This Is How Far Ahead Of Time You Can Make Deviled Eggs, According To Ina Garten

Considering they're really only made up of one ingredient, deviled eggs are deceptively convenient to prepare. Hard boiling the eggs might be easy, but between preparing the filling and all the scooping and piping, it can get pretty tedious. As the queen of dinner party entertaining, Ina Garten of course put her famous deviled eggs recipe in a bestselling cookbook called "How Easy Is That?" (via Food Network). While a home chef might not consider deviled eggs dressed with smoked salmon and caviar as "simple deviled eggs," Ina certainly does.

According to a post from her on Twitter, this deviled egg recipe is so good that not only can it be served at an Oscar party, it can win an Oscar Award, too. Fortunately, the hostess extraordinaire took to her personal website to reveal exactly how she's able to make such big batches of deviled eggs. As she explained on the Ask Ina section of her site, if you're in a time crunch but need an appetizer to bring to a party, deviled eggs can be made in advance and still hold up well before you need them.

Proper storage is key if you make deviled eggs in advance

To ensure your deviled eggs remain as fresh as possible by the time you're ready to eat them, Ina Garten doesn't recommend making them too far in advance. "Make them a day in advance, cover them tightly with plastic wrap, then serve them at room temperature," she instructed on her website. Any longer than that, and the texture of the egg and the filling is subject to change, Kitchn warns. 

Not only that, it could develop a "funk" too. While hard-boiled eggs last up to a week in the fridge, it's a different case when they're already peeled and cut. "To avoid that weird crust from forming on top," Garten's tip to cover the deviled eggs tightly with plastic wrap is crucial. As long as you follow Garten's advice carefully and make sure to use "good mayonnaise" and "good smoked salmon," your deviled eggs should taste just as Oscar Award-winning as hers, even if you make them a day in advance.