Egg Salad Without Mayo (+ a surprising substitute)

Listen. I’m not a mayo hater, but I’m also not a mayo lover, which you’ve probably noticed by now since I typically cut the mayonnaise with something else in nearly all of my recipes. This egg salad without mayo is a healthier twist on a classic egg salad recipe. That’s right. There’s zero mayonnaise in this one, and you won’t miss it at all – promise!

With a little multitasking, you can have this done in about 20 minutes. The salad is simple. Hard-boiled eggs plus capers and a sauce made from sour cream, Dijon, cumin, and paprika. Capers (aka little salt bombs of joy) bring a briny, acidic element to the party. It’s gluten-free, low-carb, and so delicious you won’t miss the mayonnaise, promise!

Packed with flavor, this rich and creamy egg salad is perfect for anyone seeking a healthier, low-calorie option. It’s one of my favorite summer salads and perfect for weekly meal prep.  Egg salad is on regular rotation in our house, and this mayo-free version is one of our favs!

If you missed it, my dill pickle egg salad recipe is so good you’ll want to double the recipe!

While I love classic egg salad, it’s fun to experiment with different flavors and textures. This one is for all the mayo haters out there, as well as anyone looking to lower their calorie intake. Did you know that for each tablespoon of mayonnaise you add, you’re adding 100 to 120 extra calories? Many people, like my sister, who wants the mayonnaise squishing out the sides of her sandwich, are adding hundreds of extra calories without even realizing it!

This easy egg salad, made without mayo, is lower in calories while still delivering flavor. It’s not as heavy, so I find myself making this one a lot in the summer. Egg salad lasts several days in the fridge, so it’s always part of my weekly ingredient prep. It’s also budget-friendly, coming in at approximately $3.83 for the entire recipe, which averages out to $1.92 per serving – and I buy “the bougie eggs” – according to my son – ha!

Egg Salad Without Mayo

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The surprising ingredient is sour cream. It works beautifully as a substitute for mayonnaise. Sour cream has a neutral flavor that complements the other ingredients well. In fact, I tested this with both sour cream and Greek yogurt, and my family preferred the sour cream, which has a richer, more savory and buttery flavor than Greek yogurt, which can be quite tangy. We make a lot of egg salad in this house, and this one is one of our favorites!

Related: 3-Ingredient Sour Cream Sauce

Main Ingredients

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Except for the capers, you probably have most of the ingredients on hand.

• Sour cream. This is the star of the show, so it matters what you use. In the absence of mayonnaise, we need the additional fat of full-fat sour cream. I love Fage and Daisy 4% milkfat.  If you’re concerned about calories, full-fat sour cream has significantly fewer calories than mayonnaise.
• Hard-boiled eggs. Obviously. Use your favorite method for making them. I posted mine on Instagram if you’d like to watch it.
• Sauce ingredients. Every great egg salad recipe starts with a killer sauce. Without the mayo, this egg salad benefits from warm, earthy spices like cumin and paprika. Combined with creamy sour cream, additional seasoning, scallions, and capers, it is utter perfection.
• Capers. Little salt bombs of joy! In place of lemon juice or vinegar, capers add a briny, acidic flavor to the sauce that cuts through the richness of the eggs and sour cream. Get them here.

How To Make Egg Salad Without Mayo

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1. Add the sour cream, seasonings, Dijon, scallions, and capers to a mixing bowl.
2. Stir well and add more caper juice to thin the sauce if needed. * see notes
3. Add the eggs and gently fold them with a small spatula to avoid breaking them.
4. Taste the salad and adjust the salt. (The capers & juice provided enough salt for us.)

Tips For Success

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• Caper juice is needed to thin out the sauce, but it’s very salty. I added three teaspoons, but you may like it with one teaspoon. Add a little at a time until it tastes the way you like.
• It’s crucial to use full-fat sour cream for this recipe. Without mayonnaise, the recipe lacks the extra fat it needs. If you’re concerned about calories, sour cream is much lower in calories than mayonnaise.
• I’ve tried every method imaginable for making hard-boiled eggs easier to peel. After trying all of them, I’ve found one thing to be consistently true. Fresh eggs do not peel as well as older eggs. Use the oldest eggs in your refrigerator to ensure easier peeling.

Related: Cherry Tomato Pasta Salad

Ingredients Swaps

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• Sour cream is the main ingredient in this egg salad without mayo, but if you don’t have it, you could use Greek yogurt or even whipped cottage cheese, which would be my first choice. 
• If you like mayonnaise in your egg salad, by all means cut back on the sour cream and add a little mayonnaise! The reason there are millions of egg salad recipes online is that it’s versatile.
• If you don’t have capers, Kalamata or green olives can be used as a substitute. And if you don’t like capers or olives, a little lemon juice or vinegar would work well too. My first choice would be red wine vinegar.

How Long Does Egg Salad Last?

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• Once you peel hard-boiled eggs, it shortens their shelf life. Egg salad is best enjoyed within three days for optimal flavor. It will start to separate as it sits, and the longer it sits, the greater the separation will become. You can technically eat it for up to five days, but the quality starts to decline after three.

If you’ve tried my egg salad without mayo or any recipe on my site, please leave a comment below!