I mean the type your Aunt Nellie made when she came over for Thanksgiving or the ones your grandmother’s friend would make for the Eastern Star picnic.
So what deviled egg recipes out there are the best of the best?
I’m something of a novice at deviled eggs, having just recently begun to try my hand (once I figured out how to boil and peel the bastards). One thing I’ve found so far is that including some brine from a jar of sweet pickles is good. Also wasabi!
I once made a batch of gourmet deviled eggs when catering an exclusive business lunch. In addition to very finely minced fresh chives, they had a spoonful of paté incorporated in the yolk mash, and were topped with caviar. Those were definitely the best deviled eggs I’ve ever made. You couldn’t taste the paté specifically (it was duck, including liver), but it substantially boosted the umami-satisfaction of the bite.
You probably don’t want to go that far. 
I’ve always made deviled eggs “jazz style”; just making it up as I go along. I’ve never used a recipe or been shown how to do it, I just sorta figured it out.
But I make them frequently, usually only for myself. I really like them. It’s different every single time, usually putting in whatever I find on hand, but there are a few things that I always include.
- Mayonnaise
- Mustard (prefer either Dijon or stone ground but any works)
- Worcestershire sauce
- Salt (usually garlic salt)
- Black pepper
- Lemon juice
Generally, it’s 2:1 or 3:1 mayo to mustard, and just a little splash of the Worcestershire and lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Oh, and no matter what I always put some paprika on top of the eggs after they’re fully constructed.
Other things I might mix in, depending on what I have and my mood (not all at once mind you)…
- Horseradish
- Gorgonzola or regular bleu cheese crumbles
- Grated parmesan
- Bacon bits (real ones, sometimes I even fry it and chop it myself)
- Soy sauce
And also whatever spices I have on hand. As I said, it’s jazz.
One thing I keep in mind is how “wet” to make the mixture. I try to get it to the consistency of a slightly loose paste, but if it’s too runny I’ve put in too many liquid/aqueous components. (And there’s no going back, you just have to live with it, so I try to be careful.)
By the way, I hate diced pickles or relish in my deviled eggs. That’s very common but I personally can’t stand it. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good dill pickle on its own, but keep it out of my eggs. (I don’t even put it in tartar sauce when I make it at home.)
That sounds amazing. I’m a huge fan of Braunschweiger (a type of liver sausage for anyone not familiar, Oscar Meyer makes a passable version you can usually find in any grocery store) and I never thought of putting it in deviled eggs. I might have to try that sometime.
Maybe if somebody’s pestering me about what I want for Christmas. 
I actually was following a recipe for Nicoise Salad, and the eggs turned out so well, I just kept on doing it their way (water boiling, eggs added with a slotted spoon, twelve minutes).
Aunt Nellie probably wouldn’t do anything more exotic than yellow mustard. PERHAPS a shake of paprika after Vatican II.
No recipe from me, but I do like how Alton Brown showed the process, piping out the yolk mixture like you would icing. I actually liked the idea of mixing it in a ziplock bag and then cutting off a corner to fill the eggs.
This is reasonably close to my favorite (which I couldn’t find just now). IIRC, whatever the amount of mayonnaise the recipe I used called for, was way too much - so when making this one, add less mayo at first, then more as needed.
My mother used to make regular deviled eggs with just mayo and mustard, and some paprika. No clue what ratios she used; I think she just winged it. I loved them, anyway, which is funny because I don’t like mayo much at all, loathe regular (yellow) mustard, and hate eggs.
@Lucas_Jackson , I’ll see your fancy egg cooker and raise you an Instant Pot. Cooking them is trivial (took a couple of tries to figure out the timing that worked best) plus the IP is useful for other stuff. Peeling, now, has also become trivial. I once saw an ad for this:
Amazon.com: The Negg Boiled Egg Peeler Yellow: Home & Kitchen
thought that it looked intriguing if overpriced, and mimicked it at home by putting 3-4 eggs at once in a 1 quart Rubbermaid container, adding some water, putting the lid on, and shaking it a few times. Those shells practically jumped off the eggs.
We were planning a long road trip, and wanted to pack our food at least for the first day. I suggested hard-boiled eggs. My husband rolled his eyes and said he didn’t want to deal with peeling them either at home or on the road. I smiled inwardly, cooked a dozen eggs, and peeled them all in about 3 minutes.
My MIL made them by mashing the yolks with cider vinegar (how much? Enough) and then adding sugar (again, enough) until they tasted right. Our rule of thumb is that it’s less vinegar and more sugar than you’d think. A sprinkle of paprika before serving, and that’s it. Substitute chile powder for the paprika on some of them if my brother’s coming over.
These are completely different than the mustard-based ones of my youth, and I don’t know if it’s an Iowa thing or if she came up with it because my FIL hated mustard (or a mixture of both). My kids grew up with them, though, so there are now two New Mexico natives who think that’s a standard deviled egg.
That does work quite well, IMO. I use my Instant Pot for hardboiled eggs, with this recipe:
Then I typically let them sit in the fridge for a while. One interesting strategy for peeling: put desired number of eggs in a securable container (leave some room), then add water to the container, seal, shake vigorously. Loosens the shells quite nicely. Older eggs do peel more easily, so this would be a good time to use the ones you’ve had for a week or two vs. ones that just came home from the grocery store.
As far as the fill, I typically use the rather basic one in the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook (I have the 1989 edition). Last time, I left out the vinegar, using dill pickle relish instead. DH and I both liked it.
I made a batch of deviled eggs for Super Bowl Sunday. My wife recommended adding some extra juice from the sweet pickle relish. Good call!
Not to hijack the thread with hard boiled egg tips, but since I also have trouble getting easily peeled HB eggs I decided to do a little research.
Tip #1: Let your eggs warm up to room temperature before cooking.
Tip #2: Get the water boiling first, then (gently) add the eggs.
Boil for 12-13 minutes at a rolling boil.
Tip #3: Ice bath! I half-filled a large mixing bowl with ice then added water. Drain the boiling water from your pot then dump the eggs in the ice bath and let them sit for about five minutes.
I usually put cold eggs in cold water then turn on the heat, and sometimes I will run them under cold water when they’re done cooking, and my eggs are impossible to peel. Following these three tips, they turned out great!
Meh…why another thing to clutter the counter? It’s just doing what you can do on the stove easily.
Get a steam basket, put an inch of water in a pot and the basket on top, boil the water, add eggs, cover and set a timer for 11 minutes*. Remove eggs and put them in a bowl of ice water. Let sit 10-15 minutes.
*You may need to add or remove time to get it right for your stove. Not hard to dial in. A few tries should nail it.
As has been explained to you numerous times, it’s small and fits in a drawer and is much easier for some people to use.
And it has been explained that everyone has a pot and a stove already. It does the job fine. Has done for thousands of years.
For the millionth time, a lot of people find that tool to be much easier. I am sure that your eggs are fine the way you do it for you. I also use propane to grill even though wood fires started with kindling has worked perfectly well for thousands of years.
For the millionth time…that gadget is doing exactly what you do on your stove. But now you have a little mini-water heater on your counter, next to the stove that also heats water.
Technically not true, they are steamed not boiled and infinitely easier to peel (old or new) every single time.
Which is entirely normal. That describes a rice cooker, a crock pot, an electric kettle, a coffee maker, a deep fryer, an electric pressure cooker, waffle/sandwich maker, and so on. It’s just not that unusual to prefer a separate electric device than to use the version that requires the stove.
And, looking up what a steam basket even is (as I don’t think most people have them), it looks to me like the egg cooker potentially takes up less space. Plus you don’t have to use it near your stove or in the kitchen at all. And it looks like it’s already set up by default to do a good job, without having to dial in the heat settings or any of that other stuff.
Don’t get me wrong: I like having tips for how to do something without the convenience device, but they can still be nice to have.
Moderating
Enough with the now hijacking argument over the egg appliance.