Eli Zabar’s Egg Salad Sandwich

Recipe from E.A.T.

Adapted by Elaine Louie

Updated Sept. 12, 2025

Eli Zabar’s Egg Salad Sandwich
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(2,467)
Comments
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In 1975, Eli Zabar, the owner of E.A.T., Eli's at the Vinegar Factory and numerous restaurants and markets throughout the city, invented what he calls the platonic ideal of an egg salad sandwich. He did it by eliminating half the egg whites. During this period, he was into simplicity, he said, and he wanted to get to the essential “egginess” of egg salad. The recipe remains unchanged more than 40 years later. But what of all the leftover hard-cooked egg whites? E.A.T. sells them as chopped egg white salad in two versions: plain, and dressed with mayonnaise and dill. Waste not, want not. —Elaine Louie

Featured in: Debate in an Eggshell: Yolks vs. Whites

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Ingredients

Yield:2 sandwiches
  • 8large eggs
  • ⅓cup mayonnaise
  • Salt
  • pepper
  • 1tablespoon chopped fresh dill
  • 4slices bread
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)

714 calories; 51 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 15 grams monounsaturated fat; 23 grams polyunsaturated fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 32 grams protein; 781 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put the eggs in a medium pan and cover them with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 minutes. Place pan in the sink under cold running water until the eggs are cool.

  2. Step 2

    Peel the eggs. Remove the yolks from 4 of them (save the whites for another use). Chop the 4 yolks with the 4 remaining whole eggs.

  3. Step 3

    In a medium bowl, gently and quickly mix the chopped eggs, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the dill, mix the egg salad once more, and make into sandwiches.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
2,467 user ratings
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Comments

Alyce Mantia Price

Here in the Memphis area is a spread I've never encountered elsewhere: "Egg 'n' Olive." To the above recipe add a couple of tablespoons of chopped green olives, the pimiento stuffed kind, drained. Give it a try!

Joan Abnett

Here in Australia, we often add a good quality curry powder to this, quite nice actually. A little finely minced onion is also a nice addition

akc

Make the egg salad exactly as it is written. Just once, and then comment about how it could be better. I think it’s simply transcendent.

Katherine Johansen

To properly cook eggs for egg salad place no more than 5 eggs with water to cover them in a pan and bring the water to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat and cover when water starts to boil. This prevents the eggs from turning green. The green color is due to sulfur, which leaches out of the yolk and settles on the yolk skin when eggs are heated too high. If you are cooking more than 5 eggs at a time you'll need to extend the time the eggs soak in the hot water by a few more minutes.

Zen

Halving the egg whites sounds smart. I'll try it.

DS

Sorry folks, if you want the taste of eggs in an egg salad sandwich why add dill?

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Credits

Adapted from E.A.T., Manhattan

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