At the heart of a great egg sandwich is a creamy egg filling and essential to this are soft boiled, not hard boiled eggs! The creamy yolks practically makes its own mayonnaise sauce and the soft-set egg whites practically dissolve in your mouth.
Egg sandwich thoughts
You wouldn’t think that someone would have so many opinions about a simple egg sandwich, but as I sat down to write this recipe, it turns out I do! Here’s my egg sandwich thought-dump, roughly in care-factor order:
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No rubbery bits of whites – I don’t like little firm little bits of egg whites in what should be a creamy egg filling. So I use soft boiled eggs with soft just-set egg whites, rather than hard boiled eggs which is more common in standard egg sandwiches.
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Semi homemade mayo – Soft boiled eggs = creamy yolk = practically makes its own semi-homemade mayonnaise. It’s so good! Better flavour and more luxurious with less mayonnaise required.
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No celery. I know that might be an unpopular opinion but crunchy bits in a creamy egg filling, no matter how small or finely sliced, just don’t appeal to me. Goes in the same bucket as #1.
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Soft bread is best. Too much filling oozes out when you bite the sandwich if you use chew artisan bread like sourdough.
So, if all that sounds good to you, then let me introduce to the egg sandwich of your dreams!
Creamy egg sandwich filling
And here’s an up-close-and-personal look at the filling. The left photo is just soft boiled eggs mashed up. You can see that it’s already pretty creamy, even before adding the mayonnaise! Then the photo on the right is the finished filling after adding the mayonnaise and mustard.
What you need for my egg sandwich
As already emphasised a number of times, the key ingredient here is soft boiled rather than hard boiled eggs! With creamy yolks, you only need a mere dab of mayonnaise and smidge of mustard for a creamy, luxurious filling.
If you don’t have chives, substitute with finely minced green onion.
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Soft boiled eggs – The creamy yolk gives you a head start on the creamy sauce so we only need 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise for 6 eggs (4 sandwiches). So we’re sorting of making a semi-homemade mayonnaise here!
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Mayonnaise – Whole egg mayo is creamier and less tangy than normal mayo. My recommended is S&W (Australia), followed by Hellman’s and Kewpie (equal second).
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Dijon mustard – For flavour and a touch of tang.
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Chives – For freshness and nice green bits in our filling.
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Salt – Just 1/8 teaspoon! Trust me on this. Egg is weirdly salt adverse. The opposite of potatoes which can take loads of salt!
Best bread for egg sandwiches
As for the bread, you can really use anything you want though for traditional tea-type sandwiches (like pictured), soft white sandwich bread is the go. My only tip is to avoid crusty, chewy artisan bread (like sourdough). Filling ooze issues. Stick with soft bread!
How to make egg sandwiches
And the making part:
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Cook soft boiled eggs and peel (8 minutes in boiling water). For full directions see my boiled eggs recipe, but I’ve included abbreviated directions in the recipe card below.
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Mash the eggs using a fork to get it started, then a potato masher. The finer you mash, the creamier your filling! Once well mashed, you’ll see your filling is already semi-creamy.
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Filling – Stir in the mayo, mustard, chives, salt and pepper.
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Spread butter on the bread.
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Spread filling on bread, from edge to edge!
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Crusts – If you’re going for quaint English tea sandwiches, trim the crusts off then cut to your desired shape. The sandwiches pictured in post have been cut into 3 rectangles (4 sandwiches cut into a total of 12 finger sandwiches).
TIP: For extra neat edges, refrigerate the sandwiches for 1 hour before cutting. This will set the filling so you can cut more neatly. But be sure to serve at room temperature!
And there you have it! My egg sandwich. I know there are recipes out there with more bells and whistles, using fancier ingredients like creme fraiche, perhaps a smidge of curry powder, and other add-ins.
But to me, all that is necessary if you use soft boiled eggs. This is one of those recipes where the end result is so much more than the sum of its parts. I hope you give it a go! Let me know what you think if you do. And also, you know I always love hearing your thoughts on my thoughts on matters of food. Do you disagree with my position on soft boiled eggs? Do you think celery is mandatory? Fancier bread? Bring on the egg sandwich debate! 😂 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Egg sandwich
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 8 mins
Egg cooling time: 10 mins
Lunch, Sandwich
Universal, Western
Servings4 full sandwiches
Tap or hover to scale
Instructions
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Mash egg: Place the eggs in a bowl and crush with a fork, once mostly broken up mash them up really well with a potato masher. Smaller egg white bits = creamier filling.
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Filling: Add remaining filing ingredients and gently stir to combine. Taste and add more salt if desired, but add with caution because it’s bizarre how little salt eggs need!
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Make sandwich: Butter the bread. Divide filling between 4 pieces of bread, spread evenly edge to edge. Trim crusts (optional), then cut as you wish. (Note 4 tips)
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Serve: Always serve at room temperature, for best flavour!
Recipe Notes:
2. Mayonnaise – Whole egg mayo is creamier and less tangy than normal mayo. My recommended is S&W (Australia), followed by Hellman’s and Kewpie (equal second).
3. Bread – My preferred is Baker’s Delight standard white sandwich bread (cut regular thickness) but any sandwich bread with work. (Australian chain bakery brand). Though if you use very chewy artisan bread with thick crusts, you may experience filling ooze issues when eating. The filling is creamy!!
4.Cutting – For extra neat cuts, refrigerate for 1 hour before cutting (this firms the filling). Pictured in post – each sandwich cut into 3 rectangle fingers. Other options diagonal (2 or 4 per sandwich) or squares.
5. Storage – 2 days in the fridge, but please eat at room temperature! You can’t taste the filling as much when fridge cold.
Nutrition per sandwich assuming 1 tbsp table butter spread per sandwich.
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 376cal (19%)Carbohydrates: 27g (9%)Protein: 15g (30%)Fat: 23g (35%)Saturated Fat: 10g (63%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 278mg (93%)Sodium: 572mg (25%)Potassium: 181mg (5%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 4g (4%)Vitamin A: 718IU (14%)Vitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 113mg (11%)Iron: 3mg (17%)
Life of Dozer
No egg sandwiches for Dozer! 💨💨
