Egg salad
Classic egg salad made lighter with Greek yogurt and just 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, with celery, chives and Dijon. 14 g of protein a serving, and eggs that peel cleanly.
- 205
- kcal
- 14g
- protein
- 15g
- fat
- 2g
- carbs
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Serves
- 4
Photograph by congerdesign on Pixabay
Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- 1/4 cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 rib celery, finely diced
- 2 tbsp chopped chives or green onion
- Salt, black pepper and a pinch of paprika
Method
-
1
Cook the eggs
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a saucepan with a steamer basket, or a few inches of water without one. Lower the cold eggs in, cover, and cook 12 minutes at a steady simmer.
-
2
Chill them
Move the eggs straight into a bowl of ice water and leave 10 minutes. Peel them under a thin stream of cold water, starting at the wide end.
-
3
Make the dressing
Mix the yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt and some pepper in a bowl.
-
4
Chop and mix
Chop the eggs roughly, or mash them with a fork or pastry cutter for a finer texture. Fold them into the dressing with the celery and chives.
-
5
Season and serve
Taste and add salt. Dust with paprika and serve on toast, in lettuce cups or in a sandwich.
Hard-boiled eggs that peel easily
Very fresh eggs are hard to peel, because the white sticks to the membrane under the shell. Two things help. The first is putting cold eggs into water that is already boiling, or into a steamer, rather than starting them in cold water: the sudden heat makes the white pull away from the membrane. Steaming works best of all. The second is the ice bath. It stops the cooking and makes the eggs contract slightly inside their shells. Crack them all over and start peeling from the wide end, where there is an air pocket.
Twelve minutes gives firm yolks that are still bright yellow. A green-gray ring around the yolk means the eggs were cooked too long or not cooled quickly enough. It is harmless, but it tastes slightly of sulfur.
Lighter, not low-fat
A classic egg salad uses about 1/2 cup of mayonnaise for 8 eggs. Replacing most of it with Greek yogurt saves about 120 kcal a serving. We keep 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, because egg salad made only with yogurt tastes sharper and thinner.
Variations
- No mayonnaise: if you do not mind it tangier, use 1/3 cup of Greek yogurt or a mashed ripe avocado in place of the yogurt and mayonnaise. The avocado version should be eaten the same day.
- Deviled egg salad: add 1 tsp more mustard, a little pickle relish and more paprika.
- With curry: add 1 tsp curry powder and some chopped cilantro.
- Crunchier: add diced radish, cucumber or more celery.
- With shrimp: the same dressing, with dill and Old Bay, makes our shrimp salad.
Keeping it
Egg salad keeps 3 to 4 days in a sealed container in the fridge. Do not leave it out for more than 2 hours. Hard-boiled eggs in the shell keep a week, so you can cook them ahead and make the salad when you need it.
What it is worth nutritionally
A serving of two eggs has about 205 kcal, with 14 g of protein, 15 g of fat and 2 g of carbohydrate. Bread is not included: two slices of whole wheat bread for a sandwich add about 160 kcal, and two slices of our keto bread keep it low-carb. Eggs are one of the best sources of choline, which most Americans do not get enough of, and they also supply vitamin B12, vitamin D and selenium. An egg yolk has about 185 mg of cholesterol. For most people, the cholesterol in food has a much smaller effect on blood cholesterol than saturated fat does, and US dietary guidelines no longer set a specific daily limit. For another way to eat eggs ahead of time, see our egg muffins. The salad is vegetarian and gluten-free.
