Dairy-free Egg Salad (gluten-free)

Dairy-free Egg Salad
gluten-free | grain-free | dairy-free | nut free
by Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | May 23, 2024
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This dairy-free egg salad is the perfect homestead recipe to make with all those farm fresh eggs! It’s creamy, bursting with flavor, and the perfect filling for a sandwich, topping for a leafy green salad, or side to serve with chips or crackers. It requires no baking, and when you learn the secret technique for boiling farm fresh eggs, this egg salad will be a quick go-to homestead recipe to use up your extra eggs. I love making this egg salad as a simple summer lunch that is easy to pack on adventures, as a side to a homestead grill-out, or just to enjoy as a delicious high-protein snack!

Modern Pioneer Recipe

Egg salad is a modern pioneer recipe. I have never heard of the early pioneers making an egg salad. I think they stuck to more traditional ways of cooking eggs, such as scrambling them, making them into an omelet, or just plain old frying them (all of which are very tasty).

What makes this egg salad a modern pioneer recipe is the mayo. The early pioneers would not have had mayo, and honestly, I don’t even know who thought of mixing mayo and boiled eggs to create an egg salad!? Either way, I love egg salad, even if it isn’t a traditional pioneer recipe. Plus, it’s an easy modern pioneer recipe since you are using eggs from your homestead flock, veggies and herbs from your garden, and you can even make your own homemade mayo!

Another thing that makes this egg salad a modern pioneer recipe is the fact that it is allergy-friendly! This egg salad uses super simple ingredients to help make it a wholesome and nutritious recipe. This simple egg salad recipe is….

• gluten-free
• grain-free
• dairy-free
• nut free
• soy free
• corn free
• sugar free

Not only is this egg salad allergy-friendly, but the main ingredient in this salad is a nutrition powerhouse: fresh eggs! In fact, eggs contain all life sustaining substances except for vitamin C. Now of course, you would have to eat a lot of eggs to get the all the benefits of those vitamins and minerals, but at least you can know that you are eating something that is good for you and are receiving a portion of your daily needs of many vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.

For more ways to add eggs into your diet, check out 50 Healthy Ways to Eat Eggs!

The Best Eggs for Egg Salad

How much nutrition you get from your eggs depends on what kind of eggs you are eating. Yes, there are different kinds of eggs! The commercial egg industry has labeled eggs with all kinds of deceptive and sometimes meaningless labels. Labels such as ‘free-range’, ‘organic’, ‘Non-GMO’, ‘humanly raised’, vegetarian fed’, and ‘cage free’ all sound really nice, but it’s the reality behind those labels that really takes on meaning.

Finding nutritious eggs that come from happy hens can be difficult, and sometimes more expensive, but the benefits are worthwhile. Eggs that come from homestead flock or hens that have free-ranged on pasture can be up to 400% healthier for you!

But, if you don’t raise your own homestead flock, it can be hard to weed through all those labels. It is nearly impossible to nail down one of those labels as the most truthful one, the one that really does pertain to pasture-raised, organic fed hens. The best option then, is to buy from someone local, someone who raises their own flock and is selling eggs.

If you absolutely have to buy from a grocery store though, look for the‘pasture-raised’ coupled with the label ‘organic’. Some of the most deceptive labels include ‘vegetarian fed’ and ‘cage free’.

How to Boil Fresh Eggs

Anyone who goes to boil and peel a fresh egg using traditional methods will quickly learn that boiled fresh eggs don’t peel easily! However, there are a number of tricks to help remedy that issue. The method that works for me is boiling the eggs, immediately transferring them over to a cold water bath, then dunking them back into warm water and peeling them. Even then, if I get a few eggs that don’t peel easily, this egg salad is just the recipe for those not-so-perfect eggs since they just get chopped up in the salad anyways!

The warm and cold bathes help loosen the membranes that lay between the eggshell and the egg white (albumen), which then makes the egg easier to peel. The length of time the eggs set in the warm or cool bathes is essential for getting an easy peel. Here’s a little step-by-step process that I do for boiling farm fresh eggs:

Boiling Farm Fresh Eggs

1. Cover the eggs with water in a saucepan.
2. Bring the water to a vigorous boil and boil the eggs for 2 minutes, covered.
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the eggs rest in the hot water for 18 minutes.
4. Move the eggs to a bowl full of cold water and ice cubes, let the eggs chill for 10-15 minutes, adding more ice cubes as needed to keep the water cold.
5. One at a time, place an egg back into the warm water (in the saucepan) and let it set for 40-50 seconds. Remove it from the warm water, crack it gently, and peel away the shell.
6. Repeat the warming and peeling process with the remaining eggs.

Don’t worry, I’ve included these instructions in the printable egg salad recipe below! This peeling process works great for when you need boiled eggs for any occasion, whether it be for deviled eggs, boiled egg sandwiches, or this egg salad recipe!

Also, make sure you check out this free resource that contains recipes for delicious and nutritious egg based recipes! Some of my favorite ways to have eggs are listed in this cookbook!

What to Serve with Egg Salad

Eggs are versatile and nutritious… certainly a staple food on the homestead. There have been countless times when I don’t know what to make for dinner so I just serve an egg meal! When you have a batch of this dairy-free egg salad made up, it makes meal-prep even simpler. Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy egg salad:

• make it into egg salad bagel sandwiches (I love this grain-free bagel recipe!)
• top a leafy green salad with nutritious, flavorful egg salad
• sandwich the egg salad between your favorite gluten-free or grain-free bread for a classic egg salad sandwich
• make appetizing appetizer bites by putting little scoops of egg salad on some grain-free baguette
• serve the egg salad as a dip with gluten-free crackers, plantain chips, or any other snackable crunchies
• wrap up some egg salad in these grain-free tortillas or your favorite gluten-free wrap for an easy, packable lunch
• throw a dollop of egg salad on some avocado toast for a delicious variation of this popular breakfast/lunch
• mix with some grain-free chickpea pasta for a high protein egg pasta salad

The options truly are endless for ways to serve this egg salad! I mostly use egg salad as a lunch option, when I don’t have any leftovers from the day before to eat up. Making up this egg salad is super easy and quick, so it makes a great last-minute option when I’m wondering what to have for lunch!

It also makes a great snack option when I’m looking for something that is delicious and high protein. Having a high protein, nutritious snack like this egg salad is a great way to stay nourished throughout the day.

Egg Salad Recipe Tips

Honestly, there aren’t too many tips I can offer for this super simple egg salad recipe! Aside from the easy-peel method of boiling farm fresh eggs, whipping up the rest of this recipe should take no longer than 5 minutes. Nonetheless, I would like to answer some substitution questions and maybe throw in a few tips and tricks I do when making this egg salad:

• Mayo Alternatives– instead of using Chosen Foods mayo, I have also made egg salad with dairy-free yogurt, although the taste does change slightly, it is still delicious and creamy!
• Low Sodium– you can leave out the salt if you are trying to limit your sodium intake (however, Himalayan pink sea salt is a healthy salt!)
• Spices– use smoked paprika instead of plain paprika if you want a little flavor variety in your egg salad
• Mustard Options– you can also substitute in a squirt of organic mustard instead of using mustard powder
• Other Flavors– other flavorings you can add to your egg salad can include: chopped celery, chopped onion, homemade relish, chopped chives

This simple heritage dairy-free egg salad is a super easy, no-bake recipe that provides a healthy and nutritious option for breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners. I love enjoying a healthy, grain-free egg salad sandwich or wrap!

Where to Find the Ingredients

• Simply Organic onion powder
• Simply Organic paprika
• Chosen Foods paleo mayo
• Simply Organic mustard powder
• Redmond real salt
• Supplies: small saucepan, glass mixing bowl

This simple, heritage dairy-free egg salad is bursting with flavor, packed with nutrition, and made with wholesome, allergy-friendly ingredients! It makes a great option for breakfast sandwiches, packable lunch wraps, pairing with snackable crackers, or serving as the main meal or side dish for a picnic or grill-out. The simplicity of this recipe makes it a great last-minute option to whip up quickly, and when you have the secret to boiling and peeling farm fresh eggs, the options are endless for easy boiled egg meals! Despite it being a modern pioneer recipe, I find myself making this easy lunch option all the time for busy homesteading days!

Make sure you don’t miss any other chuckwagon recipes by joining our weekly newsletter community and get our free ebook that features delicious pioneer-based egg recipes!