Deviled Eggs
To make deviled eggs, hard boil the eggs, cool them in an ice bath, peel and halve them, then mash the yolks with mayonnaise, yellow mustard, white vinegar, salt, and pepper until smooth. Spoon or pipe the filling back into the egg whites, dust with smoked paprika, and serve cold. The whole thing takes about 32 minutes and makes 24 deviled egg halves.
Deviled Eggs are one of those foods people pretend are old-fashioned right up until somebody sets down a tray and 24 halves disappear like evidence. The formula is simple — hard-cooked eggs, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika — but the difference between a great deviled egg and a sad one lives in the details: yolks without a green ring, whites that still look like eggs after peeling, and filling smooth enough to pipe instead of resembling cottage cheese.
Start the eggs in cold water, bring them to a full boil, then turn off the heat and let them sit covered for 12 minutes before moving them straight into an ice bath. Slightly older eggs generally peel more cooperatively than very fresh ones. Once peeled, mash the yolks finely before adding the mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar, then work the mixture until it is genuinely creamy. Taste before piping; adjusting the filling while it is still in the bowl is easy. Trying to repair 24 already-filled egg halves at a potluck is an entirely different management problem.
Dust with smoked paprika, chill, and make more than you think you need. History suggests restraint will not be part of the serving process.
Ingredients
- 12 large eggs
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise (full-fat, not the light stuff — the light stuff will let you down)
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, for garnish
- Optional: 1 teaspoon pickle relish or finely minced dill pickles
- Optional: fresh chives or parsley for garnish
Instructions
- 1Place the eggs in a single layer in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water by at least one inch.
- 2Bring the water to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat off, cover the pot, and let the eggs sit for exactly 12 minutes.
- 3While the eggs cook, prepare an ice bath: fill a large bowl with ice and cold water.
- 4After 12 minutes, transfer the eggs immediately to the ice bath. Let them cool for at least 15 minutes. This stops the cooking and prevents the gray ring around the yolk that makes everyone at the potluck quietly judge you.
- 5Peel the eggs under cool running water. If the shell is fighting you, it means the eggs were too fresh — grocery store eggs at least a week old peel much more cooperatively.
- 6Slice each egg in half lengthwise. Pop the yolks into a medium bowl. Arrange the white halves on a platter or deviled egg tray.
- 7Mash the yolks with a fork until they look like fine crumbles with no large chunks remaining.
- 8Add the mayonnaise, mustard, white vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir — then switch to a small whisk or the back of a spoon and really work it until the filling is smooth and creamy with no lumps. Taste it. Adjust salt if needed.
- 9If using pickle relish, fold it in now.
- 10Transfer the filling to a zip-top bag, snip the corner off, and pipe it into the egg white halves. Or use a small spoon if you are not in the mood to perform. Either works.
- 11Dust with smoked paprika. Garnish with chives or parsley if using.
- 12Refrigerate until serving. Serve cold.
Nutrition Information
Estimated per serving: 1 deviled egg halve (recipe makes 24).
Estimated from the ingredients and quantities in this recipe using standard food-composition values. Brand choices, trimming, cooking loss, optional ingredients, and actual portion size can change the numbers. How we calculate nutrition estimates.
Pro Tips
- Use eggs that are at least 7-10 days old. Fresh eggs are harder to peel and will strip the white down to nothing before you get the shell off — I learned this on a dozen eggs I got from a neighbor's chickens that morning, which was the wrong morning to learn it.
- The ice bath is not optional. It is the whole difference between a creamy bright yolk and a yolk with a green-gray ring that tastes faintly of regret.
- Taste the filling before it goes into the eggs and adjust your salt, acid, and mustard before piping. The filling is easy to fix when it's in the bowl. It is very hard to fix once it is already in 24 egg halves at a party.
Substitutions
Storage Instructions
Store deviled eggs covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. After that the filling starts to weep and the whites get rubbery. Do not freeze deviled eggs — they do not survive it and come back changed in a bad way.
Make Ahead
You can hard boil and peel the eggs up to 3 days ahead and store them unhalved in cold water in the refrigerator. You can make the filling up to 2 days ahead and store it separately in a zip-top bag in the fridge. Assemble and garnish no more than a few hours before serving for best appearance.
