A Chef's Secret for the Best Egg Salad

Are you an egg salad lover? This simple sandwich spread of eggs and mayonnaise that can be fancied up with onion, Dijon mustard, relish, steak sauce, or whatever secret ingredient you prefer is hard to get wrong. 

But Chef Carla Hall recently shared a tip on Instagram that will make egg salad a little better and a little creamier. The former "Top Chef" contestant and co-host of "The Chew" enjoys dropping secrets to making recipes just a bit better. For meatloaf, her secret is using oatmeal instead of bread crumbs. For Linzer cookies, she uses cranberry-ginger jam instead of the traditional raspberry because she likes how cranberry and ginger pair with cinnamon during the holidays. 

The Simple Secret for the Creamiest Egg Salad

Hall learned a pro tip for creamy egg salad from James Beard award-winning chef Nancy Silverton. It puts a quick extra step in the process, but that step can be used with any egg salad recipe. 

Here’s what Chef Hall shows her Instagram followers:

1. Separate the whites from the yolks in the hard-boiled eggs (similar to when making deviled eggs). 
2. Tear the egg whites into pieces. 
3. Crumble the yolks on top of the torn egg whites. 
4. Combine the mayonnaise with the other non-egg ingredients (she uses mustard, chopped onion, chopped chives, salt, and pepper).
5. Combine the mayonnaise mixture with the torn egg whites and crumbled yolks, and stir until creamy.

Why Separating the Whites from the Yolks Makes for Creamier Egg Salad

Think about how creamy the yolk mixture gets when you make deviled eggs. It becomes super creamy, right? When the yolks are mixed aggressively with the mayonnaise, they break down and it thickens the mayonnaise mixture. 

The same thing happens here. By separating the yolks, more of the yolks come in direct contact with the mayonnaise. The mayo breaks down the yolks while the egg whites stay intact, creating a creamier “salad dressing” for the whites.

Our Favorite Egg Salad Recipes to Try With This Method

You may already know exactly which egg salad recipe you’ll use to test out this creamy trick, but if you need some inspiration, we have plenty of it. Try one of these recipes our readers love:

• Avocado Egg Salad
• Southern Style Egg Salad
• Cucumbers and Egg Salad
• Cauliflower and Egg Salad
• Loaded Egg Salad