Gordon Ramsay’s egg salad swaps heavy mayo for natural yoghurt, making it lighter and sharper than the classic version. Hard-boiled eggs get folded with Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, fresh dill and diced celery, then served on a bed of baby spinach. Serves 4 in about 15 minutes.
Ramsay’s Egg Mayonnaise and Spinach Sandwich in Ultimate Fit Food gives us everything we need here. His yoghurt-based egg mayo served over leaves instead of between bread makes a proper salad with half the calories of the classic version.
His 10-minute hard boil is the technique that matters. Go shorter and the yolks stay jammy, which falls apart in a salad. At 10 minutes they’re firm enough to dice cleanly but still creamy, so the pieces hold their shape when tossed through the dressing.
Gordon Ramsay Egg Salad
Course: SaladCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalBuilt from Gordon’s yoghurt-based egg mayo technique in Ultimate Fit Food. Lighter than traditional egg salad with no mayonnaise, just yoghurt, mustard and fresh herbs. Around 70p per serving.
Ingredients
- For the Egg Salad:
6 eggs
4 tbsp natural or Greek yoghurt
1½ tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Squeeze of lemon juice
3 dill sprigs, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely diced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- To Serve:
4 handfuls of baby spinach leaves, washed
Finely diced gherkins (optional, Ramsay’s suggestion)
Directions
- Boil the eggs: Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, then gently lower in the eggs. Boil for exactly 10 minutes, then transfer to a bowl of cold water with ice until completely cool. This timing gives you firm whites and creamy yolks that dice cleanly.
- Make the dressing: While the eggs cool, put the yoghurt, cider vinegar, mustard, lemon juice and chopped dill into a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and stir until well combined.
- Combine: Peel the cooled eggs and dice them, or mash roughly with a fork if you prefer a chunkier texture. Add the eggs and diced celery to the yoghurt mixture and fold everything together. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Serve: Arrange the spinach leaves on plates and spoon the egg salad on top. Add finely diced gherkins if you like, which Ramsay suggests as an optional extra that works particularly well here.
FAQs
Can I use this as a sandwich filling instead?
That’s actually how Ramsay serves it in the original Fit Food recipe. He piles the egg mixture onto wholemeal bread with a handful of baby spinach, so switching between salad and sandwich is just a matter of swapping the plate for some toast. Either way, the yoghurt-based filling stays creamy without the heaviness of mayo.
Why use yoghurt instead of mayonnaise?
Ramsay says it makes the egg salad “a much lighter choice than a shop-bought egg sarnie.” Standard mayo is oil and egg yolks, so replacing it with natural yoghurt cuts the fat significantly while adding a tang that lifts the whole thing. The mustard and cider vinegar do the rest of the heavy lifting on flavour.
How long should I boil the eggs?
Ramsay uses different times across his books depending on what he needs. For this egg salad it’s 10 minutes for fully firm yolks that dice neatly. In his tuna nicoise he drops to 7 minutes for a slightly softer centre, and his soft-boiled eggs with anchovy soldiers in UHC are just 4 and a half minutes.
The ice bath afterwards is just as important because it stops the cooking instantly and prevents that grey-green ring around the yolk.
What goes well alongside this egg salad?
It works as a light lunch on its own with some crusty bread, or as a side with grilled salmon for a protein-packed meal. For something more filling, serve it next to a Sunday roast where it does the job of both salad and sauce.
How long does egg salad keep in the fridge?
The egg mixture keeps well in the fridge for up to 2 days in a sealed container, which makes it solid for meal prep or packed lunches. Just don’t add the spinach until you’re ready to eat because the leaves wilt quickly once the dressing touches them. Ramsay suggests wrapping sandwich versions in cling film and storing in the fridge for later, so he clearly designed this with make-ahead in mind. See all his salads compared by cost to find more budget wins.
