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 almost melt 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:
No rubbery bits of whites – I don’t like little firm 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.
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.
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.
Soft bread is best. Too much filling oozes out when you bite the sandwich if you use chewy, crusty 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
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 (reeks of passion, right??!), 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.
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 sort of making a semi-homemade mayonnaise here!
Mayonnaise – Whole egg mayo is creamier and less tangy than normal mayo. My favourite brand is S&W (Australia), followed by Hellman’s and Kewpie (equal second).
Dijon mustard – For flavour and a touch of tang.
Chives – For freshness and nice green bits in our filling.
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:
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.
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.
Filling – Stir in the mayo, mustard, chives, salt and pepper.
Spread butter on the bread.
Spread filling on bread, from edge to edge!
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 unnecessary 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
Ingredients
Egg sandwich filling:
- 6 soft boiled eggs , at room temperature (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise (S&W brand best, Note 2)
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tsp finely chopped chives (sub green onion)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp cooking/kosher salt (yes really, that's all!)
Sandwich:
- 8 slices soft white sandwich bread (Note 3)
- Soft salted butter , for spreading on bread
Instructions
- Mash egg: Place the eggs in a bowl and crush with a fork. Once mostly broken up, use a potato masher to mash them up really well. Smaller egg white bits = creamier filling.
- Filling: Add remaining filling 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 can take!
- 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)
- Serve: Always serve at room temperature, for best flavour!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life’s too short for bland sandwiches!
Life of Dozer
No egg sandwiches for Dozer! 💨💨
Love this recipe, its on my rotation!
This recipe is fire! I’m used to an egg salad with relish (dill or sweet) and yellow mustard so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was so yummy! Like a sophisticated egg salad. I think that I could use the ingredients and even turn it into a soft scrambled egg sandwich sometime. I knew I had to trust Nagi! This site is the BEST!
Hi Nagi
Wondering if your fabulous egg sandwiches can be frozen as I have a surplus of eggs.
Another great recipe. I use an egg slicer ( like my mother used to have years ago) . Slice one way , turn and slice the other way . Makes little egg squares easy to mash.
Disagree with this one. Looking for recipe to use some leftover ingredients, but I’ll wing what I like: I love chunks of egg whites and celery, and good whole grain bread is a must! Mushy bland goo is for infants! Maybe because I’m old enough to remember the Wonder Bread years- no, I have no fond memories of my mother’s cooking…
So simple yet so tasty. 😊
Hope Dozer got the parts you cut off! 🐾❤️
This is the way my mother always made them and now me. Egg sandwiches just don’t taste right without the chopped chives. They elevate the flavour.
Dear Nagi. I’m late to to your fan club and rarely write reviews, but this egg recipe is fantastic. No more egg “salad” for me, ever again. I’ve tried a number of your recipes, all excellent, and I notice that simplicity is often the key. Sometimes just let the main ingredient shine with a tiny bit of support and a tender touch. Bingo on this one. A total surprise.
I also would like to suggest another way of shelling the eggs, esp for this in between level of cooked eggs (ie not runny/not hard). In Germany I learned to lop off just the top of a soft (runny) egg in an egg cup with a knife. Sharp tap, sharp knife and cut through. With these 8 minute eggs, cut half way down the egg, all the way through and scoop out with a spoon. All of the egg is easily scooped out and your left with 2 complete half shells. No water, no little pieces. I think it works really well on these eggs since the yolk is not runny and the whites aren’t rubbery.
I seriously love eggs. They are amazing – as are you 🙂 Thank you!
My husband would have my head if I put celery in egg salad! But we usually hard boil our eggs, maybe he would like soft boiled better? I wouldn’t know, I don’t eat egg salad! I add paprika and extra pepper, per husband’s request. I’ll try it Nagi’s way today and see whate says.
You have made simple egg sandwiches amazing! Thank you.
Hi Nagi. Great idea to soft boil the eggs; thank you. If you were to medium to hard boil eggs, best way other than fork, is to use a ricer! So quick. Regards, Sandra 10 Feb 2024
I grate my eggs rather than chop them – helping to achieve the texture you speak off in your recipe.
So tasty! I’m not a sliced bread gal, so I used long rolls split down the middle and hollowed out some of the bread. Husband grew up on egg and lettuce so I had to make sure I included it. Didn’t squish out and was perfect for our picnic enjoying the carnival of flowers. Thanks Nagi!
Love the idea of hollowed out rolls. Use the left over bread by breaking up and tossing in melted butter and grated tasty cheese. Place on oven tray and bake till golden. Yum Toss in some dried parsley or garlic chips or both. Use your imagination. Maybe a little onion powder.
They were a hit at friends birthday morning-tea! OMG disappeared before I got to them. Wish I’d doubled recipe.
Eggs were perfect at 8mins
I like the egg Recipe could tell how to make banna pudding
A home cook who relies too much on a recipe is sort of like a pilot who reads the plane’s instruction manual while flying.
Checkout ItzRecipes
No thanks. Nothing appeals to me there. Bit too preachy. I much prefer Nagi’s amazing recipes, personality and amazing charity work! After all, that’s why we are all here!!
You’re the best Nagi. I absolutely love your recipes. Made me fall in love with cooking! Thanks 🙂
The filling is so delicious and creamy. It’s almost like eating soft scrambled eggs, but without the eggy flavour that can have. I made two sandwiches for myself and 3 eggs really goes a long way. I was already full after 3 sandwich halves. That was easy, fool proof, and yum!
I’ve never had egg sandwiches anywhere like I had in Japan – but now I can make them at home. Fabulous sandwich. So happy I found this recipe.