BLT Egg Salad
~ All the crowd-pleasing flavors of a BLT sandwich, in a healthy egg salad recipe! The perfect potluck salad for summer picnics … and the best-ever way to use up all those hard-boiled eggs each Easter! So versatile, too – it’s delicious as a sandwich or as a salad, nestled into leafy greens … even as a dip with whole grain crackers! ~
This Recipe Is: • Ready in 30 Minutes or Less • Make Ahead • Gluten Free (depending on optional serving choices) •
When it comes to holiday traditions, Easter is jam-crammed to overflowing.
Here in Ohio, though, we sometimes don’t get it all quite right.
We’re right on top of it when it comes to the religious traditions. We’ve got that down pat. But somewhere after church we’ve been known to run into … issues.
Take weather traditions, and the whole lovely idea of “spring” for example.
Easter (being a spring holiday and all) really should involve freshly cascading blooms, cut right from the garden, dewy and fragrant. It’s a brilliant idea, in concept. And yet, where I live, we often celebrate Easter with snowflakes blanketing all the daring, early crocuses and bending the pretty little necks of those first, hearty daffodils. *SIGH*
Oh, and let’s not forget fashion! There are definitely Easter fashion traditions! We’re talking pastel Easter bonnets and kid gloves, new white shoes and flouncy dresses!
But …
If you’re following along here, you probably realize the insanity of those traditions for Ohioans, too.
Right.
We buy darling Easter dresses, and then cram our little sweeties and their pretty dresses into snowsuits before church. (Snowsuits!) Or, if we’re really experiencing a heat wave one year, we might get away with just two or three cardigans and a ski cap. (It’s actually pretty similar to how we often handle princess costumes at Halloween. But that’s another story.)
This year we honestly did get a bit luckier on Easter, weather-wise. At my big family party, we actually hunted eggs outside … and all we needed was a warm bonfire and some sweatshirts. No daffodils or flouncy dresses for us (good thing, too – since smoky bonfire cinders and flounces don’t mix). But we still counted ourselves unusually lucky with such (ahem …) balmy weather.
Yeah, we just don’t always get those weather and fashion traditions quite right. But you know what we do get right?
Food! We’re great at food traditions!
And today, I wanted to share one of my absolute, personal faves … BLT Egg Salad!
I’ve been making some version of this egg salad ever since I first saw the recipe for Egg Salad BLTs in Cooking Light magazine years ago. One of the highlights of my Easter every year is making BLT Egg Salad with all those leftover Easter eggs! It’s a tradition that never, ever fails … it always goes right!
And now it’s even more right! Healthier and portable, too!
I swapped nonfat Greek yogurt for Cooking Light’s original fat-free mayo and reduced-fat sour cream. And ya know what? No one will even notice!
Mmmmmm … I amped up some of the flavor components, too – this has egg salad has big BLT flavors!
I also stirred the bacon and tomatoes right into the egg salad, rather than just adding them as sandwich toppers. That way, you can enjoy this as a gluten-free option without bread, just nestled into a lettuce cup or on a bed of spinach.
Plus, it’s way easier for picnics and potlucks, since people can just scoop up perfect egg salad filled with yummy BLT flavors, without the fuss of having to wrangle tomato slices and strips of bacon. It’s even dip-able with crackers, tortilla chips, or flat pretzels (kinda like our ever-popular Egg-amole)!
Picnic perfect!
As in … don’t wait until next Easter to make this fantastic egg salad! Sure, sure – it’ll be your no-fail, go-to egg salad tradition every Easter (waaaaaaaay more predictable than the weather, ya know!). But it’ll also be your new fave picnic salad and summer sandwich filling.
In fact, no matter when you make it, this egg salad is one tradition you’ll always get right!
BLT Egg Salad
All the flavors of a BLT in a healthy egg salad recipe! A perfect summer salad or a great way to use Easter eggs! Yummy as a sandwich or gluten-free salad!
• Ready in 30 Minutes or Less • Make Ahead • Gluten Free (depending on optional serving choices) •
Ingredients
- 12 hard-cooked eggs, chopped (6 yolks removed before chopping and reserved for another purpose – see notes)
- 1 cup diced tomatoes (from about 1 large or two small tomatoes)
- 3/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup shredded, reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped or crumbled, cooked bacon (from about 3-4 slices, or purchased bacon bits, see note)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1/4 - 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (see note)
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- optional for serving: baby spinach or other greens as a sandwich topping or to make a salad; whole grain bread or toast for sandwiches; or whole grain crackers for dipping
Instructions
- Gently combine all ingredients (except optional greens, and bread or crackers) in a medium bowl. Taste and adjust salt level as needed (see note).
- Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until serving.
- Serve egg salad on whole grain bread or toast with baby spinach or other greens for sandwiches, or in large lettuce leaves or on a bed of greens for salads. Alternately, serve with whole grain crackers for dipping.
Notes
Eggs: For tips on making perfect hard-cooked eggs, be sure to check out our post on How to Hard-Cook Eggs for our researched, tested, tried-and-true method. Also, note that the 12-minute prep time assumes that eggs (and bacon) are pre-cooked or purchased.
Yolks: We remove some of the yolks in this recipe simply because we prefer the taste and texture of this egg salad when it’s not quite so “yolk-y.” We’ve also tested this egg salad with all 12 yolks, though, and it's still very good. If you prefer your egg salad more "yolk-y" then you can certainly try that option if you don’t have another use for the yolks and don’t want to throw them away.
Bacon: If you choose to cook and then crumble your own bacon, we recommend selecting an organic or nitrate-free brand. In a pinch, however, to save time, we often use packaged real bacon bits (NOT Bac-Os), particularly since we don’t often use up entire packages of bacon quickly enough. Either option will work in this recipe.
Salt: There are a number of factors that can affect the amount of kosher salt you'll need for perfect flavor in this egg salad recipe, particularly the exact brands of bacon, cheese, and mustard you use. We recommend starting with 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt, tasting your egg salad, and then adjusting the salt up to 1/2 teaspoon or possibly 3/4 teaspoon as needed.
Make-ahead tips: This egg salad can be made ahead and refrigerated for a day or two before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 servings Serving Size: 1/2 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 130Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 252mgSodium: 290mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 12g
Nutrition information does not include optional serving choices, as nutrition can vary for those, depending on what you choose to use. Nutrition information should be considered an estimate only, and may additionally vary depending on your choice of ingredients or preparation. No guarantees are made regarding allergies or dietary needs. Always consult a physician or dietician for specific advice and questions.
This recipe is loosely inspired by the Egg Salad BLTs recipe originally published by Cooking Light magazine in April 2007.
I wish I had this for lunch today. Especially with that bacon!!
Wow! I need to make this to my husband ASAP. 🙂
Ohmygosh Shelley my husband is going to flip over this recipe! Love the combo of egg salad with bacon! <3
Aren’t those colours nice and lively? 🙂 What a fun BLT recipe!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Perfect, just what we needed, an all time classic kicked up several notches!