Take Your Egg Salad Sandwich To The Next Level With One Simple Tweak

While they may not be the most glamorous, egg salad sandwiches are hearty meals that have become an American deli staple. They're a classic summer picnic dish, a common sight at luncheons, and are a great way to use up leftover hard-boiled eggs. Traditionally made from eggs mixed with condiments and slapped on white bread, the beauty of these sandwiches is in the simplicity — but why not level up by adding a simple upgrade? Swap your soft white bread for garlic toast, and thank us later.

Garlic bread is another culinary classic that is easy to make and enjoy. Not to mention, it will pair perfectly with your egg salad because what doesn't garlic bread taste good with? It also serves as the perfect contrast: The toasted bread adds a crunchy texture to the softness of the egg salad, and the milder creaminess of the savory egg salad balances the sharp, pungent flavor of garlic.

Garlic bread is a piece of cake (slice of bread?) to make: Mix together melted butter and finely minced fresh garlic, and then coat slices of bread in the mixture before toasting. The warm crispiness of the bread is an excellent base for the chilled egg salad, giving you bites that don't just mush together. Spice up the bread with a sprinkle of oregano, dill to match the egg salad, or chili flakes to add some heat to the milder filling. But of course, no great garlic bread recipe is complete without cheese. Try adding some grated romano cheese or mozzarella for an extra layer of flavor to your easy cheesy garlic bread. While not traditional, there are variations of the egg salad sandwich that include cheese, so including it in your garlic bread enhances both parts of the dish.

A good, healthy egg salad also often features other ingredients like dill, red onion, and mustard to create a creamy texture and fresh taste. These earthy ingredients add a mellow undertone that balances the powerful punch of minced garlic on the bread. You can also add celery for more crunch, bacon bits for some added protein, or even chopped pickles to bring out a sour taste.

Making your newly upgraded egg salad sandwiches is easy but does require some finesse. Since egg salad is a denser filling, try adding a layer fairly equal in thickness to your garlic bread to find that perfect bread-to-filling ratio. Your crunchy garlic toast should have a sturdy surface that helps defend against sogginess, which you can also avoid by adding lettuce leaves between the egg salad and bread — but be careful not to overload your sandwich, offsetting the flavor and compromising the construction. Tackle this by using Texas toast — a thicker style of garlic bread, slices of whole wheat bread that tends to be firmer than white bread, or bread with a hard crust, which is what garlic bread is typically made of, like an Italian loaf. 

Another key component to this new style of egg salad sandwich is serving and presentation. These recipe revamps — the added ingredients to your egg salad and the spicy garlic bread upgrades — may be best served open-face so you don't lose any garlic bread toppings. While this does break the egg salad 'sandwich' mold, it allows for extra pretty garnish to display. Some potential garnish ideas are alfalfa sprouts to add more earthy freshness, or you can go the opposite direction and crush up potato chips to sprinkle overtop. Potato chips are a classic side snack served with egg salad, so they could be a nice salty crunch in the creaminess of the salad.