Do you have a thing for egg salad? Golden, creamy, soft and crunchy egg salad? Me too. There's just one problem: To me, the process of making egg salad sounds daunting. Boil eggs, peel them, make a salad — and all before lunch? Call me lazy, but I just don't have hard-boiled eggs in my weekly routine. I felt there must be an easier way to enjoy egg salad — something quicker, more spur-of-the-moment. Lucky for me, there is.
Yes, there is an easier way to make egg salad, one that doesn't involve hard-boiling, peeling, and all that jazz. I found that I can make a very good egg salad with scrambled (yes, scrambled!) eggs.
See, by the time eggs are all chopped up and soaked in that delicious dressing, they have taken on a somewhat homogenous eggy quality, without much distinction between eggs, yolks, and everything in between. Scrambling eggs gently into soft, dry curds gives you a similar base to start from. And scrambled eggs take only 5 minutes to make, start to finish. No peeling.
Is it exactly the same as a hard-boiled egg salad? Do you get those soft nuggets of boiled yolk and squeaky bits of egg white? No. There is certainly a difference, and I can hear egg salad purists wailing in the distance. But for me, for a spur-of-the-moment lunch maker, one without a lot of time or inclination to plan ahead, this is a splendid little shortcut. Egg salad at a moment's notice, full of all the things I love — a bit of mayo, lemon juice, mustard, celery, red onion, dill. Shake in a handful of capers if you like (I do).
It's just egg salad, after all — a simple lunch, made just a little simpler.
Quick, Easy Scrambled Egg Salad
makes about 3 cups6 to 7 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion, from 1/4 small red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped celery, from about 2 stalks celery
1 tablespoon finely chopped dill fronds
1 tablespoon capers, optional
Lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Beat in the salt and a generous quantity of black pepper.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and pour in 1 teaspoon olive oil. Spread it around the skillet with a spatula until the whole skillet is coated. Pour in the eggs.
Cook the eggs for 5 minutes over medium-high heat, or until they are cooked through and no longer wet. Stir frequently, helping small "curds" develop in the eggs.
Put the cooked eggs in a large bowl and use a spatula to break up any large pieces. Set aside.
Whisk together the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon mustard, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Taste and adjust if desired to your taste. Pour over the eggs and fold in gently.
Fold in the chopped red onion, celery, and dill. If desired add capers. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if desired. Refrigerate to chill, or eat immediately.
More Egg Salad
• Egg Salad with Radishes
• Vegan Recipe: Lemony Eggless Egg Salad
• Better Egg Salad: Add an Avocado, Use Less Mayonnaise
• An Egg Salad Sandwich, Eight Ways
(Images: Faith Durand)
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I feel the same way about egg salad--too much planning. I plan dinners, but never lunches. Once or twice a year I'll buy the grocery store egg salad, but from now on, I'll just be scrambling 'em!
Basically you just blew my mind. I never thought to do this! I love egg salad. Of course the old fashion way is great, but every once in awhile a short cut is needed. Thanks for posting!!
This is such a "duh" moment! Why did I never think of this. Way to think outside the carton!
My mom always made us scrambled egg sandwiches growing up. Even without all the "salad" extras, scrambled eggs with a little salt and pepper makes for an extremely tasty sandwich.
My second-father's favorite sandwich was scrambled eggs mixed with mayo and mustard. He carried one in his lunch pail every day for years (packed on ice of course).
Or you can have shell-less hard boiled eggs. In my house, we call them poached and they make a lovely egg salad.
This salad looks delicious but...
Since when is scrambling egg salad less work than hard boiled egg salad? I make egg salad for lunch several times a week, and once the eggs are boiled (almost all hands off time, and it can be done in advance if you're that worried), it takes less than five minutes to have the egg salad finished and on my plate. And it makes fewer dishes. What am I missing?
Also (sorry, I posted too quickly): a good egg salad shouldn't have "a somewhat homogenous eggy quality, without much distinction between eggs, yolks, and everything in between." Even when I make "extra-fine" egg salad in the food processor, you can still distinguish the white from the yolk.
Yum! I'll try this ASAP, perhaps with some Greek yogurt in place of the mayo. Tangy and tasty!
I got this email this am - and tried it for lunch!!! GREAT idea... It's not exactly the same - but, you didn't say it was -- But, a lot quicker than if I wanted egg salad last minute..And, to comment on the person above about what am I missing.... - It would take a lot longer for spur of the moment egg salad - to boil water, cook the eggs, cool, peel (worst part!!)....So, THANK YOU!!! I liked it!!!
Even lazier: Pop a slice of bread in the toaster and put an omelet pan on the burner. When it's hot enough, crack an egg in it, and make sure the yolk is broken. Put the toast aside to cool just a bit. Grab some mayo, Dijon mustard, and some seasoning (I like Beau Monde). Flip the egg over and salt and pepper. Smear the mayo on the bread, add a bit of Dijon and mix that in. Top with seasoning and the egg. You can let the egg cool if the thought of warm egg salad isn't appealing. But I like it warmish.
I have made scrambled egg and fried egg sandwichs for years, all served on slightly toasted bread with mayo... why did I never make the next logical jump? Especially since egg salad is one of my all time favorite foods. It is the perfect comfort food whether eaten on a flakey croissant or as a dip for whole grain crackers. Thank you! I know what I'm eating for lunch tomorrow!!
my quick way to an egg salad is actually to poach the eggs and then just break em down with a fork. easy. hard boiled without any shells to deal with =P not quite as quick as scrambling, but more hands off.
Growing up almost 50 years ago, we hard-boiled, soft-boiled and poached our eggs in an electric Sunbeam egg cooker. While living abroad, I realized I had no idea how to boil or poach an egg without this nifty appliance and had to find a recipe pre-internets age. Now that I'm back in the USA, I again have an electric egg cooker and, while it doesn't peel the eggs, I just add some water, the eggs, turn it on and in about 10 minutes I have eggs for egg salad, deviled eggs, poached eggs and other tasty egg dishes. Electric egg cookers are out there. It just takes a little looking.
I make scrambled eggs every morning in the microwave, usually egg whites out of a carton, in a bowl for 2.5- 3min. Turns into a little fluffy omelet.
Now I can turn it into easy egg salad! I'll probably go the greek yogurt way as well. MMMMmm.
This is a great idea as I always have such a hard time peeling hard boiled eggs. the egg always sticks to the shell. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I am not sure but I think this is the solution for me.
love this idea!
This looks great - actually, could be a good use for all my failed omlette attempts.
ALICELOST, I think the peeling of the eggs is the part we all dread. If you have any tips for getting it done quickly please share!
The "peeled boiled egg" (aka poached egg) hack is also brilliant - I will have to try that next!
I was intrigued by this, since I love fresh-made,still warm egg salad. Tried it for lunch today in a scaled-down version (for one person on Weight Watchers). Gotta say, I was not disappointed. It was yummy, and using one egg, a slice of onion, 1tsp @ of mayo and dijonnaise yielded enough to put on two slices of high-fiber bread, for a Points Plus total of 5 for the meal. Filling, tasty, fresh! And egg salad! What more could an egg-lover ask for?
Definitely a duh moment. And defnitely dinner tonight as I only have time for a short break between projects. Can't believe I never made the connection as my mom used a similar shortcut when making potato salad at the last minute.
I'll be trying the poached egg hack as well. Lovin all these egg posts here. Hate to the week come to an end. Thanks.
*hate to see*
for bits of white and yolk in your scramble: don't mix the eggs first.
Just break them all in a bowl, pour them into a fry pan, and mix in the pan. You get colorful egg mix with bits of cooked yolk, bits of cooked white and some that has mixed together. Also, each of the 3 has a tiny bit of different texture.
I love the ease of this idea! Let's see... covering eggs with water, boiling, peeling under running water (and let's not even discuss those pesky eggs which refuse to peel easily), cooling a bit, chopping, folding gently to try to keep a good texture... versus cracking eggs into a hot pan, scrambling, and making a salad - bam. Is there really any question as to whether this is easier?
Hi ,A super easy way to peel boiled eggs is to immediately put them in cold running water and peel them,don't wait for them to cool and they will peel perfectly! very easy and fast!
P.s. the shells will slip right off.
I loved this idea! Since I don't care for Dijon, dill or capers, I used your idea as inspiration for my own egg salad. I used one egg, two egg whites, 1 Tbsp reduced fat may with olive oil, 1 Tbsp homemade basil pesto, and about 1/4 cup chopped up tomato. I used it inside one of those Orowheat Pocket thins. It was kind of a "bruschetta egg salad sandwich" and it was so good!! I love having a new way to make eggs. Thanks so much for the idea!