Egg salad is a delicious and convenient recipe, and one crucial ingredient for nearly every egg salad recipe is mayonnaise because mayonnaise binds the eggs together while giving the eggs a creamier texture.
However, you may be wondering what to add to your egg salad if you do not have mayonnaise. I did the research, and here are 10 mayonnaise substitutes for egg salad I found!
Mayonnaise Substitutes For Egg Salad
1. Vinaigrette
A simple vinaigrette can help you bind your egg salad together by moistening the eggs, helping the eggs stick to each other.
However, vinaigrette will not give you the same creaminess as mayonnaise in an egg salad, but vinaigrette can moisten and bind the eggs if you need a quick replacement for mayonnaise.
Generally, a good vinaigrette recipe to place mayonnaise in an egg salad will include light olive oil, apple cider vinegar, pepper, and salt.
Simply add all those ingredients into a jar with a tightly-fitting lid and shake the jar well until the ingredients combine well.
You may opt to add other ingredients into your vinaigrette, such as lemon juice, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and more.
Once your vinaigrette is ready, you can pour the vinaigrette over your egg salad and mix until the vinaigrette covers the egg salad.
2. Greek Yogurt
Generally, Greek yogurt is a fantastic substitute for mayonnaise in most recipes, so Greek yogurt is an excellent way to replace mayonnaise in an egg salad recipe.
Almost all Greek yogurt is white with a very thick and creamy texture, meaning Greek yogurt can easily mimic mayonnaise.
Normally, Greek yogurt has a naturally mild yet slightly sour flavor similar to sour cream, so you may not need to add more ingredients to your Greek yogurt for an egg salad.
However, if you want to spice up your egg salad, you can mix your Greek yogurt with pepper, salt, lemon juice, and fresh dill before mixing the Greek yogurt mixture into your egg salad.
3. Sour Cream
As mentioned earlier, Greek yogurt tastes a bit like sour cream, so naturally sour cream can also replace mayonnaise for egg salads.
Typically, sour cream has the same thick texture as mayonnaise, but sour cream is a bit tangier and tarter than most mayonnaise recipes.
Nevertheless, you can slap sour cream onto your egg salad without other ingredients if you need an ingredient to bind your egg salad.
However, you can add lemon juice, onion powder, minced onion, and more to add more flavor to your sour cream dressing.
4. Cottage Cheese
Similar to mayonnaise, cottage cheese is white with a soft and creamy texture, making cottage cheese a great and low-carb alternative to mayonnaise in egg salads.
However, the exact texture of cottage cheese can vary since cottage cheese can come in small, medium, and large curds, but the curd size may not be an issue once you mix the cottage cheese with the egg salad.
While cottage cheese has a slightly sour and sweet flavor profile, the overall flavor of cottage cheese is neutral so you may use cottage cheese by itself to replace mayonnaise in an egg salad recipe.
5. Ricotta
Most ricotta is a smooth, creamy, and thick cheese with a mild flavor, meaning you can easily use ricotta in place of mayonnaise in egg salads.
If you find that your ricotta is not smooth enough to bind your egg salad ingredients, you can mix some sour cream or cottage cheese with your ricotta first.
Since ricotta tastes fairly mild, you can easily add other ingredients like onion powder, paprika, lemon juice, etc. to freshen up your egg salad recipe.
6. Hummus
Normally, hummus has a thick and creamy texture that makes hummus an excellent binding ingredient for egg salad recipes.
While hummus is darker and savorier than mayonnaise, hummus still has an unoffensive flavor that can easily replace mayonnaise to bind an egg salad.
Keep in mind that hummus’s texture is not a perfect replacement for mayonnaise since hummus can be a bit grainier and have a lower moisture content than mayonnaise.
7. Avocado
When mashed, avocado has a smooth and creamy texture that is fantastic for binding the ingredients in an egg salad.
While avocado is noticeably green compared to pale mayonnaise, avocado has a very mild taste like mayonnaise so avocado will not stand out flavor-wise in an egg salad.
Typically, half a large avocado is enough to cover three hard-boiled eggs, but you may add more or less avocado to your preference.
Moreover, it may be ideal to add a fresh and tart flavor to your avocado, such as lemon juice, to make your avocado mimic mayonnaise.
8. Creme Fraiche
Creme fraiche is a type of thick and cultured cream that tastes tangier, richer, and fresher than sour cream, but creme fraiche is white, creamy, and somewhat mild in flavor.
Therefore, you can easily use creme fraiche instead of mayonnaise in an egg salad, and you may not notice a difference.
Typically, you can buy creme fraiche at most grocery stores, but you can also make creme fraiche if you have cultured buttermilk and heavy cream.
To make creme fraiche, mix heavy cream and cultured buttermilk in a non-reactive container then cover it and let the mixture rest for 12 hours at room temperature until the mixture reaches your preferred texture.
Once the creme fraiche is ready, you can transfer the creme fraiche into a jar with a tight lid and keep the creme fraiche refrigerated for up to two weeks.
However, this recipe does not guarantee a perfect creme fraiche recipe, so you may be better off buying creme fraiche.
If you want to learn more about mayonnaise substitutes for coleslaw, what kind of mayonnaise Subway uses, and who owns Hellman’s mayonnaise, read our related articles.
Conclusion
Mayonnaise is often an essential ingredient for an egg salad recipe since mayonnaise is an excellent binding ingredient that makes the eggs moist and sticks to each other without overpowering the egg’s flavor.
However, there are many alternatives to mayonnaise that you can opt for when you do not have mayonnaise for egg salad, which include Greek yogurt, vinaigrette, creme fraiche, and more.