Fourteen years ago, almost to the day, I discovered I liked two things; egg salad and green olives. Furthermore, I learned that I liked them combined. This epiphany -after twenty something years of thinking that I despised both things- came at the table of my mother-in-law, Dolores.
Here’s what happened… I was five months pregnant with my first child and ten months married to her youngest son; I was a newborn daughter-in-law and very eager to please. One day, right before my lunch hour at work, I called Dolores to see if she’d like me to pop by so she could inspect my burgeoning belly. She said, “Sure! Come on over! I’ll make sandwiches!”
I slid the aforementioned belly in under her table, sipped at a cup of water and looked at the sandwich and chips on the plate she had put in front of me. EGADS. It was egg salad: my arch nemesis.
And horrors! It was chock-a-block crammed with chopped green (eep) olives. There was no way out of this one.
I had to eat it and I had to look like I liked it. This was my mother-in-law, and I was determined that she was going to be glad I had married her son. I wasn’t going to wrinkle my nose at that sandwich. I girded my girthly loins (I’m sorry. That wasn’t appetizing was it?), lifted the sandwich and took a bite.
And I loved it.
What?
Yes.
It was outstanding. The briny, salty olives cut through the richness of the mayonnaise that bound the eggs together.
Everything I had ever thought I found unappetizing about either of those things ended up perfectly complimenting the other. I tried to play it cool and act like I had always liked egg salad because what kind of dorko doesn’t like egg salad, right? She probably saw right through me when I wept and hugged her after lunch, though.
If you’re not lucky enough to have an egg and olive sandwich making mother-in-law, may I suggest you whip up a batch of this for yourself? It just might change your world a bit…
Dolores's Egg and Olive Sandwiches
Rate RecipeIngredients
For the Egg Salad
- 6 hard boiled eggs peeled
- 2-4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2-4 tablespoons chopped green salad olives with pimientos
- 2 tablespoons minced sweet onions preferably Vidalia
- 1 teaspoon brine from the olives
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard or dill pickle juice
- 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
- salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
To Serve:
- 4 soft sandwich rolls or 8 slices of bread
- Optional: Additional chopped olives for the sandwich.
Instructions
To Prepare the Salad:
- Put one egg in the bottom of a mixing bowl and chop roughly with the side of a fork.
- Put another egg on top and chop roughly again with the fork. Repeat with remaining eggs until all the eggs are chopped together with pieces no larger than the size of a piece of bubble gum (*see notes).
- Stir in the mayonnaise, olives, onions, mustard or pickle juice, celery seed, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust if necessary.
- Chill until ready to serve.
- Serve cold on soft sandwich rolls with additional olives on top, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Reader's Thoughts...
Jessie says
Try adding crumbled bacon. My mom always made “egg olive and bacon sandwiches!
Rebecca says
That sounds delicious, Jessie! I will definitely try it!
Rachel says
My father in law made this for me. Which was about 25 years ago. I have a craving for this, I will make it tomorrow. Thank you for posting this 😊
Rebecca says
You’re very welcome, Rachel! It’s so good, isn’t it?
MJ Branigan says
This will be my egg and olive recipe from here on. It is luscious. Followed the recipe exactly. No substitutes. No additions. it’s tasty enough that it wouldn’t need salt if you have to watch a salt intake.
Rebecca says
Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know you love it, MJ!
Carolle Konowalow says
This is a dish I eat often. Delicious and not complicated to make.
Rebecca says
Thanks so much for taking the time to rate the recipe and let me know you love it, Carolle! I so appreciate it.
Tina Ward says
I couldn’t figure out the bubble gum reference! I finally read the ENTIRE post to find the reference! Silly me, I usually don’t read recipes word for word until I’m ready to save it to my Mastercook program ; )
I prefer my eggs chopped in sizes to match the olives, each to his own!
I fell in love with egg and olive sandwiches at a luncheon when I was 17. Even the itty bitty cucumber sandwiches were good.
A few years later when I was pregnant with my first born I had a craving for green olives. We were having a pot luck at my mother-in-laws later that afternoon. Well, my craving wasn’t satisfied until I had eaten the ENTIRE JAR of green olives!!
A couple of hours later, on the way to m-n-l’s, while driving over a looonngg bridge (with NO place to pull over) the olives made their encore performance! ALL OVER my clothes, car seat and floorboard ; (
When we arrived at m-n-l’s she gave me some of her clothes to wear while mine went into the washer. Needless to say, I refused any family photos all afternoon! M-n-l was a good 10” taller than me and about 100# heavier! All I needed was face paint and goofy hat and I’d be a circus clown!
Lesson learned …no more entire jars of anything before traveling ANY distance!!!
Rebecca says
HA! Oh my gosh. What a memory!!
Jacob Morgenstern says
This sounds delicious and just like I was going to make. As a bachelor I love dishes that can he kept in a bowl and reused throughout the week so this is perfect
Rebecca says
Thanks so much, Jacob! I like dishes like that, too, and I’m not a bachelor. HAHA.
Axel says
This is the recipe I was looking for. I’ll assume the 31g of carbs is a typo. If not, my math is idiot level. Thanks for posting.
Axel says
Never mind about the typo. The carbs listed must be for the bread, which I’m not using.
Grace says
My dad, a professional chef, used to serve egg and olive sandwiches (minus onion) on wheat, white or rye with a cup of soup for a lunch special. It was inexpensive to make and a huge seller! I’ve never heard anyone say they didn’t like it. The secret to great egg salad is the addition of olive juice. It’s not the same without it.
stephanie e frantz says
just made it. tastes great! I had some celery leaf tops so I minced those up and threw them in. nice addition!
Rebecca says
I just plain love celery leaves! Great call, Stephanie!
Teresa Russell Dawsey says
Just had to tell you that it was my mother-in-law who introduced me to and taught me to make one of my absolute favorite sandwiches. Thanks for sharing. I though maybe it was only a Southern thing and couldn’t find a recipe anywhere.
Rebecca says
Hi there, Teresa! I think it may actually be a southern thing. My mother-in-law spent many years in the south, so she may have picked it up when she lived there. I’m so glad you like it!
Jill says
Been eating this my whole life. That’s 60 plus years. Everyone I have turned on to this LOVES it. I made it at the lake for my brother, he is older than me, and he was wowed as he hadn’t had it in years! I believe it is the salty brine of the olives that up the egg flavor to new heights!!!
Rebecca says
I think you’re right about the brine of the olives. I think I need an Egg and Olive Sandwich for lunch!
Jill says
Forgot to mention that I never use mustard or dill juice, or onion. Somewhat of a purist on this!!!
Bob says
I found egg and olive almost 25 years ago. I started a new job at a health care facility. They had a great cafeteria that offered this sandwich. I watched folks eating it for months wondering how they could enjoy such a combination. Well I finally tried it and fell in love with the taste. I thought that after all these years could there be an improvement to one of my favorite sandwiches. That is how I cam across your recipe. Thanks for posting as well as your story.
laura says
My family & I also have a special place in our hearts & stomaches & tastebuds for green olive tapenade & we like egg salad sandwiches. With that said I knew this recipe would have to be a hit. Looking forward to trying it.
p.s. pictured you hearing a choir of about 100 angels from heaven (soprano singers of course) singing in unison (with an echo) a “haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
as you “saw the light” and finally experienced what you’d been missing. (a little overly dramatic…I know.)
Marie says
I was looking for something tasty to make for a quick lunch while I study for finals. Something with ingredients I already had: a jar of Spanish olives with pimentos, mayo, spicy brown mustard…the usual compliments to a sandwich. The idea of egg salad came to mind, but I had not used olives in my egg salad before. Found your recipe–and I’ll never make egg salad without olives again. Substituted fresh celery for the celery seed. It was incredible on 12-grain bread.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Katie says
My family emigrated from Germany and this was a staple for us growing up. But we have never used mayonnaise or mustard; our recipe consists of nothing but cream cheese, olives and olive brine and chopped hard boiled eggs. I tried this recipe to see if I was missing something, and I do like mayonnaise, but this was too egg-y and egg-y for me…like eggs mixed with eggs. Try the cream cheese way and you will never look back.
Paula says
I had a few minutes while I waited for a repairman to show up to the house, so I just made this egg and olive salad. Ho-Lee-COW! I bow to Delores, I bow to you for posting this recipe! I will forever be beholden! P~
Paula says
Yes…I will be making this. And I won’t change a single dadburn’d thing – that sounds perfect! P~
Joanne says
I love green olives in egg salad, I put them on top of deviled eggs too. A mother in law who’s offers lunch, love her to life!
meemsnyc says
Ooooooh, what a great pairing!
Aggie says
I totally want this sandwich for lunch. On a soft roll. Yum.