Classic Potato Salad
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With the perfect texture, creaminess and balance of flavors, this classic potato salad recipe is simply the BEST! Whether you’re enjoying it at home, on a picnic, or taking it to a potluck, this is sure to be a hit!
How to Make The BEST Potato Salad
Potato salad is one of those dishes practically everyone claims they have the best recipe for. (I know, dangling participle. But the grammatically correct way just sounds so darned highfalutin!) But most potato salads are downright uninspiring. In my experience most of them are either too dry, too wet, too mushy, not salty enough, lack flavor, and are just overall bland. Is that your experience as well?
This creamy Classic Potato Salad recipe features the perfect balance of textures and flavor and is a potato salad you can feel proud to show off at your next barbecue, picnic, potluck or family dinner!
Potato Salad Myths
Before we get to the recipe, let’s dispel a commonly held belief about potato salad and food poisoning, because the two get thrown together a lot. Despite common belief that the mayonnaise is the culprit, the fact is that mayonnaise can actually help inhibit the growth of food-borne bacteria because of its high acidity level (vinegar, lemon juice, salt). Plus store-bought mayonnaise is highly pasteurized. So when you hear about potato salad having caused food poisoning, what actually caused it?
Usually it’s the protein-based ingredients added to the salad like chicken, ham, tuna, eggs, or even the potatoes themselves. Cooked starchy vegetables like potatoes can be an incubator for bacteria if not stored properly. Another reason for bacteria growth has to do with the preparation of the potato salad – it involves a lot of hand contact with the ingredients (eg, chopping, dicing, slicing). So the takeaway here is to just wash your hands and the vegetables thoroughly, use a clean working surface, and store your potato salad properly and you can wave goodbye to food poisoning.
Classic Potato Salad Recipe
Let’s get started!
Chop the onions, celery and pickles and place them in a large mixing bowl.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the sauce ingredients.
Add the potatoes and chopped eggs to the mixing bowl along with the mayonnaise mixture.
Carefully stir the ingredients together until combined being as careful as you can not to break up the potatoes too much.
Let the salad refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before serving.
This salad gets better and better the longer it sits and is fantastic the next day!
Enjoy!
For more delicious salads try my:
- Chicken Salad
- Olivier Salad
- Coleslaw
- Macaroni Salad
- Maroulosalata
- Thai Quinoa Salad
- Crunchy Broccoli Salad
- Black Eyed Pea Salad
- Freezer Slaw
- Pea Salad
- German Cucumber Salad
- Waldorf Salad
- Moroccan Chicken Salad
- Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad
- Sauerkraut Salad
- Four Bean Salad
- Broccoli Pasta Salad
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Classic Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 3 pounds firm yellow potatoes , scrubbed and boiled with skins on in lightly salted water (do not overcook or the potatoes will be mushy), then peeled and left to cool completely before slicing
- 1/3 cup chopped dill pickles (can use sweet pickles if you prefer)
- 2 large celery stalks , chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion , chopped
- 4 large boiled eggs , chilled and then chopped
- For the Mayo Sauce:
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons brown mustard
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Sliced the cooled potatoes into 1/4 inch rounds. Place in a large mixing bowl along with the chopped vegetables and eggs.
- To make the Mayo Sauce, combine all the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
- Pour the sauce over the potato salad and stir very carefully until combined, being as careful as you can not to break up the potatoes too much.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving, preferably longer. This potato salad gets better the longer it sits. It’s fabulous the next day.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet on Jul 18, 2015
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
I would love to give this a try! Looks amazing!!
This is summertime staple in our house; so delicious! Looking forward to enjoying this all season long!
The pickles give this such a delicious kick!
I would love some of this delicious potato salad for lunch!! YUM!!
I LOVE a classic! This looks incredibly delicious!!
I am drooling over this potato salad. This is exactly what I need for lunch today!
This looks so delicious and flavor filled! My family loves this recipe! Thanks!
I cannot agree with your statement that “my main complaint with most potato salads is that they’re just too darn dry”. My experience has been just the opposite. That is, the vast majority of commercial potato salads (restaurants or from grocery store/delis) are “just to darn slimy and swimming in mayonnaise”. I grew up in the American Midwest where potato salad is a staple of almost every family. No self respecting “home chef” would make the “slop” that commercially prepared brands sell in stores or restaurants.
The trick is to use “just the right amount” of mayo and other “saucy ingredients” (mayo, mustard, etc.) The end result should be pleasantly moist but not swimming in sauce (as are most commercial potato salads).