sandwiches that are served at the Masters in Augusta. The writer mentioned that the eggs are grated, not chopped. Well, inasmuch as the Masters is a greatly respected institution of the highest order of Southern culture, I started grating the eggs for my egg salads. Makes all the difference. Or, at least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Miss P
That’s a great idea! I’m going to try that next time I make egg salad.
This sounds great! I’ll have to try it on Polly. She doesn’t eat very much meat so this is a good way for her to get protein .
You had me at egg salad. I love mine served on the fluffiest bread (white or whole grain). And adding herbs and capers? Yum.
I LOVE egg salad. The addition of cilantro and capers sounds lovely.
I love a good egg salad sandwich. This looks so good!
Mmmmm, the addition of cilantro…love it!
I’ll start off my confessing that I love eggs anyway they are cooked – and I really love the addition of cilantro, capers and red onion to your egg salad recipe! I’ve never thought of adding cilantro – I’ve got to try it! (Thanks also for linking to our Classic Egg Salad recipe!)
You’re welcome, Martha. Your recipe is a great classic version!
You know, I’ve never made egg salad at home, can you believe that? Your recipe is giving me the motivation to start!
Great, Jessica! I hope you’ll try it soon. It’s very easy.
I love that you added cilantro to the egg salad!
I wasn’t sure about the cilantro at first, but it really was fantastic.
I love egg salad with capers!
This is definitely not boring egg salad! Will have to try!
Nope, not boring at all, Ashley!
OMGoodness we all here love egg salad, from the plainest to most dressed up. I love your herbal version and your method for peeling the hard boiled eggs. I usually grate but I love the cubing/chopping here. I usually make super simple or with dill aioli.
Yours with dill aioli sounds fantastic!