You will love these easy deviled eggs. It’s impossible to just eat one! I’m sharing all my secrets for how to make the best deviled eggs.
This classic deviled eggs recipe is so simple. Whenever we serve them, they disappear quickly! Our basic recipe calls for eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar (or lemon juice).
The secret to the best deviled eggs is cooking your eggs properly. I’m sharing our foolproof method below!
How to Make Deviled Eggs
When boiling eggs for deviled eggs, I follow this simple method. In a nutshell, you will add your eggs to a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Then, turn off heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes. Finally, drop them into ice water to cool completely.
Cooling the eggs completely helps with easy peel eggs. For stubborn shells, crack the cooled egg, submerge it in ice water for 5 minutes, and then peel. The water sneaks underneath the shell and makes it easier to peel.
Once your eggs are cooked, making deviled eggs is easy! Peel and cut your eggs in half, and then scoop the yolk into a bowl. I use the back of a spoon and smoosh the egg yolk. Since we cooked our eggs perfectly, they should break down easily.
Then, we can stir in our mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper. To fill your egg white halves, use a spoon or piping bag, or do what I do and use a small cookie scoop. I’ve found that the cookie scoop makes things go much quicker and less messy!
Deviled Eggs Variations
While testing this recipe, we rummaged through our refrigerator and pantry to come up with a bunch of fun toppings we thought would work well for deviled eggs. Here’s what we love, plus more ideas to spark your culinary creativity:
- Classic: Smoked paprika, sweet paprika, or a sprinkle of flaky sea salt (my favorite!)
- Spicy: Add sriracha, pickled jalapeños, or your favorite hot sauce.
- Tangy: Pickled onions, sweet pickles, dill pickles, or a sprinkle of capers.
- Salty: Smoked salmon, crispy baked bacon, or crumbled feta cheese.
- Fresh: Finely chopped chives, dill, or a mix of your favorite herbs. You can also swap some mayo for avocado, as we do when making avocado egg salad.
How Long Do Deviled Eggs Last?
Store your deviled eggs in an airtight container in the refrigerator as soon as you make them. They will last in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. I do not recommend freezing them.
For food safety, deviled eggs shouldn’t sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours. If you’re serving a large group, keep some refrigerated and replenish the serving plate with more chilled deviled eggs as needed.
Perfect Deviled Eggs
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This is my favorite recipe for deviled eggs! We like a little less mustard than some, so you may want to add more than we suggest in the recipe below. More tips for cooking the eggs can be found here.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
6 large eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise, see our homemade mayonnaise recipe
1 teaspoon white vinegar, white wine vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Directions
- Cook Eggs
1Place the eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with cold water by 1 ½ inches. Heat over high heat until the water comes to a rolling boil, cover the saucepan with a lid, cook for 30 seconds then remove completely from the heat and let stand for 12 minutes. (This can range from 12 to 14 minutes, depending on the size of your eggs).
2Prepare a bowl of ice water. Transfer eggs with a slotted spoon to the ice water and leave for 5 minutes. Crack egg shells and carefully peel them away. If the shells are not easily peeling away from the eggs, place them back into the ice water and try again in 5 minutes.
- Make Deviled Eggs
1Gently dry eggs then slice in half, lengthwise. Remove the yolks and add to a medium bowl then arrange the whites on a serving platter.
2Mash the yolks into a fine, powdery paste. Stir in the mayonnaise, vinegar, and mustard. Season with salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir vigorously until smooth.
3Use a small cookie scoop or spoon to evenly distribute the egg yolk filling into the egg whites. (You can also cut a corner from a resealable plastic bag, add the egg yolk filling then use it to pipe into the egg white halves).
4Finish with a sprinkle of paprika (classic) or with your favorite toppings (see below for suggestions). We personally like a sprinkle of flaky sea salt or a squirt of Sriracha.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Optional toppings and ingredients: flaky sea salt, smoked or sweet paprika, cooked bacon, pickles, pickled jalapeños, pickled onions, Sriracha, crumbled feta cheese, or fresh herbs — chives or parsley are nice.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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hi i find cooking the eggs just like you discribe works good. one ingredient i like and seems to be popular is some horseradish like a tea spoon or two.
Joann, Little tip on the eggs cooking , 1 take a pin like the ones you use to pin up stuff on a cork board, kind with plastic end, pierce a hole in the the end of the egg where the air bubble is, this will let the air out and peal much better, I cook mine for about 5 mins, and when done, pour out the water and bang them around in them around in the pan to break the shells, then fill with ice and water, this also stop the cooking but drives the alum into the egg again so you have no black stope on the yoke. Now when you peal them the peals fall off cuz when you broke the shells the water gets between the shell and egg. Try it you won’t go back and let me know how you like it this way. Stony
My mom will be turning 100 Sept 17th 2022. I will be making about 100 deviled eggs. I do make mine the day before since I have quite a lot of deviled egg trays. Mine NEVER get watery. I make mine with mayo, lots of yellow mustard and S & P and sprinkle paprika on top. They will be gone before the night is over.
Hey guys! recently I’ve been steaming my eggs – the shell literally falls off every time! Just bring an inch or 2 of water to a boil, place eggs in a steamer basket, cover and steam for 15 minutes. cool in an ice bath immediately. Perfect every time!
deb: I’ve been steaming eggs (place a steamer basket in a saucepan and bring water to a boil before adding the eggs). I steam them for about 11 minutes/12 tops. Works like a charm.
Thank you so much about that idea for steaming the eggs !! This is the only thing that has worked for me!!
I’m always over cooking or undercooking my eggs. Your Timing is dead on. I cooked eggs starting with cold water, at rolling boil covered and slid off of burner. 14 minutes then in cold water with ice. Perfect
This timing would depend on altitude. The higher the elevation the more variation in cooking time.
Deviled eggs are a staple at our house. Never tried them with vinegar or lemon. Interesting! I’ll definitely have to check this out. The two main staples for ours–mayo and dijon mustard. However, my husband will frequently add finely chopped shallots and parsley as well. We also have been recently adding just a smidge of curry powder to mix things up a bit. Just discovered your blog and loving the different ideas! Thanks!
I’ve made these so many times before but never thought about using a cookie scoop — thank you, they looked (and tasted) perfect!
Right? I am going to use my small melon baller this time, to see if it works. I always put the deviled mixture in a piping bag and it’s too difficult when I add diced spring onion and bacon! This will be so much easier.
Is it wrong to mix my pickles in with the Mayo, mustard, and vinegar? Sometimes I also throw in raw chopped onions. I too, like a little crunch. At 8,000 feet, in CO, I have to add to all cooking times. It is a guessing game, especially the first try. I added 30 sec to covered cook time, and 5 minutes to the total cook time. Do not feel bad about making them just for the two of you … I make them for one 😉
Thank-you, for sharing.
I made these and filled them the night before. Big mistake the filling became watery?. I have done this before never was a problem
Hi there, we do not recommend filling the eggs the night before. Instead, the key is to keep the whites and egg yolk filling separate. Wrap the egg white halves well with plastic wrap and keep the egg yolk filling sealed in a resealable plastic bag with all the air squeezed out.
Dip the whites in whisked egg and then in bread crumbs and deep fry in oil for a minute and a half or so then add the toppings. It’s madness….