11 Tips You Need To Make A Stellar Egg Salad Sandwich

Egg salad sandwiches offer a comforting blend of creamy, savory flavors with a satisfying textural contrast between the chunks of eggs and the mayo base. They also make for a quick meal. But let's be honest: Some recipes for this sandwich staple can come out a little bland, and if you're really unlucky in your ingredient choices, the dreaded sogginess can appear, leaving you with oversaturated bread.

Thankfully, egg salad sandwiches are also incredibly customizable, the perfect blank canvas to decorate to your taste buds' content. There are several ways to make a sandwich that's downright stellar, not just "okay," ranging from creative egg salad upgrades and careful, texture-improving ratios, to the perfect pick for your bread. 

To help us think outside of the shell when making an "eggcellent" egg salad sandwich, Chowhound spoke to five culinary professionals who have perfected their own recipes for this classic dish. By incorporating some of these tips when your next egg salad craving hits, you'll have a sandwich that elicits wows and has people begging you for your secret ingredient or techniques.

Egg salad is the perfect food to exercise your creativity on, and remarkable things can happen if you zhuzh it up with unexpected flavors. This can be achieved with something as simple as adding unexpected ingredients. Debi Morgan, founder and recipe developer at Quiche My Grits, told Chowhound she goes straight to the pickle jar for her secret ingredient in egg salad sandwiches: chopped small gherkins. She prefers these over pickle relish, which tends to be watered-down and not as flavorful as whole dill gherkin pickles.

James Callery, head chef at Cross Keys Newbury, likes pickles as well — chopped cornichons, specifically — but he goes a step further. He also adds a sprinkle of the Middle Eastern spice blend, za'atar, saying, "the herbaceous kick and sesame seed crunch will have people asking, 'Why is this sandwich so intriguing?'"

Spices are indeed a great way to add an international flair to egg salad sandwiches. Ranveer Brar, owner at Kashkan Restaurants, opts for roasted cumin powder in egg salad, along with a small amount of very finely chopped green apples for a delightful interplay of sweet and tangy. But there's another key ingredient that gives the dish the utmost distinctiveness: mustard seed oil. "The creamy flavor of the egg is complemented by a barely noticeable pungency which adds a bit of earthiness to the sandwich," he said.

Second to bland flavor, what keeps an egg salad sandwich from being labeled "amazing" is wet, soggy bread. Sogginess can happen for several reasons, one is an egg salad that's a tad too wet and has been in contact with the bread for too long. No matter the texture of the egg salad you've ended up with, there's a quick layering technique to stave off that dreaded sogginess: Sandwich your egg salad between two pieces of lettuce. The greens will provide a barrier that keeps the wetter components off the bread.

It helps, however, to start with dryer ingredients in the first place. Chef James Callery suggests patting the peeled eggs dry before mashing and chopping them. And if you're working with other wet ingredients, like pickles, he advises draining them thoroughly. "We want 'creamy,' not 'soggy bottom.' Nobody likes a soggy bottom," he said.

Although the best and worst bread for egg salad sandwiches is largely a matter of opinion, that doesn't mean all bread holds up equally well on the job. It's important to know exactly what kind of flavor and texture (and yes, nutrients) you're looking for in your sandwich and choose your bread accordingly.

Typically, you'll want bread that's easy to bite into whether it's toasted or not. For a classic choice, set your sights on a sandwich loaf that's soft enough to have a nice give while still sturdy enough to not absorb too much of the filling (if you're not layering with lettuce). Plain white sandwich bread is a standard option, but 100% whole wheat works just as nicely and gives you more fiber, if that's something you're looking for. But there are also perks to using sourdough, baguettes, ciabatta rolls, or fluffy, pillowy Japanese milk bread. Each provides its own unique texture and flavor, so choose based on what you're in the mood for.

Even a nice, thick, chewy bagel can present a wonderful textural complement to egg salad, though its toughness might require more of a TMJ workout than you're ready for. Bagels can also get messy, with the force of your bite pushing out the filling from the back of the sandwich. If these are deal-breakers, try an open-faced bagel egg salad sandwich instead.

Mayo is the classic base for egg salad — a wonderful one indeed — but modifications to this staple can provide a wow-worthy tweak to your sandwich's flavor or texture. Try using half-mayo and half-sour cream for additional tanginess, or even try your own homemade mayo. Alternatively, Kewpie mayo is a Japanese mayonnaise made of egg yolks and apple cider or rice vinegar. Integral to Japan's famous 7-Eleven egg salad sandwich, Kewpie mayo provides more of an umami flavor and rich creaminess to the dish than its Western counterpart.

The pros have some other tricks when it comes to achieving memorable egg salad. Robert Smith, a private chef with Culinary Collective ATL, told us he likes to swap out half the mayo in egg salad sandwiches with mashed avocado for an extra creamy consistency and a buttery flavor. To the same end, Chef Ranveer Brar explained that he mixes a little mayonnaise with creamy Greek yogurt, which doesn't overshadow the eggs' flavor and provides both smooth and chunky elements in his egg salad.

Egg salad sandwiches may be savory, but that doesn't mean there's no place in them for a tinge of sweetness. A little sugar or other sweetener in a savory dish doesn't change the star flavors, rather, it illuminates subtler tastes that might be overlooked.

A teaspoon of granulated sugar can make a world of difference in egg salad, but you aren't limited to sugar alone. Maple syrup makes a warm, caramel-tinged addition to egg salad — try a tablespoon for an egg salad recipe calling for four to six eggs. 

If you're seeking more of a sweet, tangy addition with a bit of crunch, a couple of tablespoons of something like Heinz Sweet Relish would more than fit the bill. The relish is especially useful if you've ended up with a rather dry egg salad, as it brings in a bit of moisture.

Sugar isn't the only flavor bomb out there. There's one particular egg salad sandwich-worthy seasoning that spent many underserved decades as the subject of a pervasive myth about Chinese food's negative health effects: monosodium glutamate or MSG.

MSG is a flavor enhancer often added to canned soups and vegetables, and it occurs naturally in many foods like anchovies, Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, and walnuts, among many others. MSG is now generally recognized as safe by several health authorities, including the FDA. This is fantastic because MSG's savory, meaty umami flavor can make the creamy notes of an egg salad sandwich pop like nothing else. That's partly a factor in why Kewpie mayo has such a fan club — it contains MSG.

Just a sprinkle is all you'd need for egg salad — roughly ⅛ of a teaspoon. Considering that you can get a 1.75-pound container of Badia MSG on Amazon for roughly $10 at the time of this writing, that's a good amount of flavor for your buck.

There are other ingredients besides straight MSG that can up the umami flavors in your egg salad sandwich. Sun-dried or oven-dried tomatoes offer a sweet, subtly rich, and slightly tangy taste to the mix. Plus, the delightful chewy texture complements the creaminess of the egg salad and the softness of the bread (if you haven't opted for a bagel, that is!).

Try ½ cup of finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes that have been packed in olive oil. You can either drain them first, or you might experiment with including a little of that infused oil in your egg salad recipe for extra flavor and fat. This is also a great chance to bring a Mediterranean flair to your recipe, tossing in some olives, capers, or feta cheese to seal the deal. The symphony of umami notes will make this a major treat.

The standard egg salad sandwich may not be spicy, but that doesn't mean you have to make yours mild. If you have a need for heat, there are a couple of quick and easy ways to achieve it. Chef Robert Smith told us that he employs a few drops of hot sauce or Sriracha in his egg salad, explaining that "[It] can elevate the dish and add a zesty kick without overwhelming it."

If your egg salad needs a little extra heat beyond that, jalapeños are a great ingredient to add. Either diced jarred or diced fresh will do the trick. For hotter results, make sure to include some seeds and the flesh surrounding them. Leave those parts out, or use less of them, for a subtler tinge of heat. Finally, don't be afraid to use multiple spice sources to kick your egg salad sandwich up a notch. The combined efforts of Sriracha and jalapeños lend a bold, flavorful zest and depth of flavor to the dish.

Dried herbs may have a stronger flavor than fresh, but fresh herbs contain more of the aromatic oils that give them their unique, complex aroma and taste. The cooking process breaks down and destroys those oils, so in a dish like egg salad, which isn't heated (aside from the boiled eggs), chopping and using your own fresh herbs is the perfect way to add brightness and complexity.

Dill is a popular choice for egg salad sandwiches. Recipe developer Debi Morgan said she prefers fresh dill weed for its outstanding pop of flavor. Food blogger Corrie Duffy of Corrie Cooks likes fresh dill in egg salad, too, but pairs it with bacon for a beguiling combination of smoky and herby.

Another herb that can elevate egg salad is tarragon, an herb with a pungent, anise- or fennel-like flavor and hints of mint. It tends to be bolder than dill, so use it more sparingly than you would other herbs in an egg salad sandwich — around ¼ cup of chopped leaves, packed tightly. Don't be afraid to experiment with other fresh herbs as well, such as parsley, chives, basil, or perhaps even a little mint. You never know what new combination will become your standard go-to.

If you've never used pickle juice in your recipes before, you're missing out. Not only does pickle brine make soups tastier and brighten the flavor of pasta salad, but it also gives egg salad sandwiches a major upgrade. Chef James Callery told Chowhound that he uses just a splash of the juice and a small amount of Dijon mustard when he makes egg salad to pique both taste buds and curiosity. "It adds that tangy 'zing' that'll have people wondering what magic is at work," he said.

Part of that "magic" involves pickle juice's high concentration of salt, which can enhance umami. Eggs themselves contain umami flavors, so even a basic egg salad recipe can benefit from a splash of pickle juice. If you've got extra umami-rich components in your egg salad, such as Kewpie mayo or sun-dried tomatoes, you're looking at even more of a flavor boost.

For many of us, part of the egg salad sandwich's appeal is the satisfying blend of creamy and chunky. If you're not careful, though, you might miss the mark and end up with results that are too mushy or dry. To avoid this, it's important to find the right ratio of mayo and other wet ingredients, but how you prep your eggs after boiling is also key in keeping the salad's texture "eggceptional."

Some pro-foodies control the consistency with how they chop their eggs. Food blogger Corrie Duffy advised us to blend finely chopped eggs with eggs that have been roughly chopped, along with using a blend of Greek yogurt and mayo. Chef James Callery takes a "controlled chaos approach," mashing some of the eggs and roughly chopping others.

For recipe developer Debi Morgan, it's all about the magic number. She told Chowhound that eight chopped boiled eggs are the secret to her egg salad's perfect sandwich-ready consistency: " ... no more, and no less," she said. Morgan has found that this number mitigates any issues with wateriness and ensures the egg salad is substantial enough to stand up to various chunky additions like onions, pickles, and celery.