This Whole30-friendly, make-ahead Bacon Deviled Egg Salad is perfect for picnics and packed lunches. Topped with bacon, this keto-friendly dish is sure to be a crowd-pleaser!
Easier than making Deviled Eggs
Longtime readers know that I’m not patient enough to roll up my sleeves and make real deviled eggs—you know the kind, with elaborately piped yolks and prettily garnished tops. That’s why I slouched my way into coming up with a Lazy Devils recipe. Still, I love the flavor-profile of traditional deviled eggs—slightly piquant and creamy—and when they’re topped with crispy bacon bites, I devour ’em like porky candy.
So I decided to put on my big-girl pants and actually make some deviled eggs for once. I put on my apron, dug my pastry bag and decorative tips out of my messy kitchen junk drawer, and cracked my knuckles. TIME TO DO SOME WORK, MICHELLE!
But then, about halfway through—right around the time I was popping the yolks out of my hard-cooked eggs to make a big bowl of filling—I realized something: WHO CARES? Seriously: Every time I see a plate of beautifully prepared deviled eggs, I spend about zero total seconds admiring the way they look before popping them into my open mouth. So unless the Queen of England is coming over for tea, all I care about is the way these babies taste.
So what’s a short-cutter like me supposed to do? Answer: Put away all the extra equipment and make a big bowl of Bacon Deviled Egg Salad instead!
This Bacon Deviled Egg Salad is perfect for summer barbecues!
This Whole30-friendly, make-ahead egg salad is one of my summer BBQ staple side dishes. Like traditional deviled eggs, I start with hard-cooked eggs and pop out the yolks to make a smooth and tangy base. However, instead of carefully piping the sunshine-colored filling back into a bunch of halved egg whites, I simply chop up the whites and add some herbs and flavor boosters to transform it into my favorite egg salad. It’s even simpler to make if you already have pre-cooked eggs in your fridge.
Make it Ahead of Time
You can store the egg salad in the fridge for up to 4 days—just don’t add the sprouts and bacon bits until you’re ready to serve!
Now, let’s whip up my Bacon Deviled Egg Salad recipe and make you the star of your neighborhood block parties!
Time to make Bacon Deviled Egg Salad!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 10 large eggs
- 4 ounces bacon, chilled in freezer for 20 minutes
- ⅓ cup homemade Paleo mayonnaise or Primal Kitchen Mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 large shallot, minced (about ¼ cup)
- ¼ cup minced fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
- 1½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt (use ½ the amount if you’re using a fine grain salt)
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- lettuce leaves (optional)
- ½ cup sprouts (optional)
- Small sweet peppers (optional)
Equipment:
- Large bowl
- Medium bowl
- Steamer insert
- Large saucepan or Instant Pot
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
Method:
Hard cook your eggs the old-fashioned way, in a steamer, or in a pressure cooker. (I won’t tell anyone if you buy the pre-cooked peeled eggs at the store.)
For those of you who don’t have a pressure cooker, steaming your eggs is another cooking method that makes them super easy to peel. I follow this technique from Serious Eats, which involves filling a large pot with an inch of water, plopping in a steamer insert, covering the pot, and bringing the water to a boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, carefully arrange the eggs in a single layer in the steamer insert. Cover the pot and steam the eggs for 12 minutes.
When the eggs are finished cooking, scoop ’em out with a slotted spoon and transfer them to an ice bath to chill for at least 5 minutes.
While the eggs are cooking, slice the chilled bacon crosswise into ¼-inch pieces. Toss the bacon slices into a large cast iron skillet and crank the heat up to medium. Slowly render the bacon until the grease is released and the bits get crunchy (around 15 to 20 minutes).
Transfer the crispy bacon bits onto a paper towel-lined plate and set aside to cool.
Peel the eggs…
…and cut them in half, lengthwise.
Pop out the yolks into a bowl…
…and add the mayonnaise, mustard, and lemon juice.
Stir and smush, until mostly smooth.
Roughly chop the egg whites…
…and add them to the bowl along with the minced shallots, parsley, chives, salt and pepper.
Mix carefully to combine. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
Scoop into serving bowls (and line with lettuce leaves if desired). Top with sprouts and crispy bacon bits.
Serve!
I know—some of you are probably upset that I never ended up making deviled eggs after all. Well, if you really feel like stuffing something, I recommend spooning your egg salad into mini sweet bell peppers. The peppers offer a brightly sweet and crunchy balance to the creamy, rich egg salad.
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Bacon Deviled Egg Salad
Ingredients
- 10 large eggs
- 4 ounces bacon chilled in freezer for 20 minutes
- ⅓ cup homemade Paleo mayonnaise or Primal Kitchen Mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 large shallot minced (about ¼ cup)
- ¼ cup minced fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
- 1½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt use ½ the amount if you're using a fine grain salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- lettuce leaves optional
- ½ cup sprouts optional
- Small sweet peppers optional
Instructions
- Hard cook your eggs the old-fashioned way, in a steamer, or in a pressure cooker. (I won't tell anyone if you buy the pre-cooked peeled eggs at the store.)
- For those of you who don’t have a pressure cooker, steaming your eggs is another cooking method that makes them super easy to peel. I follow this technique from Serious Eats, which involves filling a large pot with an inch of water, plopping in a steamer insert, covering the pot, and bringing the water to a boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, carefully arrange the eggs in a single layer in the steamer insert. Cover the pot and steam the eggs for 12 minutes.
- When the eggs are finished cooking, scoop ’em out with a slotted spoon and transfer them to an ice bath to chill for at least 5 minutes.
- While the eggs are cooking, slice the chilled bacon crosswise into ¼-inch pieces. Toss the bacon slices into a large cast iron skillet and crank the heat up to medium. Slowly render the bacon until the grease is released and the bits get crunchy (around 15 to 20 minutes).
- Transfer the crispy bacon bits onto a paper towel-lined plate and set aside to cool.
- Peel the eggs and cut them in half, lengthwise. Pop out the yolks into a bowl and add the mayonnaise, mustard, and lemon juice. Stir and smush, until mostly smooth.
- Roughly chop the egg whites and add them to the bowl along with the minced shallots, parsley, chives, salt and pepper.
- Mix carefully to combine. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
- Scoop into serving bowls lined with lettuce leaves, if desired. Top with sprouts and crispy bacon bits.
- If you really feel like stuffing something, I recommend spooning your egg salad into mini sweet bell peppers. The peppers offer a brightly sweet and crunchy balance to the creamy, rich egg salad.
- You can store the egg salad in the fridge for up to 4 days—just don’t add the sprouts and bacon bits until you’re ready to serve!
Mary Frances from Toronto says
I finally used my Instant Pot to make perfect hard “boiled” (cooked) eggs following your instructions, Michelle – what a game changer! You were absolutely right … 20 minutes from start to finish. But the best part was how easy they are to peel. With 2 teenagers in the house it’s important to have ready-to-eat sources of protein in the fridge. An extra dozen easy-peel hard-cooked eggs fit the bill! Thanks.
nomnompaleo says
Right? Game changer!
Nora Ann Blankenship says
So where in the world do you get whole30-friendly bacon? I’ve been looking for awhile and can’t find any. I wanted to try this!
nomnompaleo says
You can buy sugar-free bacon at most Whole Foods and Sprouts stores. Pederson’s and Wellshire Farms are two common brands. Also, you can buy it online at US Wellness Meats. (If I’m not doing a Whole30, I don’t worry about the small amount of sugar in good bacon.)
Jessica Roberts Snoberger says
I found Pederson’s at Harris Teeter…
Mary says
Michelle, Have you seen the “boiled egg loaf” that folks online are making by cracking the raw eggs into a Pot-in-Pot and pressure cooking them? If we did that, we wouldn’t even have to peel the eggs at all. Then, we could “carve out” the yolks to “devil” – or we could try separating them into two stacked “pots” before cooking. Or, would the result be the same if we just chopped up the whole thing with the dry ingredients and then added all the wet ingredients, and mixed it all up, then topped with the bacon? Would that be simpler? Or would it end up mushy or too lumpy or something?
nomnompaleo says
I’ve never seen the loaf! I’ll Google it!
Anna says
I don’t know – to me, a big part of the appeal of deviled eggs is the form: that single, whole piece of smooth, silky white, with the dollop of creamy, piquant yolk as contrast. Chopped-up whites and yolks mushed together are a whole lot less appealing to me. Also less convenient at a party: who wants to scoop wet, loose mush into a lettuce leaf as a finger food? I mean, it’s fine if you like it this way, but I think you’re seriously underrating the virtues of a traditional deviled egg.
nomnompaleo says
No, I agree with you. I love deviled eggs and bow down to whomever wants to make them for me.
ericasullivan says
I made this for dinner last night and we really liked it! (On Sundays, I make ten hardboiled eggs to eat for breakfast during the week, so it was easy to add in another ten for this recipe, and I pre-peeled them to save time for weeknight dinner!)
We ate it on top of a big bowl of fresh baby spinach. The lettuce in the photos looks lovely, but I find it tiresome to try and chop up greens while I’m eating.
Yum, and thanks!
Romas David says
Great recipe. I actually really appreciate this amazing recipe. I will make it for my family. Thanks!
Vhm says
Best egg salad I’ve ever eaten in my life. And not just because of the bacon, as I tried it with and without, 5 stars plus.