How to Make Deviled Eggs: A Step-by-Step Guide

Learn how to make classic deviled eggs so you can then come up with creative versions to impress your dinner or picnic guests.

These popular little finger foods are just so easy to love. And, lucky us, they're almost as easy to make as they are to gobble up. Here's how to make the best deviled eggs, from boiling or hard-cooking the eggs to stuffing them with creative fillings.

How to Make Deviled Eggs Step-by-Step

Classic Savory Deviled Eggs
naples34102

Follow these simple steps to make perfect deviled eggs every time.

1. Boil the Eggs

  • There's basically one big trick to know about how to make deviled eggs: Start with perfectly hard-boiled eggs. Once you've mastered the hard-cooked egg, there are tons of variations on the deviled egg.
  • Use up older eggs (one or two weeks old) for boiled eggs; they peel much easier than fresh-from-the-farm eggs. Save the farm-fresh eggs for scrambles and such.

2. Peel, Slice, Pop

  • Peel the eggs under cold running water. The rushing water helps slip the shells loose, too.
  • Slice the eggs lengthwise into long mirror-image halves.
  • Pop out the yolks with your fingers or spoon them out and into a bowl. Reserve the whites (cups-up) on a plate, covered with a damp paper towel.

3. Prepare the Filling

  • Give the yolks a quick preliminary mashing with a fork.
  • For basic deviled eggs, add mayonnaise and mustard, salt and pepper. The mustard and mayo are pretty standard additions. And you don't need much more than that for a delicious deviled egg. But this is where you can go egg-wild with creativity.
  • Start with a basic mixture, and then divide it up and riff away with various additional ingredients and flavor combos. Chef John adds a little hot sauce and cream cheese to his Deviled Eggs, which creates a wonderfully luxurious texture.
  • To brighten the flavor, add a little acid to the mix. Vinegar (rice vinegar, Champagne vinegar, white vinegar, whatever kind you like) or lemon juice will add some snap to your deviled eggs.
  • Whatever filling ingredients you choose, mix them together until the filling is smooth and the texture is to your liking. You can often adjust the texture by adding a touch more mayo or mustard. Can't do mayo? That's cool, we've got you covered — with a complete collection of no-mayo deviled eggs.

4. Pipe and Serve

  • Once the filling meets your exacting standards, scoop it into a piping bag — or make your own piping bag by cutting the corner out of a basic zip-top bag. Then pipe the filling back into the empty wells of the egg whites — if you want to get a little fancy, use a star tip. Or just use a small spoon to scoop all the good stuff into the little wells.
  • Chill your deviled eggs in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before serving. We understand, deviled eggs are nearly impossible to keep from snacking on. Resist to the best of your ability...and after 20 minutes, go for it!

Get the Recipe: Classic Savory Deviled Eggs

How to Make Colored Deviled Eggs

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Easter Deviled Eggs | Photo by lutzflcat.

Add a pop of color to your appetizer tray by dyeing hard cooked eggs with a dash of food coloring. You can customize the colors to suit any holiday or special occasion. Here's how to do it.

  1. Cook, cool, and peel your eggs.
  2. Cut eggs in half lengthwise and scoop out yolks. Set aside to mash.
  3. To dye the whites, make a separate bowl for each color. Add 1 cup of water and 4 dashes of food coloring to each bowl. Mix thoroughly and add the whites. Let steep until the whites are colored to your liking. Add a little more food coloring to the water if the whites are too pale.
  4. Drain and dry before filling with the yolk mixture.

Try these variations on colored eggs:

Deviled Egg Recipes

deviled eggs up close on blue background
Chef Mo

Hungry for more inspiration? Try one of our most popular deviled egg recipes of all time:

Check out our collection of Deviled Egg recipes.

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