Best Potato Salad Recipe

A good potato salad is a perfect side dish for any occasion. It's hearty and delicious, and there are lots of variations for every taste preference. Because of this, you'll find great potato salad recipes in cookbooks from all over the world.

But which one is best? Are you looking for a tangy mustard base with bacon and pickles? Or maybe something that reminds you of your mom's picnic recipe with just a few simple ingredients? To help you sort through the options and find the tastiest potato salad around, we've put together this list of our favorite recipes. You're sure to find something that satisfies your taste buds here!

Quick Steps Overview

• Gather all ingredients and prepare all the kitchen tools needed to make Potato Salad.
• Rinse your potatoes and other produce that will be used, at the same time, give all the kitchen tools a quick rinse as well.
• Boil your potatoes.
• In a separate pot, boil eggs.
• Set aside boiled potatoes and eggs to cool.
• Once cooled down, peel your potatoes and eggs.
• Chop potatoes and eggs.
• Season your potatoes lightly with salt and pepper.
• Chopped up onions.
• Put onions in an ice batch.
• Chop up Celery.
• Mix together ingredients for the dressing.
• Mix together chopped ingredients and dressing.
• Season your potato salad.

A good potato salad is a perfect side dish for any occasion. It's hearty and delicious, and there are lots of variations for every taste preference.

Because of this, you'll find great potato salad recipes in cookbooks from all over the world. But which one is best? Are you looking for a tangy mustard base with bacon and pickles? Or maybe something that reminds you of your mom's picnic recipe with just a few simple ingredients? This recipe puts together all of that and more, making it the best potato salad recipe!

What's In A Potato Salad

Potatoes are the star of this potato salad recipe. They're the foundation on which everything else sits. This can come as a surprise to some people, but potatoes are not just for boiling and mashing! In fact, they're often used in salads to add flavor and texture to what would otherwise be an ordinary dish.

Potatoes are a great vessel for the other ingredients in a Potato salad, but what are they that go with it?

• Potatoes - It wouldn't be a potato salad without potatoes in them. Medium-sized potatoes would be a great choice, especially if you're cooking for a crowd and for leftovers of course.
• Onions - Don't start whining already, but onions give the potato salad this tangy punch that offsets the rich and creamy taste of potato salad, not to mention the added crunch that raw onions give.
• Celery - Another star of any potato salad or any mayonnaise-based salad that is. Celery gives a herby and fresh taste to the salad, and like onions the added pleasant crunch.
• Eggs - Not to confuse this with an egg salad, but the yolk of hard-boiled eggs mixed with the mayonnaise dressing and the starch from the potatoes makes this creamy texture that just makes potato salad oh so desirable.
• Mayonnaise - A great binding ingredient that puts all of the chopped-up ingredients together. Although not all mayonnaise or made the same, so make sure to use the mayonnaise that you like.
• Mustard (Optional) - A great addition to cut through all the richness. Mustard is a hit or miss for most people, so if you prefer yellow or dijon or vice versa go with what you like.
• Pickle Relish (Optional) - We have salty, creamy, rich, tangy, and now a bit of sweetness to round things altogether.
• Seasonings - Salt and pepper, but throw in a bit of garlic powder and some paprika for color and smokiness to amp up your potato salad.

Pick The Best Potatoes For Your Potato Salad

The first thing you should do when selecting potatoes for your potato salad is to ensure that all of the potatoes are firm. Potatoes with soft spots or cuts will have a higher chance of spoiling in the fridge, which can cause unwanted consequences like sick stomachs and food poisoning.

Next, make sure that each potato is similar in size. When buying from a grocery store display, look for several similar-looking potatoes all of roughly equal size so that they cook at about the same rate—ideally no more than about one pound each.

If any one potato is much larger than another, cut it into chunks before cooking to ensure an even distribution among all portions of your salad.

Finally, choose potatoes with similar colors so that they maintain their appearance once cooked and assembled as part of your salad recipe!

How To Cook Potatoes For Potato Salad

You can either peel our potatoes before boiling or keep the skins on and peel after. Some would say that keeping the skin would keep the potatoes in one piece and avoid them from turning into mashed potatoes. While others who are in a pinch can opt to peel the potatoes before boiling for lesser cooking time. Either way will work, as long as it tastes good at the end.

• Fill a large pot with water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Wash potatoes under cold running water until clean.
• Place potatoes in the SALTED boiling water and cook for 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork or knife (the exact time will depend on the size of your potatoes).
• Drain into a colander set in the sink; discard cooking liquid.
• Let cool for at least 15 minutes. The skin will come off more easily if they're not too hot! To speed cooling time, place them under cold running water several times while waiting for them to cool down completely before peeling away the skin or place them in an ice bath for faster results.

Chef's Knife 8" with Brown Handle | imarku

Tools You Will Need To Make Potato Salad

You will need the following tools to make your potato salad.

• Pot - To boil the potatoes.
• Ladle - For scooping out hot potatoes and eggs from the pot
• Colander - To drain the boiled potatoes, onions, and eggs after they are cooked.
• Cutting Board - Surface to slice ingredients
• Knife - To slice the ingredients for preparation.
• Bowls - for mixing dressing ingredients and segregation other chopped-up ingredients.
• Whisk - To mix together ingredients for the dressing.
• Silicone spatula - To mix together the whole salad and avoid the eggs and potatoes from crumbling into smaller pieces or chunks.

Potato Salad Recipe

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes (to boil eggs and potatoes)

Total time: 30-35 minutes

Serves: 6-8 people

Ingredients

2 pounds small Yukon gold potatoes (halved)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tbsp mustard

4 hard-boiled eggs

1/2 cup chopped celery stocks

1/2 cup chopped dill pickles

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Cooking Instructions

• Fill two pots 3/4 full with water, wash potatoes, and place them inside the pot. If there are any bigger potatoes, cut up into manageable-sized pieces or as long as they are all uniform in size.
• Salt the water and put in high, boil potatoes for 15 minutes or until fork tender
• In the other bot, put in room temperature eggs, and boil for 15 minutes.
• Fish out potatoes and boiled eggs and dunk them into an ice bath
• Peel potatoes and set aside, season lightly with salt and pepper
• Deshell boiled eggs and chop them into chunks.
• Dice up the red onion and dunk it into an ice bath
• Chop up the celery into 1/2 inch pieces
• In a bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, pickle relish, and seasonings.
• Adjust the taste and seasoning of the dressing by increasing one or a few more of the ingredients
• For a sweeter taste, add more pickle relish.
• For a tangier taste, add more mustard.
• For a creamier texture, add more mayonnaise.
• Other seasonings can be added or omitted depending on how much you want it to taste that way.
• Drop in the potatoes, eggs, and celery, and mix together gently. Make sure that the potatoes and eggs are not crumbling into tiny pieces.
• Wring out water from the onions and mix in with the rest of the ingredients.
• Season the salad to taste with salt, pepper, and other seasonings.

How To Store Potato Salad

Potato salad is one of those dishes that taste better a few days later so make sure to store it properly for the coming days.

• Store in an airtight container.
• Refrigerate for up to 3 days, then toss out any leftovers. Cold temperatures slow bacterial growth, so it's safer to refrigerate potato salad and not freeze it.
• To freeze, transfer the entire bowl of potato salad into a freezer-safe container or bag, press out as much air as possible with the back of a spoon or your hands (this is key), seal well, and label clearly with the date you made it. You can also freeze individual servings in small containers or resealable bags for convenience when you want some!
• When ready to eat, thaw completely at room temperature before adding mayonnaise and serving warm or cold!