Musing over my non-traditional Easter menu of roast salmon, I was missing an appetizer. I turned to a traditional favorite, my creamy deviled eggs recipe. Deviled eggs are equally welcome at a spring dinner or a summer barbecue. Most everyone loves them. And the fun part is you can give them your own style and flavor by how you garnish them.
Creamy Deviled Eggs
I’ve always made my deviled eggs with plenty of kick using Dijon mustard, horseradish, vinegar, and of course good mayonnaise. After that, you can use lots of extra goodies for garnish: chopped fresh dill or cilantro, regular or smoked paprika, tiny cooked bay shrimp, avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, crips chopped bacon, you name it. Make them your way.
How to Hard Boil Eggs
To make perfect hard boiled eggs, bring a wide pot of water to a boil. The size of the pan or pot depends on how many eggs your cooking. Use one just large enough to hold them in a single layer. Add just enough water to just cover the eggs when you submerge them. Add a little white vinegar and salt.
When the water boils, turn the heat down a bit and gently lower in the eggs with a spider or spoon. Cook eggs at a strong simmer for 15 minutes. Remove them to an ice bath and chill. When cool, tap on a hard surface to crack the shell all around. The shells will peel right off. No more eggs than look like a mess.
Make the Filling
Slice peeled, hard-boiled eggs in half and pop out the cooked yolks. Place the yolks and all ingredients in a food processor and puree until creamy. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, and a little more vinegar for zing or horseradish for heat. Pipe or spoon the filling into the halved egg whites and garnish to your hearts content.
If you don’t have a food processor, push the cooked egg yolks through a fine sieve with the back of a large spoon or flexible spatula. Then by hand, mix the yolks and other ingredients into a creamy, smooth consistency. That’s how I learned to make deviled eggs as a kid, before food processors. Refrigerate filling until needed or serve right away. Make the eggs and filling a day or two ahead and fill when ready.
How to Fill Eggs
When ready to serve, place the creamy filling into a piping bag (I keep the 18″ ones on hand) and pipe into egg halves. If you don’t want to use a piping bag, use a teaspoon to spoon into the egg halves. Garnish and serve.
Catering Trick
If you are serving these at a location other than your home, place the filling into a piping bag fitted with a round or star tip in place. Secure the top with a rubber band. Pack your egg halves in a sturdy container for transporting. When you arrive at your location, place the egg halves on a plate, snip the tip off your piping bag and fill the eggs. Garnish and enjoy.
Creamy Deviled Eggs
Ingredients
Deviled Eggs
- 12 large organic eggs I do a few extra for damage, sampling and plenty of filling, free of any cracks
- ½ cup reduced fat mayonnaise I use Veganaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
- 1 teaspoon vinegar – apple cider white balsamic, or white wine
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Customizable Garnishes
- Paprika regular or smoked
- Finely chopped chives
- Fresh chopped dill
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Lemon zest
- Cooked bay shrimp
- Crumbled bacon
- Sun-dried tomato strips
- Jalapeno slices
- Dice avocado
Instructions
- Using a large enough pot that your eggs will sit flat in one layer, fill pot with enough cold water to cover eggs once they are placed in the pot. Bring the pot to a boil. Turn the heat down to a strong simmer and carefully lower eggs into the water. Using a tool called a mesh skimmer or a slotted spoon makes it easy, but use what you have.
- When eggs are in pan, add vinegar and salt. Set cooking time for 15 minutes. While eggs are cooking, prepare an ice bath
- Fill a large bowl with ice and water. When eggs are done cooking, plunge cooked eggs into the ice bath. Chill until cold. Peel right away or refrigerate them for a day or two until ready to use.
- To peel, tap egg on side of sink or counter top, roll in your hands to loosen the shell and peel. The shell should come right off. Peeling them under cold running water is another good trick.
- Using a thin, sharp-bladed knife, cut eggs in half lengthwise. Pop out yolks and place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel knife. Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth and creamy. Taste and season for your tastes with extra salt, pepper, Dijon, etc.
- Place filling into a piping bag fitted with a large star or plain tip and pipe into egg halves for nice presentation, or just spoon into the egg halves with a teaspoon. Garnish and serve.
Love the tips and pics!
these are really delicious !! a great idea for easter !!
Your deviled eggs look wonderful. I love how you wrote about cooking the eggs, often this part can seem mysterious, and no one wants green eggs when you boil eggs.
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Thank you. This recipe sounds great and I love the fact you use organic eggs. I also like the tip on the best way to hard boil the eggs.
I add diced bacon and blue cheese to mine. They are always a HUGE hit. It’s fun to hear people try to figure out the “secret” ingredient!
Yum! I just used your special sauce (sample that you gave me when Phil and I had that FABULOUS dinner at your home) for grilled chicken the other night. Amazing!
Are you cooking up anything special for the royal wedding?
PM
Thanks for the recipe! The method of hard-boiling the eggs by letting them cook in hot water off the burner worked really well. I LOVE the addition of the white wine vinegar. It made all the difference to the flavour.
This is the best recipe! I like yellow mustard and no horseradish.