An Egg Carton Makes An Ideal Tray For Deviled Eggs In A Pinch

Deviled eggs are a versatile, satisfying, and deliciously classic snack; they're the star of every potluck and the life of every dinner party. Given the myriad ways you can amp up their flavor, deviled eggs are more than a solid choice if you want to impress your potluck host and fellow guests. Unfortunately, they do have one major drawback as a potluck item: With a delicate construction and an emphasis on presentation, deviled eggs are devilishly hard to transport from your kitchen to a party intact. The easiest solution? Clean out a plastic egg carton and use it as an impromptu tray.

Of course, you could buy a reusable and lidded deviled egg tray, but unless you're an avid potluck-goer whose exclusive specialty is deviled eggs, it's reasonable to pass on a hyper-specific tool that will literally serve no other purpose. Reusing a plastic egg carton not only means saving on the cost of a superfluous piece of cabinet clutter, but it also gives the carton another use before it heads to the recycling bin. While not necessarily as aesthetically pleasing as a specialized tray, using plastic egg cartons to transport deviled eggs is the smarter, more frugal, and more efficient way to go.

Ferrying deviled eggs in plastic egg cartons is easy — the hard part is arranging the eggs inside so that your perfectly centered yolks don't get scrambled in the process. Egg cartons are designed to hold an egg vertically in each slot, meaning gravity is very likely to make a mess of your deviled eggs while they're in transit.

The most effective way to avoid this issue is to give your deviled eggs an unconventional spin and cut off their tops instead of halving them. This way, the egg will sit securely in the boiled egg cradle and remain more or less stable while being transported in a plastic carton, barring any bumps or accidents. This does, however, mean that you're altering the eggs' appearance, sacrificing the classic lengthwise cut for transportability. Also worth considering is that this results in a much more egg white-heavy ratio in each bite — depending on your recipe, your personal tastes, and the audience you're serving, this may not be an ideal choice.

Your other two options are to either transport the egg yolks separate from the boiled egg halves in the carton and assemble them on-site, or to just carefully balance the deviled eggs at a slanted angle in the carton and hope for the best.

One extremely important step you have to complete before considering any kind of transportation logistics is to clean the egg carton you intend to use. Simply nestling your deviled eggs in an uncleaned egg carton is a disaster waiting to happen, as egg shells are susceptible to salmonella contamination, per the CDC. While salmonellosis is rarely lethal, the potential symptoms are incredibly unpleasant and range from cramps, nausea, and headaches to more severe reactions like diarrhea and vomiting (via Johns Hopkins Medicine).

So, if you want to avoid potentially endangering your fellow potluck-goers, just give that egg carton a good, thorough wash with warm water and dish detergent. You could even go a step further and lay down some plastic wrap over the egg carton so the deviled eggs don't actually touch the plastic at all. This last tip can also apply to paper egg cartons if you don't have any plastic varieties on hand. In a pinch, you can carefully layer aluminum foil over the slots and under the lid of a paper carton to create a safe, improvised deviled egg holder — just make sure the foil or wrap doesn't shift or tear en route.