Jacques Pépin's 'French Style' Deviled Eggs Are Perfection
Famed French chef Jacques Pépin knows the best way to cook a lot of complicated things—a delicately puffy cheese soufflé, crisp roasted chicken with mustard and a perfectly succulent duck à l'orange. But recently, one of his more humble recipes has gone viral and it’s actually quite simple even though it tastes way more complex: Eggs Jeannette. Popular food blogger and TikToker Kelly Scott of Kelly’s Clean Kitchen came up with her version based on Pépin’s famous recipe and it's fancy, delicious and easy—everything you want a party app to be.
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What are Eggs Jeannette?
Eggs Jeannette (or Oeufs Jeannette) is named after Pépin’s mother, Jeannette. This is the dish that Pépin says she made for him regularly and he hasn’t seen it anywhere else. To make them, you mix hard-boiled yolks with grated garlic and parsley, return the yolks to the egg whites, then sauté them in a skillet, stuffed-side down. The eggs are served on top of a mustard vinaigrette.
Unlike the deviled eggs your grandmother makes for Easter, these contain zero mayo, use a much fancier mustard and the filling is spooned in and sauteéd instead of piped in as-is. As one TikToker puts it "It's like a deviled egg, but extra."
Related: Make the Easiest Deviled Eggs for the Super Bowl Thanks to This Genius Egg-Peeling Hack
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What are the ingredients for Eggs Jeannette?
This is another viral social media hit with ingredients you probably have in your fridge already (we love to see it). You just need hard-boiled eggs, garlic, milk (any kind), parsley, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and seasonings. The hardest part about this recipe is peeling the eggs (though we have a trick for that too).
Scott’s version differs a bit from Pépin’s—she uses lemon juice instead of red wine vinegar—but either work, so feel free to use what you have on hand. No matter which ingredient you use, you’re definitely going to be the most popular person at the party when you make a tray of these delicate beauties.
Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
Related: How Long Do Hard-Boiled Eggs Last, Exactly? A Food Safety Expert Cracks the Code
What is the recipe for Eggs Jeannette?
Egg Ingredients:
4 large hard-boiled eggs
2 cloves garlic, grated
3 Tbsp chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Squeeze lemon juice to taste
2 Tbsp almond milk or milk
1 Tbsp olive oil to sauté
Vinaigrette Ingredients:
2 Tbsp leftover egg mixture
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
Squeeze lemon juice
1 Tbsp water
1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil
Salt to taste
Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
Directions:
Peel and halve the eggs. Remove the yolks and place them in a bowl.
Add garlic, chopped parsley, a squeeze of lemon juice and milk to the egg yolks. Mix until smooth, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon the mixture into the egg whites, flattening the yolks into the whites (you don't want the yolk to be mounded up like classic deviled eggs) You’ll have about 2 tablespoons of the filling leftover, which you'll use for the vinaigrette.
After you're finished filling the eggs, make the vinaigrette. In a bowl, whisk the leftover egg yolk mixture, mustard, lemon juice and a dash of water until smooth. While whisking, slowly add the olive oil until thick and smooth. Season with salt.
In a nonstick pan, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the eggs face down and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
Spread the vinaigrette on a platter and top with the eggs, or arrange the eggs on the platter and spoon the vinaigrette on top. Pépin suggests serving the eggs with crusty bread as a first course or as a main course for lunch.
Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
What does Eggs Jeannette taste like?
The recipe was very simple, and the only part that frustrated me was peeling the eggs (but more on that later). The vinaigrette was thick and velvety and I wanted to dollop the lemony-scented sauce on all my food for the rest of the day. It came together in a snap and I did it all by hand, without having to dirty the food processor. The eggs were delicate little bites with a perfectly boiled white, a creamy yolk laced with bits of garlic, parsley and salt, and pan-fried to perfection on top. I enjoyed mine both warm and cold and while both were fantastic, I loved the warm egg a bit more since the flavors married together nicely and felt more elegant.
Related: 20 Best Deviled Egg Recipes With Different Fillings
Tips for making Eggs Jeannette
Try this Jacques-approved egg-cooking trick. If you have trouble peeling your eggs, follow the advice from Pépin and poke a tiny hole in the rounded end of your egg before plunging it into boiling water and cooking for 10 minutes. Scott recommends tapping the shell with a spoon to gently break the membrane before boiling or steaming your eggs before shocking them in an ice bath.
Consider buying an egg timer (no not that kind). If you’re unsure how long to hard boil your eggs, invest in an egg timer, which is a tiny, $5 egg-shaped device that you drop into your pot of water and it will tell you when the yolk is hard, medium or soft-boiled.
Use avocado oil. I used avocado oil instead of olive oil for both making the vinaigrette and sautéeing the eggs and it worked beautifully for both. One TikToker suggested using bacon grease as well for the sautéeing. Honestly, how could that be bad?
Use the right mustard. This isn't the place for yellow mustard. Dijon mustard has a deeper flavor that's perfect for this recipe. I used Grey Poupon Dijon with great success.
Have a little fun. Don't shy away from variations. One TikToker commented on Scott's video saying "Make deviled eggs but instead of the normal way mix the yolks with soy sauce, chili crisp and sesame oil. It's insane."