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This healthy egg white salad recipe is a protein-packed and low-fat take on traditional egg salad! It’s creamy and smoky and makes the best sandwich filling.
Swapping my eggs for egg whites is always an easy option when I’m trying to watch my calories or monitor my fat intake.
If you’ve tried my egg white omelette or spinach egg white wrap, then you’ll know that it all comes down to how you cook and flavor them. This egg white salad is no exception, and I think I may like it even more than the traditional one that uses yolks.
To make this salad stand out, I flavor it with robust ingredients like roasted bell peppers and pickles and swirl through some Greek yogurt for some creaminess.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Perfect for making ahead. If you have boiled eggs in your refrigerator, making this salad is a cakewalk! Keep everything chopped, and combine and enjoy when it’s time to serve! Or make a big batch over the weekend and enjoy readymade meals for the next 3-4 days.
- Customizable. The sauce and the boiled egg whites go well with several proteins and veggies. I often add leftover chicken, fish, boiled macaroni, or veggies from the fridge, and I am happily surprised with the result!
- Versatile. Like my cottage cheese egg salad, I love this recipe because it goes as easily in a lettuce cup, wrap, toast, or sandwich. So, based on your appetite and restrictions, make your own combination!
Ingredients Needed
I often make this recipe because I find most of the ingredients in my fridge! All it takes is some chopping and mixing, and I have a quick meal ready to go. Here is what you’ll need:
- Boiled eggs. Finely chop the egg whites and set them aside. If you like the flavor of egg yolks and don’t mind the added fats, make the salad with whole eggs.
- Hamburger pickles. I call them mini flavor bombs! Don’t you love it when you get a bite of tangy pickles in your salad? Yum! I used a no added sugar kind, but any work.
- Cucumber. Finely chopped.
- Roasted red peppers. You can roast your bell peppers in the oven or use store-bought roasted red peppers if you’re lazy like me! Chop them finely for the salad.
- Greek yogurt. Plain Greek yogurt provides the base for the dressing. If you’re feeling a little indulgent, use mayo instead. You could also try using light sour cream too.
- Pickle juice. If you have pickles, you have the pickle juice (getting the most out of your pickle jar!). You can use a mix of lemon juice and vinegar if you prefer.
- Spices. I used a mix of cumin, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes to give the salad some smoky and spicy flavors.
- Sea salt. To taste.
How to make an egg white salad
What I love about this recipe is just how quick it is. If I’ve prepared some boiled eggs in advance, I can whip this up in minutes!
Step 1- Mix the chopped ingredients. Combine the chopped egg whites, cucumbers, pickles, and roasted peppers in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2- Make the sauce. Mix Greek yogurt, pickle juice, and spices in another mixing bowl. Taste and adjust salt, seasoning, and heat to your liking.
Step 3- Combine, chill, and serve. Pour the ‘sauce’ over the egg mixture and mix until uniformly combined. ‘Marinate’ in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe tips and variations
- Finely chop the ingredients. You must finely chop your veggies and the egg whites so everything mixes well and you get all the components in a bite. No shortcuts there!
- Use chilled ingredients. Chill your eggs and roasted peppers before using them in the salad to maintain the sauce’s texture.
- Gently mix the ingredients. To avoid the unpleasant, mushy egg whites, mix the ingredients gently. Use a folding gesture (making eights in the bowl), and do not overmix!
- Play around with the dressing. You know what goes great with Greek yogurt and cucumber? Mint, lime juice, and pomegranate molasses! Or go with chives, scallions, and mustard for a tried-and-tested, no-fail sauce.
- Add different veggies. I have so many fantastic substitutes – capers for pickles, celery for cucumbers, and sautéed onions for roasted peppers. Substitutes aside, cherry tomatoes and avocados taste phenomenal in this salad!
- Add more protein. I love adding smoked salmon, tuna, leftover chicken, tofu, or white beans to increase protein content.
Storage instructions
Cover in a sealed container and refrigerate the salad for 4 to 5 days. If you notice changes in the consistency and texture, toss it away and make a new batch.
More delicious egg recipes to try
- Turkish eggs
- Fried eggs (over easy, over medium, over hard)
- Frittata
- Crustless quiche
- Chilaquiles
- Sous vide egg bites
Frequently asked questions
The key to avoiding rubbery egg whites is not to overcook them. I find 8 minutes to be the perfect boiling time for boiled eggs.
Although I haven’t tried it, avocado or humus could work as alternatives for the sauce. That said, if making with avocado, consume fresh as it will oxidize within a few hours.
Yes. Egg whites are naturally gluten-free. This recipe is gluten-free unless you serve/ mix gluten-containing components like bread or crackers with it.
Egg White Salad
Ingredients
- 6 boiled eggs yolks removed and chopped finely (feel free to keep in)
- 2 hamburger pickles chopped finely
- 1/4 large cucumber chopped finely
- 2 tablespoon oasted red peppers chopped
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon pickle juice brine the pickles are in
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes adjust to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt adjust to taste
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg whites, cucumbers, pickles and roasted red peppers and set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, pickle juice with all the spices and mix well. Taste to make sure it’s salty enough and spiced according to your spice level.
- Pour the ‘sauce’ over the egg mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Allow to sit for 30 minutes in the fridge to ‘marinate’ and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Well this is perfect for me. So healthy and so nutritious. Amazing.
My experience with Trader Joe’s is that the store has great dried fruit, nuts and a few other items, but their packaged stuff is way too salty and not all that tasty. I’m not surprised that your copycat is way better than the original. (Besides, you made it so of course it’s delicious:)
Actually, that’s a great point Laura- I stocked up on their dried berries and they are SO good!
Dear Arman, This egg salad looks wonderful! I love the idea of using the Mezzetta peppers. My Trader Joe’s is not too bad…I am usually able to get in and out when I need to. My one complaint is that it’s a little out of the way for me. When I find myself heading up in that direction, I usually stop in for a few things- like those chocolate covered espresso beans! Have a wonderful day my friend, Catherine
Hi Catherine! I am obsessed with those espresso beans and it’s so sneaky of them to keep it right beside the counter!!
This looks SO GOOD! I have never had TJ’s egg salad but, I’m pretty sure I don’t need to! Glad I have some hard boiled eggs in my fridge, because I am trying this today!!
Please do Deanna- It’s delicious! 🙂
Love the remake! I love Trader Joe’s– but there are only certain things I will buy there. The brown rice pasta is great, the nut butters, bags of nuts/dried fruits, greek yogurt… the premade food items are mostly lacking 🙂 Convenient, but I’m with you– I want GOOD food, not just convenient food. I’ll make it myself!
Sounds like NYC needs another few Trader Joe’s. Obviously people like it, so open another 3. Business idea for you, Arman? We had one in every part of the city in Portland, and while it was always busy, it was certainly never like that!
aahaha I love that business idea- In fact, I’m going to a trade show this weekend where the CEO of TJ’s will be talking!
Our Trader Joe’s doesn’t have lines out the wazoo because my little city is teeny tiny (compared to NYC). I looove egg salad!! P.S., are you still unable to comment on zee blog? If so, I must get in touch with the blog tech people.
It worked! 🙂
I would totally love this salad. Great mixture of spices! My Trader Joe’s recently got an uplift so they expanded and the lines sort of disappear…parking is another story 🙂
Oh dang! But… I need to move out of Astoria…silly 45 minute subway ride to the Union Square one!
When I come visit you one of these days, you’ll take me to TJ’s… okie? I keep meaning to visit it, but never manage to end up there when I’m in the space. And my tolerance for spice is like -10. I’m a wimp.
YESSSS. I would suffer the lines for you.
This looks like something I could eat all day everyday. However I do think the persians invented this dish because as you mentioned last time, Salad Olivier ;). I feel bad for taking trader joes for granted now, I hope the line waiting will end someday!
Thanks Niki- That or I should move to California!
Hi Arman! This is the first time I’ve been on your site and I have to say your experience makes me so sad…I love Trader Joe’s! I love the samples you get when you go in, the fact that there (supposedly) aren’t any GMO products, the customer service, etc. It’s shocking to me that the traffic they get hasn’t encouraged corporate to just open another. I’m also sad that your experience with healthy blogs hasn’t been good! You obviously haven’t tried my recipes ;p
I’ve never seen this Egg salad before at TJ’s but your take on egg salad is pretty awesome! The yogurt sounds so refreshing! Perfect for lunch.
Hi Michaell- I definitely have had positive experiences there but this one just was way packed but it was my own fault (i picked the busiest one in NYC). This would be great for lunch!
Holy wow. Gotta try this! The nearest TJ’s isn’t very close to me so I only make the trip about once a month!
Please do, Paula!
Arman, yet another fantastic recipe all around. What I love about this particular recipe are two ingredients in particular: the pickle brine and the marjoram.
Obviously both offer different benefits to the recipe re: taste, but still very intriguing additions we’re going to have to add to our own egg salad.
Though I must admit we’re also yolk fans here… don’t hate us 🙂
Not hating at all- I love adding the yolks but wanted the copycat to be accurate 😀