Devilled eggs

4.56 from 9 votes

Recipe video above. Arguably everybody's favourite egg recipe! Easy, affordable party food that's excellent for making ahead.

Making a great one is easy - just don't overcook the eggs, don't use too much mayo and make the filling smooth rather than lumpy. Oh, and use butter rather than oil (creamier, tastier - thank you Julia Child!) and enjoy the nifty trick for boiled eggs with a neatly centred yolk.

Don't worry, they're not spicy. And PS, you don't need to wait until your next party. They make a great meal with a big Garden Salad on the side!

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Boiled eggs cooling5

Total Time43

Course: Party Food

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: devilled eggs, egg recipes

Servings: - 20 pieces

Calories: 59cal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

12 large eggs (50-55g / 2 oz each in shell, fridge cold (Note 1)

Devilled eggs filling (Note 2 for subs):

2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp Tabasco or other hot sauce
1 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp mayonnaise , whole egg mayo preferred, or kewpie
1/4 heaped teaspoon cooking salt / kosher sale (Note 3)
50 g/ 3 tbsp cold unsalted butter , cut into 1 cm / 0.2" cubes

Garnish:

Paprika , regular/sweet, or smoked
1 tbsp chives , finely chopped

Instructions

(ABBREVIATED RECIPE)

Hard boil eggs, halve, blitz yolks with Filling ingredients except butter, then blitz in butter. Pipe (18 - 20 pieces), garnish, serve!

(FULL RECIPE)

Hard boil eggs with centred yolks:

Large pot - Bring a large pot with 15cm / 6 water to the boil. Lower eggs in gently using a spider or slotted spoon. Lower heat a tiny bit if needed to stop the eggs from jostling around so much they crack.
Boil and swirl - Boil eggs for 10 minutes. Swirl the water every minute for the first 6 minutes, using the handle of a wooden spoon. Give the water 4 or 5 fast stirs in one direction to make the water and eggs swirl in the water. The centrifugal force will make the yolks cook centred in the egg white (ie no thin broken egg white walls) (Note 4).
Peel - Fill a sink with cold tap water. Remove eggs from the boiling water using a slotted spoon or spider. Leave for 5 minutes until cool enough to handle. Tap the base then peel under water (it's easier).

Fill devilled eggs:

Remove yolks - Cut eggs in half and remove the yolks using a teaspoon.
Filling - Place the yolks and all filling ingredients EXCEPT butter in a small food processor (Note 5). Blitz until yolks are broken up. Add butter and blitz, scraping down the sides as needed, until the butter is blended through. The filling should be creamy (smear with back of spoon to check).
Choose the best 18 to 20 egg white halves. (Note 6) Brush yolk crumbs off the cut surface.
Pipe - Transfer filling into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle of your choice (I use a star). Fill so it's mounded - I do about the same amount as a whole yolk.
Sprinkle with paprika and chives. Serve! (Best enjoyed at room temperature rather than fridge cold as the filling is creamier.)

Notes

1. "Large eggs" are an industry standard size, sold in cartons labelled "large eggs", 600-660g / 24 oz for a dozen. "Extra large eggs" also ok, but if using jumbo, scale up the filling a touch (move servings slider until mustard increases to 2.5 teaspoons).

2. Filling subs and notes:

Dijon mustard - American mustard but reduce to 1.5 tsp
Tabasco - adds faint background spiciness, but mostly flavour and tang. Can use other hot sauces - Franks hot sauce, sriracha, Mexican hot sauces. Start with less, add more at the end to taste.
Vinegar - sub with red wine vinegar, champagne or sherry vinegar, apple cider vinegar. Last resort - regular white vinegar (halve amount).
Mayonnaise - Whole egg mayo is smoother, less tangy and less sweet. But not a huge deal if it's regular mayo.

3. Salt - For table salt which is much finer, use a heaped 1/8 teaspoon. For sea salt flakes, use a level 1/2 teaspoon.

4. Centred yolks - For devilled eggs, we want the yolks centred as much as possible so we don't end up with thin egg white walls that break when picked up. The swirling technique works about 90/95% - see in post for photo of eggs compared with and without the swirling.

5. Blitzing - I use the small food processor that came with my stick blender. You can also use a handheld electric beater. For hand - use softened butter, mash/stir, then pass through a sieve to make the filling smooth.

6. Quantity - 12 eggs does not make 24 pieces, it makes 20 pieces. Because I don't like to bulk out the filling with excessive amounts of mayo to fill 24. Eat leftover whites or chop up and put in a salad!

Leftovers and make ahead - Excellent for making ahead! Perfect for 2 days, still 95% as good for 3 to 5 days (though garnish fresh, if serving to company). Best to de-chill for creamiest filling, just take out of fridge 30 minutes prior. See FAQ section for more info, including tips on transporting your eggs safely!

Nutrition per piece, assuming 20 pieces.

Nutrition