Tomato & Egg Salad Cream Sandwich

Remember the traditional sandwiches of your childhood? This tomato, egg and salad cream sandwich is a reminder of simpler times. Creamy, piquant, soft and lovely, who could ask for more?

Salad cream sandwich

The ultimate classic, the original and best proper British butty, we love a tomato, egg and salad cream sandwich!

See Also
Homemade salad cream recipe
What is salad cream? – our complete guide

As British as waiting in the rain for the tennis to start up again or eating fish and chips on a windswept beach, as checking the pools on a Saturday afternoon, as a cricket tea, this is our own food.

So why do takeaway sandwich shops either ignore it or do it so badly? In this post I am taking a stand for a proper egg and salad cream sarnie.

If you’re fed up with mayonnaise-coated rocket in every sandwich or falafel squashed into the wrong sort of bread, join the revolution. Who’s with me?

What makes the perfect tomato and egg sandwich?

A few years ago, I remember a furore around a TV chef who talked about how he preferred to eat cheese on toast. I can’t remember now whether the offending favourite condiment he favoured was salad cream but it was something similarly domestic.

The point of the story is that he later talked about the difference between food eaten in private at home, and recipes put in the public domain. We all have food habits and preferences that some people would find odd. Like cheese on toast, the sandwiches that we make fall into that private food space.

In offering up my favourite tomato, egg and salad cream sandwich, I know that there will be a lot of people out there who disagree vehemently. But this is my egg and salad cream sandwich, a hangover from childhood, and I love it.

For me, this sandwich needs white bread, and what I really want is a soft, fluffy white roll. There are other sandwiches that cry out for granary, but not this one. Salad cream goes with white bread. It needs ripe tomatoes full of flavour and, crucially, perfectly boiled eggs.

Why make tomato and egg salad cream sandwich?

• It’s creamy, piquant and moreish

• It’s a balanced lunch

• Less rich than mayo

• A taste of home

Egg salad cream sandwich ingredients

• Bread Rolls – white and fluffy, or a soft white sandwich bread

• Eggs – boiled to perfection and not overdone

• Tomato – ripe and full of flavour, please

Helen’s Top Tip

Please do not keep your tomatoes in the fridge – this sucks every bit of life and flavour out of them. Just keep them in a bowl on the side at room temperature.

• Salad cream – the piquant dressing that makes all the difference

• Lettuce – a regular soft green lettuce, no need for anything posh here

• Salt and pepper

How to make the perfect boiled egg

For a technique that has become a byword for the ability to cook, making perfect boiled eggs is not quite as simple as you might think. Overcook hard boiled eggs and they become unpleasant in texture with a dark coating to the yolk.

It may be counterintuitive when you want to avoid overcooking, but start by putting the eggs in a large saucepan, and cover with cold water.

You then bring the water to the boil over a medium heat. As the water starts to boil, the eggs will bob around. This helps to centre the yolk inside the egg as it cooks.

Once the water is boiling, cover the pan with a lid and take it off the heat.

Allow the pan to stand for 12 minutes while the eggs cook in the heat of the boiled water. Use a timer.

After 12 minutes, remove the eggs and plunge them into a bowl of very cold water. This will stop them cooking any further in their residual heat and should avoid that black sulphurous ring around the yolk.

You can hard boil your eggs in advance and keep them in their shells in the fridge for up to 5 days. Peel before using.

How to make an egg salad cream sandwich – step by step

Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this perfectly every time.

Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.

Step One – Peel your hard boiled eggs and cut them in half. Then roughly chop.

Step Two – Put the chopped egg in a bowl with the salad cream and a generous sprinkling of salt and black pepper. Mash together with a fork but try to retain some texture to the egg. Taste to check the seasoning.

Step Three – Layer up your lettuce, sliced tomato, hard boiled egg mixture, and extra dollop of salad cream. Serve and enjoy!

I don’t think you need to butter this sandwich. But do go ahead if you want to.

Serving suggestion

Enjoy the perfect egg salad cream sandwich for lunch or brunch on the go, or pack it as part of a picnic. It needs no adornment but you can’t go wrong with a packet of your favourite crisps!

Variations

I think this filling is pretty perfect – but here are some ideas to jazz it up.

• Add some crunch with gherkins or capers in the egg mixture.

• Go classic with egg and cress!

• Make a brunch sandwich with bacon or smoked salmon.

• Add a dollop of mustard, chutney or chili sauce.

Storage

If you need to store your sandwich until lunch, keep covered it in the fridge but let it come up close to room temperature before eating.

You can make extra egg salad cream filling and store it in the fridge for up to four days.

Hints and tips

• Getting the boiled eggs right is key to a good egg sandwich. Don’t overcook them. See the notes above.

• Don’t chill your tomatoes, or if you have to, take them out of the fridge well before you make the sandwich. Chilling kills the flavour.

• Choose fresh, fluffy rolls for best effect.

FAQs

Related recipes

• The ultimate ham and cheese toastie – made with brioche French toast for the most indulgent croque ever!

• Homemade sandwich spread – an old fashioned favourite, made your way at home.

• Potato and egg salad – so delicious with Jersey royals or other new potatoes.