My boyfriend has taken to buying these little containers of deviled eggs from a local deli. They’re the perfect little bite, but it just kills me knowing how easy and inexpensive they are to make at home. Most recipes for deviled eggs online are for huge potluck-sized batches, which is way too much for our household of two, so I needed to come up with my own small batch deviled egg recipe. Now we can whip some up fresh whenever the craving hits!
Also, why is it that the thought of eating six eggs at once makes my stomach hurt, but I think I could probably pop six eggs worth of deviled eggs no problem? 😅 Oh, is that just me? Well, portion control is another reason I made this recipe for small batch deviled eggs.
What Are Deviled Eggs?
Deviled eggs are eggs that have been hard-boiled, cut in half, then the yolks mixed with other ingredients before stuffing them back into the whites. They can be super basic (like my recipe below), super fancy (truffles or caviar?), or anywhere in between. There are so many options for making deviled eggs with different flavors or different toppings, which makes them a LOT of fun.
What Else Can I Add to My Deviled Eggs?
As I mentioned below, this is a super basic, plain deviled egg recipe. The fun part is that you can add in all sorts of other ingredients or toppings to make them your own or just to use up different ingredients in your fridge. Here are some ideas for mix-ins and toppings for deviled eggs:
- Relish
- Sriracha
- Fresh herbs (dill, chives, tarragon, parsley, scallions)
- French fried onions (topping)
- Capers
- Pickled red onions (topping)
- Dill pickle slices (topping)
- Pickled jalapeños (topping)
- Salsa
- Olives
- Thinly sliced radish (topping)
- Bacon
- Hot sauce
- Curry powder
- Guacamole
- Everything bagel seasoning
How Long Do Deviled Eggs Last?
Well, if you don’t eat them all in one sitting, they’ll probably be good in the fridge for about two days. See why I needed this small batch recipe so badly??
What to Serve with Deviled Eggs
If you’re not just grabbing one out of the fridge as a snack, they make a great side to something like a big salad, sandwiches, or pasta salads for lunch, or as part of a brunch platter (I do love my big homemade weekend breakfast/brunches).
Steaming vs. Boiling Eggs
I’m a huge fan of steaming instead of boiling eggs because it’s just faster. I’ve never had an egg crack when using this steaming method, but if you tend to get cracked eggs you can boil instead. The instructions below are for steaming eggs, but I’ve included boiling instructions in the notes.
Small Batch Deviled Eggs
Servings 2 2 halves eachIngredients
- 2 large eggs ($0.42)
- 1 Tbsp mayonnaise ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard ($0.01)
- 1/16 tsp seasoning salt* ($0.01)
Instructions
- To steam the eggs, add one inch of water to the bottom of a small saucepot. Cover the pot and turn the heat on to high. Allow the water to come to a full boil.
- Once the water is fully boiling, carefully add the eggs to the pot using tongs or by lowering them into the pot with a slotted spoon. Replace the lid on the pot, turn the heat down slightly (it should continue boiling) and allow the eggs to steam in the pot for 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes, turn the heat off, remove the lid, and place the pot with the eggs under cool running water (or transfer to a bowl of ice water if your tap water is not cool). Let the eggs sit in the cool water for five minutes.
- Peel the eggs then slice them in half. Pop the yolks out of the white and place them in a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, Dijon, and seasoning salt and mash to combine.
- Spoon the mashed and seasoned yolks back into the whites, then serve. (You can garnish with a dusting of paprika for visual appeal, if desired.)
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Small Batch Deviled Eggs – Step by Step Photos
To steam the eggs, add about one inch of water to a small saucepot. Place a lid on top and turn the heat onto high. Once it is fully boiling, carefully add two large eggs (use tongs or lower them in using a slotted spoon). Return the lid, turn the heat down slightly (it should keep boiling) and allow the eggs to steam in the pot for 12 minutes.
After steaming for 12 minutes, turn off the heat and run cool water into the pot (if the water coming out of your tap is not cool, transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water). Let the eggs sit in the cool water for five minutes, then peel and cut them in half.
Pop the yolks out of the eggs and place them in a bowl with 1 Tbsp mayonnaise, ¼ tsp Dijon mustard, and 1/16th tsp seasoning salt (I just used half of my1/8 tsp measuring spoon).
Mash the yolks together with the seasoning.
Spoon the yolk mixture back into the whites and then serve! You can garnish with a light sprinkle of paprika if desired, but I don’t find that’s necessary for flavor.
You might also like our Easy Egg Salad recipe!
These are so good! Perfect when that craving hits and you don’t have a potluck to go to!
I’m obsessed with these!! Sooo good!! 😍
I’m a widow and living alone. I love deviled eggs but won’t make a full recipe because of the waste. A friend turned me on to this site just for this recipe. Just made them and they are delicious! I don’t like the bitter flavor in the ones that I have bought at the grocery stores, but these are just the way I love them! Thanks so much for an easy and delicious recipe! I’m going to be making these often!
update… just made them again, why wait for a holiday to enjoy something you love and that’s SO easy to make? And they’re just as delicious the second time around! Thanks again for this recipe!
I’ve made this a bunch of times and couldn’t figure what was missing… finally realized it’s apple cider vinegar. For this amount of eggs, I’d use a 1/4 tsp or a little more.
I get it! I use pickle juice myself.
I hate small kitchen gadgets usually, but the Dash egg cooker (about $19 on Amazon) is amazing. Cooks 6 perfect eggs with no fuss and the peels never stick to the eggs. When I feel really lazy I will pop the yolks in a plastic sandwich bag, drop in a little mayo and mustard and salt and then smoosh it all together in the corner of the bag. Then you snip a corner off and can easily pipe the mix in your egg white halves. Hardboiled eggs keep several days in the fridge so you can have a fresh deviled egg any time.
I do the baggie thing too – especially when I take them to work. I make a full batch of HB eggs for the week, then peel two and put them in a snack size baggie. Once at work I can slice, add a spoon of mayo and S/P, mush it up, and then pipe it into the halves. Everyone thinks I’m fancy…
I am a picky eater. I have been on the hunt for the perfect deviled egg recipe and I finally found it. Most recipes for deviled eggs have too much mustard for me, these came out perfect. I love how you can adjust the size of the recipe as most recipes were too big for our family since my youngest doesn’t like them. Thank you so much for sharing this, I saved it and will use it often now😋. I will have to check out your other recipes as well.
This was amazing!! I am obsessed with Deviled Eggs and just wanted them as a snack. We ate these up so quickly, perfect amount!! Will definitely be making these again!!
Great, simple recipe. One day I didn’t feel like spooning the yellows back into the whites so I added whites and made an egg salad which is how I’ve been doing it even since
I’ve been making “small batch deviled eggs” for a few months now. When my kiddo was diagnosed with T1D in the midst of the pandemic. Growing tween is in need of lots of food and protein, but don’t want to have to give him insulin all the time. Deviled eggs to the rescue! He likes his with a bit of smoked paprika in the yolk mixture, and a bit on top for colour, and a twist of himalayan pink salt on top of the batch. (I buy hard boiled eggs in a bag from Trader Joe’s because – working from home, school monitoring from home and new to the T1D thing has me taking all the shortcuts in life possible).
Let’s be honest, any batch of deviled eggs mean for one or two people in my household would start with the instructions “take five to seven eggs…”
small batch deviled eggs! why have i never thought of this? i adore deviled eggs. i can’t wait to try the recipe.
I’m in the UK and do a similar thing using tomato ketchup. So boil the eggs, cut and remove the yolks, mix up with ketchup to taste, then pipe back in (I find that easier than spooning it in). At Christmas and other family occasions I do a buffet and ask everyone what their must have dish is – these eggs always feature.
I get really lazy. I just cut my boiled egg in half, smear mustard on top and sprinkle with Paprika.
I like your style!
Me too, although I mix mustard and mayo together first.
This is genius! I’ve never thought of doing this!
Wonderful idea! I’m trying today.
My friend shared this simple egg-boiling tip with me that is perfect for doing small batches: place up to 4 eggs gently in the bottom of an electric tea kettle and fill the rest of the way with water. Switch it on and allow eggs to sit undisturbed for 12 minutes after the kettle has shut itself off. I love this because not only do I not have to monitor something on the stove, but the eggs rattle around much less in the kettle than they do in a pan, meaning fewer cracks. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a cracked egg using this method, whereas I used to always end up with at least one using a pan.
This is brilliant! When I want a large batch of deviled eggs for a crowd, I steam them in my Instant Pot. But when it’s just me, I never thought of making a small batch of two eggs. This is a lovely change from omelets and fried eggs. I used a small vegetable steamer inside a saucepan, so the eggs never touched the water, and the timing worked out just right. Next up — experimenting with seasonings and toppings!
I’ve done as few as three eggs in the IP, no problem at all.
I love deviled eggs – and discovered fairly recently that when I use my Instant Pot to hard-cook them they come out beautifully and are VERY easy to peel. (It did take a little fiddling to get the timing right for the size of eggs I typically use, but that applied to other cooking methods as well.) I like to make six at a time, using three right away and saving the other three for the next day or two. Favorite mix-ins include buffalo-chicken hot sauce (with or without a dab of blue cheese dressing), sriracha, or plain old traditional (with some pickle-juice).
My husband is a huge deviled egg fan. Since I like them, too. I make them often, but usually cook 4 eggs, using 3 for deviled eggs, saving the 4th to chop for salad topping. I use the same ratio of mayo, but like at least twice as much Dijon mustard. I’ve tried most of your excellent suggestions for toppings–capers, olives, or fresh tarragon being my faves. My DIL loves to mix in sweet relish–let’s hear it for Wickles. Furikaki (seaweed flakes, sesame, and salt) or sumac powder (sweet and lemony) are other toppings I like. Since I use more Dijon and most add-ins or toppings provide more sodium, I don’t add salt, although I nearly always add a pinch of smoky powdered chipotle. If you make more than you actually use, you can always chop up leftover deviled eggs for an egg salad sandwich, or the afore mentioned salad. These days I can almost always find ordinary supermarket eggs under $1.00 a dozen–it’s the most frugal way to add high quality protein to our diet