Protein-Packed Cottage Cheese Egg Salad Recipe

Egg salad is an easy sandwich filling to make with just a few basic staples, but it can easily be spruced up with customizations. Mashed recipe developer Kate Shungu brings us this protein-packed cottage cheese egg salad recipe that doubles down on nutrition with some tasty swaps and add-ins. Shungu omits the mayo in favor of cottage cheese, which infuses the salad with creaminess and tangy notes without compromising what you love about the classic. "If you're worried about the texture of the cottage cheese, it mimics the texture of the hard-boiled eggs, so it's hard to notice," she reassures, adding, "My husband thought it was regular egg salad!" Not only does the cottage cheese mimic that classic mayo creaminess, but it also bulks up the protein content of the egg salad — and, paired with the eggs themselves and ham, it makes this dish absolutely protein-packed. 

Since this egg salad keeps for four to five days in the fridge, Shungu comments, "I love prepping this on the weekend and enjoying it all week." Scoop it with crackers or spread it on bread to make a sandwich. Or, better yet, take a cue from Shungu and improve your morning routine: "My favorite way to enjoy it is on a piece of sourdough toast — the chewy toast paired with the soft and crunchy texture of the egg salad is fantastic."

For this recipe, you'll need eggs, cottage cheese, pickle relish, yellow mustard, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Next, dice a ham steak into ¼-inch pieces, or substitute it with chopped deli ham or two more eggs if you prefer to skip the meat. Finish by finely dicing a stalk of celery and green bell pepper for crunch.

Add 1 inch of water to a large saucepan. Place a steamer basket on top.

Bring the water to a boil over high heat, and then carefully place eggs in the basket.

Turn heat down to medium low, cover, and cook the eggs for 13 minutes.

While the eggs are cooking, prepare a bowl of ice water.

After 13 minutes, remove the eggs from the steamer basket and immediately plunge them into the ice water. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Remove the eggs from the ice water and peel the shells off.

Chop the eggs into ¾-inch pieces.

In a large bowl, stir together the cottage cheese, pickle relish, yellow mustard, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

Add the chopped eggs, ham, celery, and green pepper. Stir to combine.

Serve the egg salad by itself, on toast, or in a sandwich.

Mastering hard-boiled eggs can seem like an art form only some are privy to. Shungu has spent a lot of time fine-tuning the method and maintains, "This one turns out perfectly every time." She skips the full boil and steams them in a basket instead. "The steam causes the proteins in the egg whites to shrink, which helps them separate from the shell easily," Shungu explains. Part of the frustration of making egg salad is figuring out the easiest way to peel hard-boiled eggs.

Shungu says, "It also takes less time, because you don't have to wait for a full pot of water and eggs to boil." You only need to bring a small volume of water to a boil before placing your eggs in the steamer basket. Additionally, you won't have to worry about your eggs bursting in the boiling water and creating a stringy mess, so if you've only ever hard-boiled eggs when making egg salad, it's worthwhile to give this steaming method a spin.

Apart from steaming the eggs, Shungu opts for an ice bath to obtain perfect hard-boiled eggs, which is pretty standard in most hard-boiling cooking methods. Prep the ice water bath while the eggs are cooking to ensure it's nice and frosty by the time you dunk the eggs. Once the steaming time is up, immediately transfer the eggs to ice water, aka "the cold plunge method," as Shungu calls it. And we mean immediately — steamer basket to ice bath, with no in-between.

So, is this ice bath step actually necessary? Yes! This step has two benefits: "This both cools down the eggs so they don't overcook, and makes it easier to peel," Shungu notes. Considering you're adding the eggs to a cottage cheese mixture, reducing their temperature keeps the salad tasting fresh rather than lukewarm. 

The quick change in temperature also helps the peeling process. Shungu explains, "The cold water causes the egg whites to contract and separate more easily from the shell." Even better, you don't have to risk burning your fingertips as you try to peel off the shells.