Appalachia deviled eggs

Deviled eggs are always present at any special meal in Appalachia-from holidays to funerals you can count on a plate of deviled eggs being set on the table.

In some parts of Appalachia deviled eggs are called dressed eggs. After reading about the history of ‘deviled’ foods on The Straight Dope, I suppose the first deviled eggs were spicier than the ones we eat today.

In my area some folks put pickles or pickle relish in their deviled egg mixture and others don’t. Granny never added pickles so I don’t either. I’ve made deviled eggs too many times to count, actually deviled eggs is one of the first dishes I learned to cook as a young teenager.

Much like Granny’s my deviled egg recipe is quite simple. But as I googled around doing research for this post, I began to doubt my deviled egg making skills. Each recipe seemed so impressive and who knew you were supposed to pipe the filling back into the egg whites?

I contemplated using one of those fancy recipes, but then realized I better stick to the tried and true or my bunch probably wouldn’t eat them. I will admit I tried putting the filling in a plastic bag and piping the filling into the eggs and oh my goodness what a mess I made! The first bag had a hole in the top then when I finally got the second bag to work I didn’t like how the eggs looked-the piped filling looked like play dough.

Best deviled eggs

 

Tipper’s Deviled Eggs

  • 12 boiled eggs
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon dried mustard
  • 1 teaspoon sweet pickle juice
  • 1 teaspoon creole seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • paprika for sprinkling on top

Tippers deviled eggs

Slice boiled eggs and remove yolks. Mash yolks with a fork or push through a fine sieve and mix with the rest of the ingredients-excluding paprika. Using a spoon fill egg white shells with mixture; sprinkle with paprika; and chill until ready to eat.

Why deviled eggs

Among the fancy deviled egg pages I found, there was a lovely page on the Southern Foodways Alliance site which shared deviled egg recipes as well as memories connected to them.

I hope you’ll share your deviled egg recipe in the comments.

Tipper

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28 Comments

  1. I don’t like deviled eggs but make them for my family. I cheat and just mix thousand island dressing with the egg yolks. My family loves them and always ask for more.

  2. Love all kinds of pickles, but I prefer to use dill pickles in any of my egg or mayo-based salad recipes. For deviled eggs – with a rasp, into the yolks, I grate about a tablespoon of a dill pickle and a teaspoon of sweet onion, mix with mayo (not Miracle Whip), salt and pepper. I put all this into a big baggie, cut the tip off and pipe it into the egg whites, then top with a tiny parsley leaf and a dash of paprika, and voila!!! I like them that way, and I guess others do too – cause they all get eaten.
    God bless.
    RB
    <><

  3. On the serious side for a moment, did you ever consider hiding a tasty little treat in a deviled egg? A slice of dill pickle, a tiny little sweet gherkin, a little chunk of ham, a bit of bacon or a chunk of cheese? Even a walnut, pecan or a peanut? Would a jelly bean, a Red Hot, Hot Tamale or an M&M be a out of the question? A little slice of onion or bell pepper?
    Can you tell I am hungry? I haven’t had anything to eat all day but for a pack of cheese crackers. Don’t worry about me though. I am about to pig out on my own stuffed pork chops, made with my homemade stuffing, pan fried then finished in the oven. Time constraints force me to use gravy from a jar, but it is still better than bologna.

  4. I really like deviled eggs. Actually I just like eggs cooked, fixed any way possible – except raw. Can’t help but laugh lots of times when having deviled eggs about a skit the old comedian Jonathan Winters did once. He played this goofy kid named Lenny and they were on a picnic once and Lenny told his Mom, “Hey, Ma, you put too much paprika on these eggs! She said, “Oh lord Lenny that ain’t paprika them’s red ants!” LOL
    Maybe someday somebody will develop a low octane egg and solve the methane problem some have.

  5. hmmm – Ed might be onto something there. . . .
    I make my deviled eggs as the generations before through my great grandmother did: pretty much like Miss Cindy although we usually use Miracle Whip instead of mayo, and we put a little bit of finely diced onions along with their juice and a bit of pickle relish along with its juice in the yolk mixture. I have done the piped version for some very special occasions but most of the time the family is in the kitchen eating them as the mixture is spooned into the egg whilte.
    I don’t put paprika on mine but my daughter-in-law gets it out of the cupboard to add to hers before she eats them.
    This post did stir up (no pun intended1) another memory. Last summer my daughter (mother of the younger pair of granddaughters) decided I had two much “stuff” in my kitchen. One thing that really perturbed her was the 3 mashers in the utility drawer. She lost a little of her huffiness when I explained that I needed one for each little girl helping me mash egg yolks for deviled eggs, bananas for banana bread, or potatoes for mashed potatoes (etc) and a third for me to finish up while the little ones “licked” their mashers!

  6. I love deviled eggs! We have our own chickens, but I have to buy eggs to make these, because I can’t peel my fresh ones! I heard them called “glorified eggs” on Sunday…as a lady from Church said “the devil can’t take credit for something so good!” 🙂
    Here’s my recipe…
    6-8 hard cooked eggs, cut in half with yolks removed
    Mash yolks with fork
    1 tsp prepared mustard
    2 Tbsp mayonnaise
    1/2 tsp salt
    1 1/2 tsp sugar
    1 tsp vinegar
    Mix together with mashed yolks
    Fill egg halves with above mixture and garnish with paprika or olive slices
    Enjoy!

  7. We always had them growing up, but my WVa wife never liked them. She won’t eat mustard no matter what we disguise it in. Our oldest daughter ate them at my brothers a long time ago and has been making them ever since, so I got back into the old habit again. I never asked what she puts in ’em, I just enjoy!

  8. Tipper,
    Thanksgiving is when deviled eggs
    taste best to me. I can’t add to
    the receipes mentioned, except I
    mix equal amounts of mustard and
    mayonaise. I do like them cool
    from the frig tho…Ken

  9. My recipe is similar to yours. No vinegar. Sometimes I use dill pickle juice other times salad pickles. More mustard than mayo. No piping. My best friend puts bacon bits in hers. She also calls her eggs redeemed eggs there is no devil in her eggs. : )

  10. I’ve made deviled eggs for my family, but I do not care for them. My daughter uses pickle relish, I don’t. She pipes her filling, I don’t. Either way they’re made, her boys can eat two dozen eggs in a days time. She has three or four of the plates for them. We both use recipes very like yours. For me, the sight of deviled eggs on the table brings back memories of happy times with kin now gone on.

  11. I LOVE deviled eggs and they were one of the first things that I learned to cook to take to family reunions and church events. I always fix them for any holiday meals, like Easter, Thanksgiving, & Christmas.
    Hmmm . . . now I’m wanting some deviled eggs!

  12. Our family loves deviled eggs and they are my standard dish to take to pot luck dinners. The family tradition is being carried on by my son and his wife. Everyone begs him to bring his deviled eggs to their church’s pot luck dinners. In east TN, they call them “stuffed” eggs. Guess they don’t want anything to do with the devil.

  13. I add about a teaspoon of liquid smoke to my deviled egg mixture along with the mayo, dry mustard, salt and pepper. Yummy!

  14. I love deviled eggs! I like your recipe as my recipe is much plainer. I plan to try it the next time I make these wonderful extras for meal time.

  15. I forgot to mention earlier, eggs are not really fit to eat unless there is some bacon at least in the vicinity. Maybe a bit of crumbled bacon sprinkled on top or a couple of bacon sprigs as a garnish.

  16. Tipper, I do love deviled eggs though my recipe is even simpler than yours. I don’t measure, just judge the ingredients to the number of eggs and the taste. I use mayo, mustard salt and pepper. Sometimes a little sweet pickle juice ( that homemade 14 day pickle juice) or sugar. No piping here just scoop the mixture in with a teaspoon.
    They are usually well received. I’ve never met a man who doesn’t like deviled eggs.
    I usually use quite a bit of mustard because I like the sharp taste.

  17. Well Tipper, that note this morning writing by the person heading to Dolly wood gives you an idea of the traffic. They should have left home about midnight – in order to ‘get off I-40’ and get to Dolly wood before dark! The exit line is so long it causes a traffic jab coming out of Knoxville just about every weekend.
    Now to those deviled eggs. The best place to sample them egss is at family reunions. Those mountain ladies can make something special out of almost nothing. My sisters in Clay County make about the best devil eggs you would ever want to sample! I never try to compete!
    Eva Nell

  18. The best and most necessary thing to do if at all possible is to find some good authentic farm eggs, just my opinion though.

  19. I think the devil in deviled egg is because of the sulfurous emissions produced by those who partake in excess. What is a normal serving of deviled eggs anyway?
    Hey! How about a catalytic converter for people?

  20. Tipper I love dressed eggs as Mom always called them, I have made them a few times but have never been satisfied so I will try your recipe next.

  21. Tipper,
    I know you just wanted to know this business of mine! I am up so early ’cause me and the better half are going to see “Guy Penrod” at Dollywood. His show ain’t till two thirty but I have to get in line for my buggy! They run out last week for the McKamey’s concert and the Kingdom Heirs…I jest can’t walk them hills pushing my wheels, I need a motor! It really is not that far, but the waiting drives me crazy. The Kingdom Heirs did an instrumental last week that shook the whole place. The drummer was fantastic..as were the rest. “Joshua fit the Battle of Jerico”, man you would have thunk God hisself was in there with the angelic troops knockin’ those walls down. You know how your heart beats when the parade band walks past. Well, it was bettern and louder than that!
    Gotta go…I got to get a little of the “devil stuff” out of me!
    Can’t wait until tonight to read the comments about “deviled aigs, and recipes!
    I’d love to have a few for breakfast….??…uhhhh, but “deviled eggs” are something you want everybody to be eatin’ at the same time! Sorta like beans!
    Thanks Tipper,
    Have a great day!

  22. Tipper,
    There just ain’t no way I could give away my recipe for “deviled aigs!” Not that is so precious and a secret, but I make it a little different every time. Unless, you wanted me to say: Take two double yoke aigs, one egg from the new layer, two eggs from the tight wad layer (small) and one from the banty that slipped in the with the flock!
    ‘Cause sometimes the rest of the ingredients just have to be juggled around to match the aig size!
    I basically make mine like yours. No piping for me. We like our “devil filling” fluffy, a wee spicy, a wee sweet, a wee vinegary! Salt, pepper and a touch of paprika (smoked spanish)
    LOL
    Want to have some fun. Do up a bunch of “banty” aigs. Inform the crowd that the doctor told you to cut down on closteral and fats!
    Put those little babies in a small plate and serve! Begin to tell the flatlanders that you ordered these fat free hens special and every egg was more or less like cavier!
    Thanks Tipper,
    PS…Of course there will be some smart alec yankee that will know about banty aigs and tell you to go to the devil!

  23. i lve these but so seldom make them! i don’t use mayo, though, but a teaspoon or two of mildish mustard–just enough to get it to mix up! also sometimes add curry powder but not often– a little curry goes a long way with me!

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