Deviled Eggs are an Easter staple in my book. Growing up, we used to decorate eggs with the Paas dye kits from the grocery store. My mom would set up mugs with all the colors and my sisters and I would “wait patiently” for the color we wanted. My sister C was always the artistic one and would make beautiful tie-dye patterns, striped, or multi-colored eggs. I, on the other hand, didn’t have the patience for that so what I would do it just leave my eggs in the dye for as long as possible to see how dark and bright I could get the color. My favorite was the purple dye because it would never come out a perfectly solid color like the other dyes. For some reason, the purple dye always made these beautiful splotches of pink, blue, and different shades of purple.
When we were all done with coloring our eggs, we would let them dry in our own individual styrofoam egg carton. Later on, she would make deviled eggs from our colored eggs and I imagine egg salad later on in the weeks (How else do you use up 3-4 dozens hard boiled eggs because each of her children insisted on dying a whole carton full on their own.)
There are plenty of variations of Deviled Eggs, but today I am going to share with you a classic version. If dyeing eggs isn’t part of your Easter tradition, have no fear as you can just make the eggs as specified below.
- 8 large eggs
- 4 tbsp. mayonnaise (I used light)
- 1½ teaspoons of vinegar (cider or white)
- ¾ tsp. whole grain mustard
- ¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Paprika, for sprinkling
- Gently place the eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water (water level should be 1-inch above the eggs.) Place saucepan on stove-top, set to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove saucepan from heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes. Fill a medium-sized bowl with ice cold water while the eggs are sitting. After the 10 minutes, take eggs out of hot water with a slotted spoon and place in the ice water gently; let sit for 5 minutes.
- Peel eggs and then slice length wise. Take out the yolks of the eggs and place them in a medium sized bowl. With a fork, mash the egg yolks until all the large chunks are gone. Add in remainder of ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula. Mash mixture on the side of the bowl to smooth out any lumps.
- Prepare a pastry bag with a large star tip (I used Wilton’s 6B). Take egg yolk mixture and add it to the pastry bag, then twist the top portion closed to push the eggs into the bag further. Pipe the yolks into the egg whites by applying pressure to pastry bag and lifting up slowly and releasing the pressure as the egg white fills with yolk. Sprinkle yolk filling with paprika and serve immediately.
Source: Slightly adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook
{Edited from original post} Since this post was so popular last year, Keelin added four new variations of deviled egg recipes this year. After you try our classic deviled egg recipes, be sure to check back and try another variation!
- Pickle Jalapeño
- Pimiento Cheese
- Herb and Crumb
- Wasabi Ginger
Need more ideas for those leftover hard-boiled eggs? Check out M’s post for 10 recipes for leftover Easter Eggs.
