Martha Stewart’s Favorite Egg Salad Has 1 Surprising Ingredient

Martha Stewart has shared numerous lunch recipes with her fans over the years. The lifestyle mogul actually has two recipes for Egg Salad. One is a classic take on the springtime dish. The other has a surprising ingredient, and that makes it Stewart’s favorite.

Martha Stewart reveals how to make perfect hard-boiled eggs

Before you can master Stewart’s Egg Salad recipes, you have to know how to make hard-boiled eggs. With Stewart’s simple tips, you can get a perfect hard-boiled egg every time.

According to Stewart, you should start with 12 large eggs at room temperature. Place those eggs into a large saucepan and cover them with cool water by one inch.

Over medium heat, slowly bring the water to a boil. When the water starts boiling, cover the pan and remove it from the heat. Let it sit for 12 minutes. Finally, transfer the eggs to a colander and place it under cool running water. This will stop the cooking, so the eggs can be peeled and served immediately.

The Classic Recipe

To make Stewart’s Classic Egg Salad, you’ll need a small list of ingredients. Begin with eight hard-boiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped.

You’ll also need a half-cup of mayonnaise, two tablespoons of chopped celery, two teaspoons of Dijon mustard, a few dashes of hot-pepper sauce, salt and pepper, lettuce or watercress, and bread or toast.

Mix the chopped eggs with the mayo, celery, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and stir gently to combine. Serve the Egg Salad on bread or toast with greens, like lettuce or watercress.

For added mix-ins, Stewart suggests sliced black olives, chopped fresh chives, walnut pieces, chopped dill pickles, capers, or chopped fresh parsley.

What is the surprise ingredient in Martha Stewart’s Favorite Egg Salad recipe?

Stewart’s classic take on Egg Salad is yummy on it’s own. But for the Living blogger, she likes to make some upgrades. For Stewart’s Favorite Egg Salad recipe, she features a surprising ingredient for some added flavor and health benefits — avocado.

The legendary hostess also has a few other surprising details in this recipe. She uses mostly hard-boiled egg whites and just two yolks. She also calls for light mayo. The star of the show, however, is the use of an entire avocado in the salad.

The Favorite Egg Salad Recipe

For Stewart’s Favorite Egg Salad Recipe, the list of ingredients begins with 10 hard-boiled egg whites and two hard-boiled egg yolks. You’ll also need two to three tablespoons of light mayo, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

For the avocado, you want one-half mashed, and the other half roughly chopped. The final ingredients are coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to season, thich, toasted sandwich bread, and optional toppings like lettuce, arugula, or sliced tomatoes.

Tips for making Martha Stewart’s Favorite Egg Salad

Stewart suggests using a pastry blender to mash together the egg whites and yolks in a large bowl. Then, carefully fold in the avocado before stirring in the mayo, mustard, and lemon juice. Finally, season the mixture with salt and pepper.

When making Stewart’s Favorite Egg Salad, don’t expect a classic tasting recipe. With most of the yolks removed, this salad is a much different experience.

For a little bit of texture, try adding some celery for crunch. Or, a type of allium, like minced shallot or scallions. Another option is to stir in fresh herbs, like parsley or dill.

Back-to-back episodes of Martha Knows Best air Friday nights on HGTV. Full episodes are also available on HGTV.com.