5 Different Ways To Make Egg Salad

Simply put, egg salad is perfect. Not only is it a tasty crowd pleaser, but it's also incredibly easy to make. It's a dish made of essentially two ingredients: hard-boiled eggs and mayonnaise. If you can boil water, you can make a hard-boiled egg, and if you can stir ingredients, you can certainly mix that hard-boiled egg with mayo. Just like that, you've made yourself a fresh bowl of egg salad. 

Egg salad has plenty of other positive attributes. It's jam-packed with protein, and since eggs are so inexpensive, it's usually cheaper to make than other sandwich spreads like chicken salad.

Unfortunately, the simplicity of egg salad can sometimes come across as "boring." While we would argue that perfect could never be boring, the blank canvas that is egg salad allows plenty of room for creativity — and we rounded up a few recipes that do exactly that. Whether it's adding some avocado, or dare we say, cutting out the mayo, here are five different ways to make egg salad.

Egg salad with avocado

If you're looking to upgrade your egg salad or avocado toast game, why not combine the two? This egg salad with avocado recipe perfectly meshes the creaminess of egg salad with the buttery texture of avocado for an unbeatable combination. Add some lime juice and chili flakes, and you'll have a dish that'll ruin all other egg salads for you from now on.

The only downside to this recipe is that, because of the avocado, the dish won't stay fresh for long. We doubt there will be leftovers, anyway.

Easy egg salad

Who says you need to whip up a whole batch of egg salad every time you're making it? The dish is so simple to put together, it can easily be made to order, so to speak, for a single serving. 

This easy egg salad recipe calls for just two hard-boiled eggs and can be completed start to finish in a mere five minutes. If you want to kick it up a notch, try adding Dijon mustard, paprika, chopped dill, fresh herbs, or green onions. We think you'll be making this so many times that you'll have plenty of opportunities to experiment.

Egg salad without mayo

The one downside to egg salad, depending on who you ask, is that its considerable amount of mayonnaise can make it a bit heavy. If you're looking for a lighter version, or simply want to cut out some of the calories, this recipe for egg salad without mayo has all of the flavor you're used to.

The recipe replaces mayo with a vinaigrette that's made with vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Once that's ready, simply add to it the mashed hard-boiled eggs, and you're set to dig in. As an added bonus, you can save the vinaigrette to use as a dressing for salads, sandwiches, and other dishes.

Egg salad

If you believe perfection should not be tampered with, then this egg salad recipe is for you. It's about as traditional and as easy to make as they come. If you're able to boil water, you're pretty much set. Once you have your hard-boiled eggs peeled, simply mash them up and stir in some mustard, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. Viola! You're all done.

If you want to add a little extra flavor, the options are aplenty. "We love sriracha in this recipe," says recipe developer Laura Sampson of Little House Big Alaska. "You can also add bacon bits, pickle relish, dill pickle relish, more salt, Dijon mustard, and so much more to the recipe!" Once complete, serve it in a sandwich, wrap it up in a tortilla, or use it as a dip with crackers or pita chips.

Healthy egg salad

As delicious as egg salad is, its mayonnaise base means it's not necessarily the healthiest. However, by replacing the mayo with non-fat Greek yogurt, this healthy egg salad recipe nixes the saturated fat and increases the protein. If that wasn't enough, adding avocado and walnuts gives this egg salad some healthy fats.

If you think healthy means lack of flavor, think again. Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and chives amp of the tastiness of this dish, making it as flavorful as any egg salad you've savored before. Put it in a sandwich, over a bed of greens, or even on crackers as a spread.