Easy Delicious German Egg Salad

The ultimate German egg salad recipe (Eiersalat) with apple. This is the perfect salad to serve during Easter, use as filling for your egg sandwiches or simply as a side dish for your summer grilling.

This year is going to be my eighth year living in Germany, and I just realized I have not shared any recipes from this beautiful country that I have learned to call home. For those who do not know, my husband is German and this is a special family recipe of his, made nach Oma Art which literally translates to something prepared the old-fashioned way, as your grandmother would.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, at no extra cost to you.

So, what is the German Egg Salad (Eiersalat)?

The name Eiersalt comes from a combination of two words; Ei is the german word for egg and you guessed right: Salat means salad. German egg salad or Eiersalat as it is called here is a popular dish served over Easter, for Abendbrot (cold German dinner), at buffets or as a side dish, especially to accompany summer grills.

Ingredients you will need

Similar to my Kale Salad recipe, I can almost bet you that you have all the ingredients you need to make this German egg salad in your kitchen and that if you do not, you can easily find the ingredients at your local stores! It is also extremely easy to make.

Here is what you will need:

• 3 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 small apple (any sour type)
• 2 stalks scallions (spring onions)
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 3 tbsp yoghurt
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp sweetener (optional) (any low carb sweetener; otherwise regular sugar)
• ⅓ tsp black pepper
• ⅓ tsp salt or more to taste

How to make:

• Fill a saucepan or pot about a quarter of the way with cold water. Add more water making sure the eggs are covered by at least one inch of water. Cover the saucepan with a lid and bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat. After two minutes, reduce the heat to a medium and allow the eggs to boil for a further 8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the eggs to a bowl filled with ice-cold water or run them under cold tap water. Peel the eggs immediately, slice into small cubes then set aside in a bowl.
• Slice the apple into quarters, de-core then chop it into small cubes. Slice the gherkins into small cubes as well. Peel and slice the scallions (spring onion).
• Combine the chopped eggs, apple, and scallions into a bowl.
• In a separate bowl make the dressing by whisking together mayonnaise, yoghurt, curry powder, sweetener, salt and black pepper. Pour the dressing into the bowl with the eggs, apple and scallions, then stir in the gherkins. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to combine.
• Serve immediately OR allow to chill for at least one hour before serving.

TIP: This egg salad tastes best when allowed to chill for at least one hour as this enables the ingredients to properly blend and develop their aroma.

Useful Tips and how to serve

• add a teaspoon of vinegar to the water just before boiling the eggs, to prevent the egg whites from running out should an egg crack during the cooking process.
• I like to serve my salad in a bowl on top of a larger bowl filled with ice cubes, to keep it cool.
• An egg slicer will simplify the cutting of your egg whites.
• The traditional way to serve this salad is with bread or soft pretzel. It is also a great side dish to grilled meat of any kind.
• This egg salad tastes best if allowed at least one hour in the fridge, so the different ingredients can come together. I would say if you have a bit of time, then by all means keep the salad in the fridge for some time.

Variations

• fry some cubed turkey or pork bacon and stir this into the salad. As a small tip from the kitchen, you want to leave out the salt at first, if using bacon as this tends to be extra salty. Season and add salt only after you have added the bacon and tasted the salad.
• for some more vitamins or if you are missing some veggie action, stir in chopped parsley, bell pepper, radishes or some celery.
• make your German egg salad more creamy by adding some chopped avocado.
• garnish with some chopped dill, chives or scallions.
• to make vegan "egg salad", use smoked tofu instead of eggs, gherkins, vegan mayonnaise and replace the yoghurt with coconut yoghurt or your preferred choice of plant-based yoghurt.

How long will this German egg salad keep?

You can keep egg salad in the fridge in an airtight container, for 2-4 days. The exact number of days will depend on how cool your fridge is. The storage time also depends on whether you are making the egg salad using homemade or store-bought mayonnaise.

Because of the raw eggs used in making homemade mayo, the risk of Salmonella infection is normally higher. As a result, use any German egg salad made using fresh homemade mayo within one day.

I would not advise you to freeze it as the mayonnaise gets soggy upon thawing.

More Tasty Recipes to Try

These recipes are on fire so you definitely want to check them out!

• Parsley and Lemon Moroccan Carrot Salad
• Healthy Honey Mustard Dressing - no mayo
• Kachumbari (East African Salad) Recipe
• German Green bean salad (Bohnensalat)