Oeufs Mayonnaise, just hard-boiled eggs and mayonnnaise, is a bistrot classic that can be as simple or as grand as your imagination takes you.
- Classic French bistrot dish.
- Simple. Just eggs and mayonnaise.
- Versatile. Perfect for a buffet, as canapés, or as a first course dish or light meal.
Elegant in its simplicity, oeufs mayonnaise barely merits being called a recipe. In essence it is just hard-boiled served with mayonnaise. That's it!
I have kept to a classic and simple version of Oeufs Mayonnaise, not quite hard-boiled eggs sliced in half, topped with generous dollops of Homemade French Mayonnaise, served on a bed of lettuce and finished with a light sprinkling of paprika.
Limited only by your imagination, creations for Oeufs Mayonnaise may, however, be far from simple. The dish has its own association, L'Association pour la Sauvegarde de l'Oeuf Mayonnaise (ASOM), The Association for the Protection of the Egg Mayonnaise. Set up to promote the gastronomic tradition of the oeuf mayonnaise, ASOM holds an Annual Oeuf Mayonnaise World Championship.
Needing inspiration? Almost 50 chefs have contributed to this book, L'Oeuf Mayo, which is dedicated to the dish. The book is in French, but the cover alone shows that Eggs Mayo can be transformed to a form of art.
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Ingredients for Oeufs Mayonnaise
- Eggs.
- Lettuce.
- Mayonnaise. Make your own with our foolproof Homemade French Mayonnaise Recipe, or use shop-bought Mayonnaise. Of course, Homemade Mayonnaise is a must for the ASOM Oeuf Mayonnaise Annual Championship.
See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.
How to Make Oeuf Mayo
For classic Oeufs Mayonnaise, you want hard-boiled eggs with the yolks still just slightly soft. This texture is sometimes described as "jammy". According to ASOM, the egg should be cooked through, but not overly cooked, so that the yolk, without being runny, maintains its softness.
- Place the eggs in water. Place 4 eggs in a saucepan and pour on cold water, just enough so that the eggs are covered and no part of the shell is above water.
- Bring the water to a boil. Heat the water over a medium to high heat. Watch the water closely as small bubbles start to form. As soon as large bubbles form around the eggs and break the surface of the water, start timing the oiling of the egg.
- Boiling the eggs. Boil the eggs for 4 minutes. As soon as 4 minutes is up, pour the hot water away. Pouring the water away, rather than removing the eggs one by one from the water, prevents a difference in cooking time between the eggs.
- Place the eggs in cold water. Place the drained eggs in cold, preferably iced, water. If I do not have iced water, I change the water for fresh cold water after a couple of minutes to help speed the cooling process. The longer you are able to leave the eggs to cool down, the easier it will be to peel them.
- Peel and cut the eggs. Remove the cooled eggs from the water and peel them. Cut the peeled eggs in half.
- Arrange the Oeufs Mayonnaise. Arrange a bed of lettuce leaves on the serving plates. On each plate, place 2 egg halves onto the lettuce leaves, yolk facing up, and put a generous dollop of Homemade French Mayonnaise on each egg half. Sprinkle each egg with a little ground paprika.
How to boil an egg
There are two methods to starting the process of boiling an egg. Either adding the egg to cold water and bringing the water to a boil, or adding the egg to already boiling water.
Boiling times for a cold water start:
- 3 minutes for a truly soft-boiled egg yolk (this would be too runny for Oeufs Mayonnaise)
- 4 minutes for a slightly set yolk (this is the timing I use)
- 6-8 minutes for a hard-boiled egg
Boiling times for a boiling water start:
- 8-9 minutes for a slightly set yolk
I have tried adding eggs to already boiling water but have found it to be too problematic, with the eggshells sometimes cracking at the shock of being plunged into the hot water. So I have stuck with the method of starting the cooking process by putting the eggs into cold water.
More Recipes with Mayonnaise
📋 Recipe Card
Oeufs Mayonnaise (French hard-boiled eggs)
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- water
- 1 lettuce
- mayonnaise
- ground paprika
Instructions
- Place the eggs in water. Place 4 eggs in a saucepan and pour on cold water, just enough so that the eggs are covered and no part of the shell is above water.
- Bring the water to a boil. Heat the water over a medium to high heat. Watch the water closely as small bubbles start to form. As soon as large bubbles form around the eggs and break the surface of the water, start timing the oiling of the egg.
- Boiling the eggs. Boil the eggs for 4 minutes. As soon as 4 minutes is up, pour the hot water away. Pouring the water away, rather than removing the eggs one by one from the water, prevents a difference in cooking time between the eggs.
- Place the eggs in cold water. Place the drained eggs in cold, preferably iced, water. If I do not have iced water, I change the water for fresh cold water after a couple of minutes to help speed the cooling process. The longer you are able to leave the eggs to cool down, the easier it will be to peel them.
- Peel and cut the eggs. Remove the cooled eggs from the water and peel them. Cut the peeled eggs in half.
- Arrange the Oeufs Mayonnaise. Arrange a bed of lettuce leaves on the serving plates. On each plate, place 2 egg halves onto the lettuce leaves, yolk facing up, and put a generous dollop of Homemade French Mayonnaise on each egg half. Sprinkle each egg with a little ground paprika.
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