The Pioneer Woman’s Secret for Delicious Deviled Eggs

It’s prime picnic and barbecue season and, for the Pioneer Woman, that means deviled eggs. In the “Pickup Picnic” episode of her Food Network show, Ree Drummond spread out a massive tailgate picnic that included spicy chicken, baked beans, mocha brownies, and what she called “the most delicious deviled eggs you’ll ever taste.”

“I kinda think deviled eggs are the quintessential picnic food,” she said. “And all the guys love ’em.”

Deviled eggs are a really good recipe to be able to break out in a pinch for a big party. They’re not expensive, they can be made in huge quantities without much effort, and they can be dressed up or down with different seasonings for any occasion. (Ree says she fills her eggs with a spoon for a “rustic look,” but you can also whip the filling so it’s smooth and pipe it into the eggs with a pastry bag if you want them to look fancy.)

Ree has several variations on deviled egg recipes in her holiday cookbook, but her recipe for basic deviled eggs starts out the classic way. Her technique for hard-boiled eggs is to put all the eggs in already-boiling water, then turn the heat down to a simmer and leave them for 10 minutes. She rinses the boiled eggs in cold water to cool them quickly and make them easier to peel.

Then she peels the eggs and cuts them in half, and mixes the yolks up with salt, pepper, mayonnaise, and mustard until she has a paste. Pretty basic, yeah?

But then she breaks with tradition and adds chopped pickles to the yolk and some pickle juice for extra flavor. Then she adds white vinegar, hot sauce, and sugar.

“For texture and tang, I like to add chopped pickles (or pickle relish), a little vinegar, and a little pickle juice. Yum!” she wrote on her blog.

I always associated deviled eggs with smoothness, not texture, but Ree likes to mix things up and add pickles for crunch. (She does the same thing with her potato salad, too.) And one of the best things about deviled eggs (besides the fact that you can make 100 of them for probably less than $10) is that they’re infinitely customizable. You can add anything to a deviled egg to suit your tastes — even pickles.

What do you think of the Pioneer Woman’s deviled egg recipe?