banner

Deviled Eggs Recipe

| April 1, 2013 | 15 Comments

Deviled Eggs, serve and enjoy.
Follow this step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe to make our Deviled Eggs.  A true Southern favorite for family get together’s, church meeting – dinner on the grounds, or any time a quick and easy appetizer is needed.  Deviled Eggs are so versatile.  Make our basic recipe, or spice it up a bit by adding some of your favorite things like bacon, olives, peppers and so much more.  A printable recipe is always included.

 

Deviled Egss Recipe
Deviled Eggs Recipe

 

Deviled Eggs:  Its a strange name for one of the more popular dishes, served most any time church folks gather at their place of worship, to fellowship together with a meal.  Even with the name, you’ll be hard pressed not to find it on the table anytime a church social is held.  Most of the time it’ll even be sitting pretty in a special dish made for transporting and showing it off in all it’s “glory.”  How many other dishes do you know of that have their own special plate?

The name goes back to around the 18th century as a way to describe foods that were spicy and included eggs that were prepared with mustard and/or, pepper.  And, even though we claim them as our own here in the south, Wikipedia states the dish may go back as far as ancient Rome.  Who knew?

I think we may claim the more simple version of the eggs though.  That’s what this recipe is all about… keeping it simple.  They are extremely versatile though in how they are often made.  You just didn’t find any Deviled Eggs that contained “caviar or salmon,” at any of the dinner on the grounds church events that I ever attended.  We just always enjoyed them straight and simple.

Like their cakes, most Southern cooks take great pride in how well they made Deviled Eggs.  You wouldn’t think there could be much variance in them considering the few ingredients, but gaining bragging rights for making great Deviled Eggs is a long sought after reputation builder.  It’s all in how much of this or that ingredient you add that can make a difference.

For me, they have to be made with Duke’s Mayonnaise to even fall into consideration.  Enough said!

If you’ve never made them, they’re very simple to do.  The biggest problem most folks have is in how to peel the eggs and keep them whole.  You can find 101 different ways on how to hard boil eggs and peel them.  I’ll just show you the way mama did hers and let you explore all the other ways on your own later.  Create our simple and basic recipe below first.  After that, you can expand your horizons and try out all kinds of other ingredients to create your very own special rendition of Deviled Eggs.  Ready to give it a go?  Then… Let’s Get Cooking!

 

Deviled Eggs, the ingredients.
Deviled Eggs Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

 

Deviled Eggs, place eggs in a sauce pot.
Place the eggs in a deep sauce pot and let them come up to room temperature before proceeding.  This takes about 30 minutes or so to just let them rest and then you can proceed.  It’s also best to use eggs that are about 5-7 days old when making Deviled Eggs.  Really fresh eggs tend to be a little more difficult to peel.

 

Deviled Eggs, cover with cold water.
Fill the pot with cold water, enough to cover the eggs about one inch.

 

Deviled Eggs, add some salt.
Add about one teaspoon of salt to the water.  Supposedly, this will help keep the eggs from cracking open as they boil.  Mama used salt but it seems a lot of other folks like to use baking soda instead… or even a little vinegar.

 

Deviled Eggs,
Place the pot on a cold burner.  Turn the heat on to Medium-High and let the water come to a rolling boil.  Once the water reaches the boiling point, set a timer and let the eggs boil for TWO MINUTES ONLY.

Please follow the cooking and rest times carefully.  You want the eggs to be hard boiled but not over cooked.  Over cooking eggs causes the yolks to turn dark green in color or, it could leave a green ring around the area of the white where the yolk was resting.

The process is simple.  You boil the eggs for two minutes.  Then, you cover the pot and remove it from heat.  The eggs will continue to cook in the hot water for 15 minutes and then you drain the hot water off and plunge them into cold water.  The steps for doing this are below.

 

Deviled Eggs, cover and remove from heat.
After two minutes, cover the pot and REMOVE it from the heat.  Do not let it sit on the hot burner.  Take it off and set it on a cold burner or a trivet to let the eggs continue to cook as the water cools down for 15 MINUTES.

 

Subscribe to our Free Newsletter.
While the eggs are cooling down, I hope you’ll subscribe to our Newsletter for weekly updates about Taste of Southern.  You’ll find a signup box on the top right hand side of this page or, at the bottom of this page.  Now, back to our recipe…

 

Deviled Eggs, drain the hot water off.
After 15 MINUTES, drain off the hot water.

 

Deviled Eggs,
Run some cold water into the pot and cover the eggs again.  Some folks like to add ice cubes to the water so the eggs will cool quickly.  I find that just draining off the water and filling the pot again with cold water comes pretty close to doing the same thing.

Years back, folks didn’t have the luxury of ice makers in their home refrigerators.  Cold water, as it comes straight from the faucet was used and, you just repeated the process a time or two to quickly cool the eggs down.  You can just let them sit in the water for a few minutes until they get cool enough to handle without burning your fingers.

 

Deviled Eggs, roll and crack the egg.
When the eggs are cooled enough to handle, take one and, tap the big round end on your counter top or sink.  Place the egg under your hand and gently roll it to crack the shell all over.

 

Deviled Eggs, begin to peel.
Start at the big end of the egg and gently pull away the shell.  Just under the shell is a very thin membrane that you want to get under as it will make peeling the egg fairly easy.  The big end of the egg has a small air pocket and you can best get under this membrane by starting in this area.  Once you’re under it, the shell will normally pull right away.  If you don’t get under it, you’ll know it, and will struggle to remove the shell.  Fresher eggs are harder to peel because of this membrane which is why we suggest you use eggs that are about 5-7 days old.

 

Deviled Eggs,
Sometimes, it helps to just try and peel them under cool running water.  If you’re having problems, try this.  Most of the time though, I’ll just dip them back into the pot of water to get them wet again.  I find that works pretty good.

 

Deviled Eggs, peeled.
Once you’ve slipped the shell off the egg, rinse the cooked egg under cool running water and set it aside.

 

Deviled Eggs, all peeled.
Repeat the process until all the eggs are peeled.  More than likely, you’ll have one or two that just don’t want to play right.  I always boil one or two more than I need just to be safe.  Besides, you’re going to sample them when you finish and you don’t want an empty spot on that egg plate now do you?  Having an extra one also insures you have plenty of “filling” for your finished eggs.

 

Deviled Eggs, slice in half.
Take a sharp knife and slice each egg in half lengthwise.  If the yolk sticks to your blade, wipe it with a damp paper towel after each cut to keep them all looking good.

 

Deviled Eggs, gently squeeze.
Gently squeeze the backside of each egg half and pop the yolk out.  If they don’t pop right out, you can also take a spoon and gently remove the yolk from the white.  Use caution so you don’t tear the egg white apart.  If one does split, you can just add it into the yolks and mix it in with the rest of the yolk mixture in the steps below.

 

Deviled Eggs, all the yolks.
Repeat the process until you have all the yolks in the bowl.

 

Deviled Eggs, all the egg whites.
Place all the egg whites on a large plate and set them aside.

 

Deviled Eggs, mash the yolks.
Take the back of a fork and mash up all of the egg yolks.

 

Deviled Eggs,
Now, add the Mayonnaise.  (I just hope you’re adding Duke’s Mayonnaise.)  Smile

 

Deviled Eggs, add the mustard.
Add the Mustard.

 

Deviled Eggs, add salt.
Add the Salt.

 

Deviled Eggs, add Black Pepper to taste.
Sprinkle on some Black Pepper.

 

Deviled Eggs, add the relish.
I chopped up some of my Sweet Pickles that I made last summer to use in place of the Sweet Relish.

 

Deviled Eggs, add the relish.
Add the Sweet Pickle Relish to the bowl.  These slightly bigger pieces of pickle also give the finished product a little crunch when you bite into them.  I kind of like that.

 

Deviled Eggs, mix well.
Mix all the ingredients well with your fork.  Give it a taste and see if it needs a little more of one of the ingredients.  Adjust as needed to suit your taste preference.

 

Deviled Eggs, add to Ziplock type bag.
At this point, you could just go ahead and spoon the mixture into your egg bowls.  Or, spoon the mixture into a Zip-lock type plastic bag and close it up.

 

Deviled Eggs, clip the corner.
Using some scissors, clip off one of the corners of the bag.

 

Deviled Eggs, fill the egg cups.
Squeeze enough of the mixture into each of the egg whites to fill it up and above the top.

Some folks like to use pastry bags with cake decorating tips to make their eggs look a little more fancy.  If you think you’d like to do this, reduce the amount of Mayonnaise that you add in the beginning so the mixture will be much thicker.  You’ll need it somewhat drier and thicker in order for it to hold its shape once you start to pipe it out into the egg bowls.

 

Deviled Eggs, garnish with some paprika.
Sprinkle the tops with a little Paprika to give them some added color.  I suggest you sprinkle them before you place them on your Deviled Egg Platter if you’re using one of those, especially if its white.  It will make for a cleaner looking presentation to not have the dish covered with Paprika.

 

Deviled Eggs, serve and enjoy.
Serve and Enjoy!

As I mentioned at the start of this recipe, Deviled Eggs are very versatile and can be made in so many different ways.  This is just a simple and basic recipe to get you started.  You can make them as spicy as you like by topping them with Jalapeno Peppers, or good and savory with some chopped bacon, spring onions, sliced olives and… the list just goes on and on.  I hope you’ll give them a try and be sure to leave us a comment in the section below to tell us how you like them.

 

Print
clock clock icon cutlery cutlery icon flag flag icon folder folder icon instagram instagram icon pinterest pinterest icon print print icon squares squares icon
Deviled Eggs Recipe on Taste of Southern.com

Deviled Eggs Recipe

  • Author: Steve Gordon
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 12 Servings 1x
  • Category: Side Dishes
  • Method: Stove Top
  • Cuisine: American

Description

Follow this step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe to make our Deviled Eggs. A true Southern favorite for family get togethers, church meeting dinner on the grounds or, any time a quick and easy appetizer is needed. Deviled Eggs are so versatile. Make our basic recipe or, spice it up a bit by adding some of your favorite things like bacon, olives, peppers and so much more.


Scale

Ingredients

  • 7 Eggs
  • ¼ cup Duke’s Mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon Yellow Mustard
  • 1 Tablespoon Sweet Pickle Relish
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • Pepper to taste
  • Paprika for garnish, if desired

Instructions

  1. Bring eggs to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
  2. Place eggs in a deep sauce pot.
  3. Cover eggs with about one inch of cold water.
  4. Place eggs over medium-high heat and bring to a rolling boil.
  5. Let boil for 2 minutes, cover with tight fitting lid, remove from heat.
  6. Let sit for 15 minutes.
  7. Drain hot water off the eggs.
  8. Fill sauce pan with cold water, covering eggs again with about one inch of water.
  9. Carefully peel the shells away from the eggs and rinse eggs under cool running water.
  10. Slice each egg in half, lengthwise
  11. Gently squeeze eggs to remove the yolks, place yolks in a bowl and sit white portions aside.
  12. Mash the yolks with a fork.
  13. Add Mayo.
  14. Add Mustard.
  15. Add Sweet Pickle Relish.
  16. Add Salt
  17. Add Black or White Pepper, to taste, as desired.
  18. Mix everything together well.
  19. Add mixture to a Ziplock bag, clip tip of one corner off.
  20. Squeeze egg mixture into egg white halves.
  21. Sprinkle with paprika or garnish as desired.
  22. Serve and enjoy!

Keywords: Deviled Eggs Recipe, made from scratch, southern, old fashioned, Duke's Mayonnaise, southern recipes

 

Your Comments:  How many Deviled Eggs can you eat at one time?  Do you like them fairly simple, like ours or, do you prefer them all spiced up and fancy?  I’d love to hear your comments about our recipe and maybe some of the memories you have of enjoying Deviled Eggs at some special occasions.  It will only take a minute or two of your time to share your comments, and you just might help one of our readers decide whether or not they want to give our recipe a try.  Please note that all comments are moderated.  That just means that I personally read each and every comment before its approved for our family-friendly home here on the Internet.  I also try to respond to as many comments as possible so be sure to check back soon for my reply.  I’d love to hear from you and I’ll just say Thank You, in advance, for sharing your comments with us.

Subscribe to our Newsletter:  Before you leave, be sure to sign-up for our Newsletter.  Each week, I’ll send you a quick note to let you know that I’ve posted another recipe here on Taste of Southern.  It’s a great way to keep up with whats happening with us and I promise I’ll not share your Email address with anyone else.  I also hope you’ll at least share your first name with me when you sign-up.  It will take less than a minute and you can use the box below or at the top right hand side of this page.

Thank you for your support and I invite you to stop by for another visit with us again… real soon.

Be Blessed!!!
Steve

..

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Category: Appetizers, Side Dishes

About the Author ()

Award Winning Food Preservationist, Fisherman, Author of three cookbooks. "From Mama's Big Oval Table, From Mama's Big Oval Table - BOOK TWO and Carolina Christmas Sweets and Appetizers." Online Contributor to Our State Magazine Newsletter.

Comments (15)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Cindi Grimes says:

    How far in advance can deviled eggs be prepared? Thanks!

    • Steve Gordon says:

      Hi Cindi, You should be able to make them one to two days ahead of time. It’s best if you prepare your mixture, then keep it in a separate container. Keep the egg whites in a separate container as well, and then spoon the deviled egg mixture into the egg white portions shortly before serving. I hope this helps. Thank you for the question, and I do hope you’ll stop by again… real soon. Be Blessed!!! -Steve

  2. Linda says:

    If you are open for something new try adding a little bit of worchestshire sauce it is soooooooooo good!

  3. Charlotte Horn says:

    Hello, I enjoy reading your recipes! Your recipe for Deviled Eggs is one of own recipes (I too use Duke’s as well.). The only variation is that I also use a little horse radish (secret ingredient.) No one knows what the slightest mild kick (in addition to paprika) is, but they are always a hit!

  4. Those are some good looking deviled eggs! I’ve been looking for a new recipe to try and this might be it. Pinned! Thank you

  5. camilla says:

    Oh my goodness that first question! How many deviled eggs can you eat? Well, first tell me how many you have! I could embarrass my self here.I was born and raised in Edisto, S.C. on deviled eggs exactly(eggsactly) like this. I was taught early that if the filling was spicy, they were deviled. If it wasn’t, they were “stuffed”. I believe, like many Southerners, I have eaten just about 1,000 variations, but simple is best. I love your recipes and your stories. Thank you for keeping the old recipes alive. They are our connection to the past.

  6. Maren says:

    I love your blog. God bless

  7. Yvonne says:

    Hi, Steve,
    I enjoyed the Deviled Egg recipe tho’ I make mine by instinct. They have to have the mayonnaise (never Miracle Whip), mustard, and a mix of sweet and dill pickles. I even fill mine the same way with an end snipped off of a zip lock bag. Here in Hoosier Land(Indiana), I don’t see much Duke’s Mayonnaise, but when I do finally come across it, I’m grabbing a jar. I can’t think of these eggs without remembering a sweet friend who was also the wife of minister. She referred to these eggs as “dressed eggs.” It made me smile and even under a different name they tasted just as good. Now, off to check my beans as they cook with a ham bone and trim the blackberries.
    Happy eating,
    Yvonne

    • Bill says:

      Yvonne, know I’m a little (alot;) late to the party, but Kroger now carries Duke’s Mayo. but you should really try making homemade. It’s so delish! And only takes a few minutes.

  8. Marilyn says:

    Hi Steve,

    I’m a new receiver of your newsletter, but have been visiting Taste of Southern for a few years. I am a native Charlotteon, born and raised here, live in a small town adjacent to Charlotte, don’t know were one begins and the other ends. I have made your tomato pie, using you pie crust recipe, (had never made a home-made crust before), your chili recipe using Neese’s Sausage instead of beef, (we don’t eat it), some other things. Your Deviled Egg recipe is just like my mother-in-laws. I use my mother’s recipe, mayo (Hellman’s in my house, just sayin) and French’s mustard, no salt or pepper, but use Lawry’s Seasoned salt on top in place of the paprika, salt or pepper. Everyone in my family (boys and spouses) likes it including mother-in-law and husband who had not grown up eating it this way.

    Love your newsletter, sorry I waited so long to sign up, keep them coming.

    Thanks, Marilyn

  9. Kathleen Mc says:

    I love deviled eggs, but JFG mayonnaise is my favorite kind. The little bit of sweetness helps.
    Also, it’s an extra expense, but I’ve found a real pastry bag gives a more professional/fancy look than using a zip lock bag.

  10. RoShawn Rugnao says:

    Hello, I really enjoyed reading some of your very informational recipes. I am going to attempt your deviled eggs right now. I was cooking neck bones for tonight’s dinner anyway but I never thought to serve gravy with them. My mother is from Louisiana & although she’s not into cooking like I am, she did make sure I knew the basics. Gravy (by weights), how to fry chicken, food groups, how to stretch a meal to feed a large family, etc. I’m optimistic that your recipes will provide the southern seasoning that is in my heritage but missing in my cooking. I’ll let you know how I do. Thank you for your posts.

  11. Kathie Tolson says:

    Make these allll the time! Exactly like this! The only thing I do differently (learned from my great-grandmother), just spoon the filling in with a teaspoon and then take the spoon and turn it upside down, spreading the filling out to cover the entire top of the egg white half. Yes, paprika is a must, but she taught me to always sprinkle in the palm of my hand, first, and with the other hand, sprinkle lightly over the eggs. The trick here is to not get globs of paprika on them and how that’s done is to hold your hand waaaay above the plate of eggs. It just kind of rains lightly dusting them. So pretty! 🙂

  12. Judi Goodrich says:

    Hi Steve,
    First of all, I want to thank you for taking the time, and effort to write your blog. I always enjoy reading it.
    I was born in Cincinnati but my Mom was a Southern cook. I now reside in California by way of Long Island, a while in London, then back to California. I am still pretty much a Southern cook, and well known for my Deviled Eggs. They are always requested at parties. They are much like your recipe with the exception of adding Coleman’s Mustard and vinegar. It gives them a bit of bite.
    Question?? My Mother-in-Law used to make a Sugar Pie. I loved it, and never got the recipe. She has now passed on, and I wonder if this is something you are familiar with. She is from Indiana, and it may be more of a mid-western thing. Anything you know about this would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks again,

    Judi

    • Steve Gordon says:

      Hi Judy, Thank you for your question. I’ve never made a Sugar Pie personally. There are a good number of recipes for them on the Internet, so maybe we can test one out before too long. It just wasn’t something we had when I was growing up. Sounds interesting though, so thank you for the suggestion.

      Looks like you’ve been blessed to do some world travels, sounds like military perhaps? I do appreciate your comments and the hints on the Deviled Eggs. Something else I’ll need to try. I’m thankful you found Taste of Southern. I do hope you’ll stop by for another visit with us… real soon. Be Blessed!!! -Steve

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *