Eggless Egg Salad

What came first, the chicken or the…tofu? Our Eggless Egg Salad recipe has been a Dirty favorite since 2017 when it was created by our tofu-loving co-founder. It has everything you love about traditional egg salad—a yummy texture, crisp veggies, and luscious creaminess—without any of the drawbacks. Can we get a hell yeah for no cholesterol?  Thanks to two key ingredients, it even has the same eggy flavor and yellow color you’ve come to expect.

Eat this baby as is by the spoonful.
Throw it on a sandwich with all the fixins.
Stuff tomatoes with it for fancy hors d’oeuvres.

Best of all, this delicious Eggless Egg Salad is vegan and oil-free! 

What’s inside

Tofu: extra firm tofu provides a soft but not mushy texture. We press the tofu to remove excess water before using. This helps manage both texture and moisture in the final recipe.

Raw cashews: there are few creamy plant-based recipes that don’t use cashews and that’s for good reason. This mild-tasting tree nut is a great source of natural fats and blends to a creamy dreamy texture after a quick soak. It’s perfect for vegan mayo recipes like this one. Raw means that the cashews should be unroasted and unsalted.

Turmeric: this is one of the key ingredients. Not only does it provide phenomenal anti-inflammatory properties, and a mild savory flavor, but more importantly, it gives our Eggless Egg Salad a light yellow color.

Black salt: this is the other key ingredient, also called “kala namak.” Black salt has a sulfuric eggy smell and flavor. Contrary to its name, it’s actually a light dusty pink color and can be found in most international food markets or online. It’s not the same as Hawaiian Black Salt. 

Let’s make Eggless Egg Salad

First, measure your cashews and soak in hot water for 10 minutes. If you have a high-powered blender, you can skip this step.

Now, let’s press our tofu. If you have a fancy tofu press, then get on with your bad self! However, if you haven’t been blessed by the tofu gods, don’t fret. We’ll walk you through it. 

Take the tofu out of the package and give it a quick rinse. Place it in a flat-ish dish or plate. Then lay a cutting board or upside-down flat plate on top. Balance a heavy book on top of that and let sit for 10–15 minutes. Be sure to use a flat item to hold your book, or you may end up with a leaning tower, a broken dish, and floor-flavored tofu. Not fun.

While your cashews are soaking and your tofu is pressing, dice up your celery, onion, and parsley. You can put everything in the same bowl once you’re done.

After your cashews are done, drain them and place them into your blender along with the rest of the mayo ingredients. Blend until super creamy and smooth. The mixture should look like light yellow mayonnaise. Leave in the blender for now.

Remove your tofu from your pressing setup, place it in a medium-sized bowl and use a fork to mash it until it’s uniformly crumbly. Think the size of your fingernail or smaller.

Add your veggies to your tofu and stir. Now, add your mayo, black salt, and black pepper and stir again to combine everything. Give it a taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. If it’s eggy but not salty enough, add more regular salt.

Yum! It’s ready to go as is, but keep reading for one of our favorite ways to nom this delicious salad.

This recipe makes about four cups of Eggless Egg Salad and will keep in the fridge for around five days.

Make a big, tasty deli-style sandwich

To create picnic-ready Eggless Egg Salad sandwiches, follow the instructions below. 

Squirt some yellow mustard on a slice of whole grain, sprouted, or gluten-free bread (toast it first if you’re feeling crunchy).
Add a layer of lettuce (we like green leaf), and a bit of red onion.
Then dollop on a big scoop of Eggless Egg Salad and top with another slice of bread.
Cut in half and serve with a dill pickle if you’re feeling it. Enjoy! 

Side note: are you someone who feels strongly about the proper way to cut a sandwich? Are you Team Diagonal or Team Down the Middle? Tell us in the comments below!

Substitutions

Cashews: for a nut-free mayo, substitute equal amounts of sunflower seeds and follow instructions as written.

Celery: you can sub almost any crisp raw veggie for this. Good options are carrots, radishes, jicama, or bell peppers.

Yellow onion: substitute with another type of onion or something else in the allium family like leeks, shallots, or raw garlic. If using garlic, start with a minced teaspoon and taste before adding more. 

Parsley: you can sub fresh parsley with two teaspoons of dried parsley or another fresh herb you like. Thyme, tarragon, or sage could work. Start with a teaspoon and taste before adding more.

Black salt: if you don’t like the eggy flavor, you can use regular salt instead. Keep in mind your Eggless Egg Salad will actually taste eggless. That’s fine with us if it’s fine with you!

We hope you enjoy this Eggless Egg Salad as much as our community members do. Let us know how it goes below!

If you love this and want more whole-food plant-based recipes you know will please, join Clean Food Dirty Girl and get access to thousands of recipes instantly.

May your sandwich always be cut the proper way.

Xo
Team Dirty

This recipe originally appeared in: I Didn’t Mind The Outhouse, It Was The Vampires That Terrified Me.