Your Egg Salad Is Begging For Fresh Herbs

Eggs are one of the most versatile foods; there's so much you can do with them. Poaching, scrambling, frying, soft-boiling, hard-boiling, even baking; there's no shortage of options. But one of the most classic egg preparations is egg salad: Hard-boiled eggs, mustard, mayonnaise, some sort of crunchy vegetable like onions or celery — what more do you need?

A lot of things, potentially. Why make a plain old egg salad when you can dial the concept up to 11 with fresh, fragrant herbs? When used judiciously, fresh herbs can open up a whole range of flavors. There are many different herb seasonings you should be using in egg salad, so you're spoiled for choice: Chives, dill, tarragon, basil, or even just parsley are all great options for different reasons. It just comes down to what flavor profile you're targeting.

If you're looking for the herb most commonly associated with egg salad, there's a pretty clear answer: dill. Dill predominates in all sorts of egg salad recipes, and it's easy to see why. Dill's distinctive, vaguely citrus-like yet slightly sweet qualities work well with a variety of dishes, but egg salad in particular as it brightens it up in much the same way as lemon juice (though with a much milder overall flavor). But while many people stop at dill, you have more choices if you're willing to mix it up a bit.

Chives are a classic egg herb choice (an egg scramble with cream cheese and chives is fantastic), which is why they're probably another common herb to see pop up in egg salad recipes. Chives have a slightly spicy taste similar to green onions but milder, which makes them an excellent marriage for any egg salad that might have a bit more of a kick — like, say, one that also includes red onions. You can also substitute the green parts of green onions for chives in a pinch (combine with a bit of parsley's herbaceousness for best results).

Tarragon, meanwhile, has a similar acidic citrus quality to dill but also has a gentle anise flavor you'd be hard-pressed to replicate with anything else. That licorice-like taste is great when used as a counterpoint to egg salad's richer, creamier qualities. While numerous forms of tarragon can work, French tarragon (the most common type) is likely your best bet, as it packs more of a flavor punch than other varieties.

Basil's mildly sweet and spicy qualities, meanwhile, go far better with a wide variety of foods than you might think. It's particularly good in egg salad when balanced against an acid like lemon juice, at which point you're creating a complete, well-rounded taste. Just make sure to chop it finely, as large pieces of basil will overpower the eggs.

If you're looking for something milder, you can't go wrong with parsley. Parsley doesn't bring a ton to the table in terms of potent flavor — overseasoning with parsley is, while possible, certainly less likely than with tarragon — but it does gift food a wonderful herbaceous quality. If you want some of that fresh vibe without a ton of additional flavor to distract from the eggs, parsley is a pretty good choice.

Now, there are probably a few herbs that would be less than ideal. Oregano would be a strange choice unless you're going way, way off the map and adding in tomato sauce for a pizza-style flavor — which sounds pretty good, actually. (Marjoram is certainly an option as an herb with similar but milder qualities to oregano, though.) Rosemary might have some odd effects both in terms of taste and texture. Fresh mint may be vastly underrated as a fish seasoning, but it probably won't mesh with egg salad.

The important thing here is you're not short on options for herbs to zhuzh up your egg salad. Just have a clear idea of what qualities you're going for, and it will all turn out well.