How to Make the Perfect Funeral Sandwich

If you’ve ever spent time in a church hall or a funeral home tea room after a funeral, you already know the quiet star of the table: the humble egg salad sandwich. It shows up on paper plates beside coffee urns and trays of squares, soft, crustless, and cut into tidy triangles. No one announces it, no one fusses over it, yet it’s always there — dependable, familiar, and somehow exactly right for the moment.

This isn’t an accident. The egg salad funeral sandwich is the product of more than a century of practical thinking. Funeral teas were never meant to be lavish; they were designed to feed a crowd gently and efficiently while keeping the focus on community and comfort. Eggs were inexpensive, widely available, and easy to prepare in bulk, while sandwiches could be made ahead, served at room temperature, and eaten without ceremony. Over time, what started as a practical solution quietly became a tradition.

Today, that tradition still carries meaning. A good funeral sandwich isn’t flashy or complicated — it’s about texture, balance, and restraint. The filling should be creamy but not heavy, the bread soft but not soggy, and the flavor mild enough to feel comforting rather than distracting. Making one properly isn’t difficult, but there is a method to getting it just right — and that’s where we begin.

Nowadays, you might be missing the funeral tea, but watching a live stream. Why not create a batch of these comforting sandwiches to enjoy with a cup of tea following the event?

How to Make the Perfect Funeral Sandwich – Humble Egg Salad

The humble egg salad sandwich can bring you comfort anytime, and it isn’t just reserved for funerals. It’s easy to make, and you can be enjoying a soft, creamy, perfectly balanced sandwich in less than half an hour with just a handful of simple ingredients.

What You’ll Need

  • 5 large or 6 medium eggs
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • ice water
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
  • soft white sandwich bread

How You’ll Make it

hard boiled eggs

Place eggs in saucepan, cover with water at least 1 inch above the eggs and add the vinegar. The vinegar weakens the shells so peeling will be easier. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a medium boil for 10 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon or tongs, gently place the eggs in an ice-water bath until cooled, about 5 – 7 minutes.

Cup the egg under the palm of your hand and roll against the countertop with mild pressure until you feel the shell crack. This makes peeling the eggs very easy.

Once the eggs are peeled, lift the yolks out and place them in a bowl.

Chop up the egg whites into small pieces.

Using a fork, mash the egg yolks until they are in small pieces. Add the mayonnaise, sugar, salt and pepper. 

Using the fork, cream the mixture together and then stir in the chopped egg whites.

Place a generous amount of the egg salad filling on a slice of white sandwich bread. In this photo we’re using Japanese Milk Bread, which is light and moist, but you can use any sandwich bread of your choice. 

Place the top slice on, press down to spread the filling to the edges. For a traditional egg salad funeral sandwich, we trim off the crusts and cut the sandwich diagonally. If you want petite sandwiches, you can cut diagonally again to create four smaller bites.

There’s something quietly reassuring about an egg salad sandwich done well. It doesn’t try to impress, and it doesn’t need to — it simply shows up, soft around the edges, familiar in flavor, and steady in its comfort. Maybe that’s why it’s lingered so long at kitchen tables, church halls, and family gatherings of every kind. Long after the plates are cleared, it tends to live on in memory the same way it was served: simple, generous, and made with care.