How To Make One Deviled Egg

The devil is in the details for making a deviled egg for one. Pun intended. Hard-cooking a single egg requires a lot more finesse than hard-cooking a dozen does. Add to that a challenge to use the microwave so that even the dorm- or office-bound can throw themselves a party for one. The tiniest details make a huge difference.

We often think of deviled eggs as party fare — food for holidays and celebrations. A dozen pretty regularly appear at family gatherings, but what about the times you want to celebrate yourself? Maybe you’ve got a single hard-cooked egg languishing about in the fridge and you don’t want to eat it plain.

The single deviled egg is a satisfying solution. If you already have some hard-cooked eggs in the fridge, feel free to use this recipe strictly for the filling. Below is a basic ratio for a classic deviled egg, which means there’s plenty of opportunity to go wild with additions. Pickle relish, minced shallot, capers, even pimentos are all welcome on your own personal deviled egg.

Admittedly there are dozens of ways to perfectly hard-boil an egg. Kitchn alone has a half-dozen different ways to accomplish this essential culinary task. Bringing a pot of water to a full boil, a pressure cooker to full pressure, or even heating up the whole oven for a single egg feels pretty wasteful, not to mention time consuming. Instead we’re microwaving the egg.

An egg heated in the microwave cooks from the inside out, which will result in quite a bit of pressure building up inside the egg’s shell. When the pressure inside the egg becomes too great, the egg will simply burst. This is both annoying (who wants to clean exploded egg out of their microwave?) and a bit dangerous. To avoid this egg explosion, simply puncture the egg’s shell before hard-boiling it in the microwave. The small hole allows pressure to escape while the egg cooks.

Get a Recipe: How To Make Deviled Eggs