Give Egg Salad A Gourmet Touch With One Ingredient Addition

Egg salad is incredibly delicious, but it's not what comes to mind when you think of "gourmet." The cookout classic has a rich, fluffy mouthfeel, coming together quickly for picnics and barbecues. Typically, adding capers and parsley is as fancy as it gets, but if you really want to amp up your egg salad to gourmet status, go for shrimp.

The dish is filled with a host of flavors — buttery eggs, of course, as well as tangy mayonnaise and peppery Dijon mustard. Despite the range of ingredients, the salad leans into a singular, creamy texture. Shrimp breaks up the monotonous feel of egg salad, all while bulking it up and adding the right amount of flavor. The crustacean is one of the absolute best ingredients to elevate egg salad, and it doesn't take much effort to do so. It's slightly meaty, but still mild, allowing the flavors of egg salad to shine through.

One of the most prominent features of shrimp is its delicate sweetness, which brings a balance to all the zesty flavors of a creamy egg salad. It's also quick to cook — you can saute shrimp before all the eggs are done boiling. When you do, make sure to peel and devein the shrimp, since there's nothing worse than digging around in food for loose shells. If you don't want to bother with extra cooking, you can also use canned shrimp. Simply drain the shrimp and fold it into the egg salad.

Egg salad already has its own unique flavor, so you don't really need to do much with the shrimp. You can season with salt, pepper, and chili powder if you're looking for a fiery punch; otherwise, you can leave it as-is or flavor the shrimp based on the type of egg salad you're making.

A za'atar egg salad sandwich is a bright spin on the classic dish. It includes sumac, a lemon-like spice, as well as thyme and oregano. If you want to pull out the more citrusy aspects of the egg salad, add a splash of lemon juice to the cooked shrimp. For a greater earthiness, add an extra sprinkle of the same herbs to your shrimp before cooking.

Deviled egg salads also have a very distinct taste that you can play up with a few additions. To give yours a gourmet touch, spice up the shrimp with ingredients that will upgrade your deviled eggs. A dusting of curry powder brings a warm, heady air to the otherwise mild shrimp, and it delivers a rich taste to your egg salad. Honey makes a surprisingly delicious addition as well. Coat the shrimp in the amber liquid before grilling them to infuse the deviled egg salad with a sweet, smoky taste.