Easy (No-Peel!) Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps Recipe

Egg salad is a lunchtime staple, especially since it's so easy to meal-prep before you slather it onto a slice of bread or enjoy it on its own throughout the week. Of course, if there's one downside to egg salad, it's that peeling off those stubborn eggshells can be a hassle. In this recipe from developer Julianne De Witt, however, pesky eggshells are a thing of the past thanks to a nifty TikTok hack. Instead of cooking the eggs in boiling water and peeling each one afterward, you'll crack them raw into a loaf pan and bake them. "This quick and easy method eliminates the extra work of peeling, and I don't think I'll go back to hard boiling eggs again," De Witt says. "It doesn't matter if some of the yolks break or if the cooked egg sticks a bit to the pan as you are going to be chopping the eggs when cooked." 

Any special method aside, this recipe is also just great for those who love classic egg salad and particularly love serving it with something other than bread — in this case, lettuce. "I like this recipe because it's light and healthy and packed with flavor," De Witt says. "For a light lunch, serve these lettuce wraps with a side of raw veggies and your favorite dip." You might also be so inclined to make extra no-peel egg salad and use it in potato salad or enjoy some with avocado toast.

You'll need 8 large eggs to kick off this recipe, along with some other additions to help boost the flavor of the egg salad: diced pickles, scallions, fresh dill, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. Finally, you'll need butter lettuce to assemble the wraps. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Spray a loaf pan generously with cooking spray.

Crack the eggs into the loaf pan.

Place the loaf pan in a 9x16-inch baking dish and pour water into the baking dish around the loaf pan until the water reaches the level of the eggs.

Place the eggs into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until cooked.

Cool for 5 minutes, then run a spatula along the edges of the loaf pan and tip the eggs onto a cutting board.

Chop the eggs into small pieces.

Add the eggs, pickles, scallions, dill, Dijon, and mayonnaise to a bowl and mix.

Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Place 10 lettuce leaves onto a large platter.

Divide the egg salad between the lettuce leaves. Garnish with radish and dill, if desired.

Herbs are all but essential to egg salad. They add a pop of greenery that contrasts nicely against the yellow hue and, more importantly, they provide a fresh, bright flavor profile. This recipe keeps things relatively simple in the herb department, relying on fresh dill to add a nice flavor profile both within the egg salad and as garnish. Of course, such simplicity raises an important question: What other herbs would work well in this egg salad?

While we wouldn't recommend going overboard with herbs and adding every single thing that you grow in your garden, De Witt does provide us with some suggestions to spruce up your salad. "Chives, tarragon, and parsley also pair nicely with egg salad," she tells us, and whether you want to add those in addition to or in lieu of dill is up to personal preference. Of course, if you don't have any herbs on hand, you can rely on the dill pickles to pack in a bright and acidic flavor profile. As De Witt explains, "Dill pickles add some tang and a light crunch to the egg salad." 

When it comes to making lettuce wraps — regardless of filling but especially important with something as potentially messy as egg salad — you want something that will both serve as a vehicle and hold its shape well. This recipe calls for using butter lettuce, which is a good choice for several reasons: Butter lettuce leaves operate as naturally efficient little cups for filling, and their neutral flavor profile makes for a good companion alongside flavorful egg salad.

If you don't like butter lettuce or don't have any in your fridge, there are other lettuce options to work with. "Any lettuce with a large enough leaf will work well in this recipe," De Witt says. "For a crunchier wrap, try romaine or iceberg lettuce." If you aren't concerned with enjoying these egg salad lettuce wraps as a handheld lunch option, then you can essentially use any type of lettuce as a base and enjoy the dish more as a straightforward salad — get creative and put your favorite greens to good use.