Egg salad is something that many people enjoy having for lunch and it’s definitely a favorite summer food for picnics as well.
If you really like egg salad, then you might want to start making it as often as you can. Some people have issues when making egg salad and they wind up making little mistakes, though.
One of the most common mistakes with egg salad involves having it turn out too watery or thin. This can be unsatisfying and most people would not enjoy eating egg salad when it turns out like this.
What can you do when your egg salad just isn’t as thick as it needs to be? There are actually a few options available to you that can help you to turn things around.
Keep reading to learn about several ways that you can thicken egg salad to have a better experience. If you make use of the advice below, then it should be much easier to get your egg salad to turn out right each time.
1 – Simply Let Your Egg Salad Refrigerate
Did you know that simply letting your egg salad refrigerate for a while can sometimes thicken it up quite a bit?
Many people don’t realize this and they wind up worrying that their egg salad isn’t thick enough unnecessarily. You might not understand exactly why this works so well, but it often does the trick if your egg salad is just a little thin.
Essentially, refrigerating your egg salad is going to give the mayonnaise a chance to firm up. It can firm up a lot more than you might realize and you should try this out to see it for yourself.
If your egg salad is very thin and watery, then this might not work well enough to solve all of your problems, but it can work well to thicken up egg salad that is just a little bit off.
After you have refrigerated your egg salad, it’s going to be advisable to stir it up a bit before you decide to serve it. Use a spoon and make sure that you stir it thoroughly so that everything will be mixed together well and you can have a good experience while eating it.
If all goes well, then your issues might be solved without really having to do much at all.
2 – Add More Boiled Eggs to the Mixture
Another option is to go ahead and add some more boiled eggs to the mixture. If you have more eggs left that you can make use of, then this is going to be a good fix for egg salad that is very thin or runny.
Simply boil up some more eggs and then take the time to chop them up like you normally would when making egg salad. Stir these new chopped boiled eggs into the mixture that you already have and then refrigerate it for a while.
After a bit of time has passed, you can check things out to see if your egg salad is now at the desired level of thickness. If it is not, then you might need to add some more so that you can get things where you need them to be.
This is a reliable way to increase the thickness of your egg salad and make things taste as good as they should. The only time where this method will not be ideal will be when you don’t have extra eggs to use.
If you don’t wish to run out for more ingredients, then you might want to turn to other methods to see what you can do.
3 – Add More Non-Dressing Ingredients
Many people fix their egg salad issues by adding more non-dressing ingredients to the egg salad.
A common problem that can cause egg salad to be too runny is that people accidentally use too much mayonnaise or mustard when mixing things up. This could make things a bit runny if the mixture is too skewed in the favor of dressings, but this can be fixed by taking the right steps.
Do you have any ingredients that you could use to change the mixture a bit? Many people add things to egg salad such as diced celery or potatoes. You could take a bit of time to dice up celery or dice up a whole potato to add it to your egg salad mixture.
This is definitely going to thicken things up and it has the potential to add something to the flavor of your egg salad as well. If you wish to have egg salad that is tasty and just thick enough, then this can solve your problems.
You can fix things even when you went a little overboard with the mayonnaise by accident as long as you have some celery or a potato around.
Some people have even found success by using some seemingly unusual ingredients to thicken things up. For example, there are people who swear by using salted crackers to thicken up egg salad.
You can crush the crackers up and add them to the mix before stirring thoroughly to see the results for yourself, but using potatoes or celery might be the better and more traditional option in this case.
Follow the Recipe More Closely
It’s also good to think about where you went wrong and why your egg salad is runny in the first place.
Most people make the mistake of forgetting something or getting the recipe slightly wrong. For example, you might use more mayonnaise than the egg salad recipe calls for and you might not boil enough eggs by accident.
If you take the time to follow the recipe more closely, then you should be able to prevent these issues from occurring. You can check to make sure that you have the necessary ingredients before you even start making the egg salad.
This should give you enough time to gather what you need and you won’t be caught off-guard when you’re already in the middle of making something.
Lots of people try to make egg salad in a hurry and make little mistakes. If this describes what happened to you, then don’t worry too much about it. Every chef makes mistakes from time to time and it happens to even the best culinary experts.
So long as you try to slow things down in the future, it’s going to be easier to get it right. You’ll be able to take things one step at a time so that you don’t make little mistakes.
You should wind up with egg salad that is scrumptious and thick enough for everyone to enjoy without having any issues.
Serve Your Delicious Egg Salad
With your egg salad thickness issues sorted out, it’ll now be easier to get things ready for your dinner or gathering. Your egg salad will surely be a hit if you took the time to do things right.
It can be annoying when your egg salad doesn’t turn out just right the first time, but now you know that you can thicken things up by utilizing several different methods.
Just pick whichever method it is that you think is going to work best. You’ll be able to get your egg salad finished up and it’ll be thick enough to please everyone.
Egg salad is a delicious food and you’ll want to make it more often when you know that you have perfected it.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.
Chris
Friday 3rd of February 2023
Or, I bet you could scramble and chop a couple of eggs and add that to the mix. I've never tried it, but it sounds feasible.
Chris
Friday 3rd of February 2023
I don't know how often I've done this, apparently I never learn. But a handful of crushed crackers, or potato chips usually work.
Abi
Saturday 9th of October 2021
I just had to do this.. added too much mayo. So I boiled more eggs, still too loose. Then added 4oz. of grated Havarti cheese. Mild enough not to interfere with the flavour of the egg salad but tightened it up instantly to my desired texture.