Classic Deviled Eggs
A perfect classic deviled eggs recipe – light on the mayo to let the eggs and other simple flavors really shine!
Am I the only one that associates deviled eggs with Easter? Clearly you can enjoy the little gems all year round but I find I only feel good about making them in the spring. Whatever. Issues.
Thanks to the preparatory post on perfect hard-boiled eggs, we have all the tools we need to make deviled eggs. Cause, you know, they are such an intense culinary project and all.
This recipe is a slight adaptation on the deviled eggs my mom used to make growing up and they are simple, classic and delicious.
Here’s the beauty of deviled eggs: they are wildly adaptable. Sometimes I feel like a bit more yellow mustard. Other times, I can’t be stopped from throwing in a bit of blue cheese and sprinkling with bacon.
You really can’t mess them up unless you decide to add pickles. To which I say, pickles have no place in deviled eggs (sorry if this offends your soul).
I’m excited to eat my fill of deviled eggs over the next few weeks and then not see them again until next spring. That’s kind of how deviled eggs and I operate.
Even though I’m a seasonal deviled egg eater, I feel very fulfilled knowing I have a tried-and-true recipe to pull out when it becomes Time For The Deviled Egg to Appear.
Classic Deviled Eggs
Ingredients
- 7 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise, light or regular
- 1 teaspoon yellow prepared mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
- Dash of Worcestershire sauce
- Dash of hot sauce, like Tapatio brand
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Paprika for sprinkling
Instructions
- Place the eggs in the bottom of a saucepan and cover with cold water by at least an inch. Bring the water to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Immediately take the saucepan off the heat, cover and let the eggs sit for 15-16 minutes. While the eggs cook, fill a large bowl with ice water.
- Carefully drain most of the hot water out of the pot (keeping the eggs from rolling out) and slosh the pan side to side to crack the shells of the eggs. Scoop the eggs out with a slotted spoon and place in the ice water bath for 3-4 minutes. Peel the eggs under a stream of warm running water.
- Slice each peeled egg in half lengthwise. Scoop out all of the yolks into a small bowl. Discard the two ugliest egg whites (or let your kids eat them with a sprinkle of salt like mine love to do). Mash the egg yolks into small pieces. Stir in the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir or whisk vigorously until the filling is thick and creamy.
- Fill a quart-size ziploc bag with the filling (pressing it into one of the corners) and snip the corner off the bag. Squeeze the filling into the 12 remaining egg whites. Dust with a sprinkle of paprika and chill until ready to serve.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from the deviled eggs of my youth (I spied the idea for cracking the eggs together in the pot in Cook’s Country)
This was a miss for me! The red wine vinegar was overpowering. I ended up doubling the yolks and adding a little sour cream and mayo to cut the vinegar flavor. Next time I’d just do a splash of the vinegar and add more as needed; I like the flavor profile of the ingredients here.
I don’t cook. I’ve tried a few things but it’s just not in my DNA. I read your deviled eggs recipe but yours, as some others, state to add such and such ingredient “to taste”. For us dummies would you explain what the median amount of each ingredient is, then next time maybe I’ll add “to taste”. Happy happy, Thanks
7 eggs? Who’s gonna make 7? why wouldn’t a recipe call for the standard 12??
Because when you halve them, you have 14. Then, after you give the “two ugliest egg whites” to the kids, you are left with 12.
Hi Mel,
Made these as written (mostly, lol), including the red wine vinegar and they were great! I used honey dill mustard and although I usually do add a dash of hot sauce, I used horseradish cream this time for a little heat.
Would sriracha sauce work? That’s the only hot sauce I have on hand.
Yep!
Don’t follow this. The red wine vinegar made them very sour.
I will never use the recipe again.i did not use the hot sauce either
Please leave comments that are more courteous, even if you want to say that you really did not care for the recipe. I can’t imagine that you were not taught to express yourself in a civil manner.
Amen Mel! If for some reason a person doesn’t like a recipe then use some class when expressing your thoughts! Just like the old adage says, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!”. I’m trying your recipe right now for a Super Bowl snack. So far so good!! Thank you!!
To hard boil my eggs, I place them in a mini muffin pan, pop in the oven at 325 for 22 minutes and then let them cool on the counter. Easy to do and thank easy to peel.
Why do you need the vinegar? I don’t have it on hand, and I’m wondering if I can leave it out.
It adds a depth of flavor that I like but you can try leaving it out.
I love deviled eggs, but not the prep. My daughter and I have come to make what we call “lazy man’s deviled eggs,” which we can make any time. Take a boiled egg, cut in half and spread each half with mayo. If you wish add a small squirt of mustard. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Pop in your mouth and you won’t even notice that it the yolk and other ingredients weren’t all mixed up and refilled before you ate it!
I just asked my daughter “Why do you think Mel uses 7 eggs? That is such a weird number.” And then I read it. “Why did I doubt her?” Please forgive me.
Haha. Beth, I just love you.
I made these for our Easter dinner today. These were a hit! I just need to practice making them to get that presentation factor down. But they had the perfect taste. Thank you for your recipe.
I used this recipe today. I doubled it and ended up changing just a couple minor things: I let the eggs boil for 4 minutes before removing from the heat (just to err on the side of them setting, as I had never used this kind of method before); I used a mild Dijon mustard instead of yellow mustard; and I used more than a couple dashes of hot sauce. It turned out kind of salty – so I would advise go easy on the salt since the Worcestershire and hot sauce kind of play up the salt. I also wish I had just used yellow mustard, mostly for color (I had used the Dijon on a whim because I don’t usually like yellow mustard and I thought this fancy mild-creamy-Dijon-with-white-wine would work well with the red wine vinegar, but I think it ended up muddling the balance more than I bargained for). Anyway, this turned out great and didn’t last long at the Easter gathering I brought it to. Thanks!
What is your favorite type of mayo Mel?
I’m really into homemade mayo lately but if I don’t use that, I always opt for Hellman’s Light mayo.
We’ve found Duke’s and live it!
Thanks for another good recipe. Simple but perfect.
I could eat deviled eggs every day. A littel technique trick I saw Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) use was the night before you hardcook the eggs flip the carton over. This will help the yolks be more centered.
great, simple recipe. I just made it for lunch after coming across your website. I used miracle whip (b/c I don’t have mayo lol), and a whole grain mustard. Delicious!
Just like my moms recipe but she always added dill pickle juice. We would take these to family dinners and they would be gone in a flash.
I’ve tried with vinegar (the family rebelled), no hot sauce or any other kind of sauce. And no Miracle Whip either!
These are always my go-to snack at parties – such a classic! Only made them a handful of times, but next time I do I’ll follow your recipe and replace the mayo with plain yogurt. Thanks for sharing and reminding me of a favorite, Mel!
Yummy. One thing my family will not let me get away with is no Eggs Benedict on Easter morning:).
very similiar to my recipe as well, however, I have never tried worcestershire either. I agree with no pickles,or relish, but… try jalapenos! YUM!
Love deviled eggs. So delicious. I do the entire yolk process in a bag so there is very little clean up. Yum! Definitely going to try it with Worcestershire. Not sure why I never thought of that before.
My husband loves deviled eggs like this, with no “weird stuff” as he puts it. I like to throw in a little diced onion or pickle relish, but he starts calling divorce lawyers when I do.
He’d love this recipe! And, fine, I’d never turn it down either. 🙂
We only eat deviled eggs at Easter as well! In fact, I won’t even eat them if someone else makes them at another time of year. I know that’s weird…lol, but for some reason they just don’t sound good any other time! But I’m also picky about my deviled eggs. I like mayo, yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar and a little sugar- very tangy and very slightly sweet! Basically the same flavors that I like in my potato salad!
This is almost the exact recipe I use, minus the vinegar. I think I’ll make these today!
Try making them with spicy brown mustard. Yum! 🙂
Easter is deviled egg time in the South for sure! But so is 4th of July, all birthdays, and Tuesdays and Saturdays. 🙂