This Traditional Potato Salad is delicious with a mix of mayonnaise and mustard, hard-boiled eggs, celery, and relish. It is a picnic must-have and the only recipe for potato salad you need.
Serve this homemade potato salad with Burgers, Grilled Chicken, or your favorite summer bbq recipes.
Why You’ll Love This Simple Potato Salad Recipe
- Make-Ahead: If stored properly, this dish can be made up to FIVE days in advance!
- Customizable: This is a versatile dish that can be customized with a variety of ingredients to suit your taste preferences.
- Perfect for Summer: This is our go-to dish for summer parties and gatherings!
I’m ready to make a very bold statement. This is the Best Potato Salad ever. It’s the recipe I grew up making with my grandma, and the one we still make to this day. Traditional in flavors, with the addition of mustard and pickles, but simple to make and a picnic staple. The best secret I can share is that you should be generous. Use a little extra of the ingredients you love to get an extra creamy delicious flavor.
The flavor in this side dish is 10 out of 10. You get a delicious creamy tang and the perfect balance of sweet and savory notes. So simple to make and the perfect make-ahead recipe for summer.
Potato Salad Ingredients
A quick tip from my kitchen: Do not skip the bacon.
I have even been guilty of stirring the bacon grease right in with all of the other ingredients. The result is a salty bacon flavor throughout the entire side dish. I don’t do this every time, but occasionally when I’m feeling a little gutsy, this is how I let loose.
- Potatoes: Typically you will see people use red potatoes or yukon golds. Both are amazing in this recipe and hold their shape well. However, I prefer a creamier potato salad. Russets are my go-to. They tend to fall apart slightly and are high in starch and low in moisture. That means they need a little extra sauce and give you an ultra creamy and delicious potato salad.
- Hard boiled eggs: Optional, but an amazing flavor addition. Not to mention the extra dose of protein!
- Celery: This is there for a tiny bit of flavor and a whole lot of texture. This gives you a nice crunch in every bite.
- Red onion: Red onion is subtly sweet and on the milder side. So, while it adds flavor, it will not overpower the dish.
- Dill relish: OR Sweet relish. We prefer the first as it adds a little more of a tartness that pairs amazingly well with the potatoes and mayonnaise. However, if you want a sweeter finish opt for sweet relish.
- Mayonnaise: Here’s the deal. All mayo’s are not created equal. Pick your favorite and stick with it. I lean towards the fandom of Best Foods.
- Mustard: Another fun tip, use regular yellow mustard OR Dijon for a little flair.
- Garlic salt, Salt and pepper
- Bacon: Cooked and crumbled.
How To Make The Best Potato Salad
The secret with this recipe is to make it in advance. It needs time to sit together and blend all of the flavors you toss into the mix. I suggest overnight but in a pinch you could swing 4 hours. We’ve made it a few times and even eaten it right away and it still tastes good but the next day it tasted great. I promise that extra time to blend things really adds that punch it needs.
- PREP: Place the potatoes into a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes or until fork tender. Drain the water and allow to cool just enough to handle. Peel and chop into fairly decent sized pieces.
- MIX: Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir until fully combined. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours prior to serving.
Helpful Tools
- Pot: Having a large pot (affiliate) is almost a kitchen staple, but especially helpful when you’re cooking a large batch of potatoes like this. The one linked here even has a strainer lid!
- Mixing Bowl: This set of mixing bowls (affiliate) is my current favorite kitchen item! They nest together, which makes for easy storage, AND each bowl has its own lid!
- Airtight Container: The secret to keeping this fresh for almost a week is a quality container (affiliate). This one seals tightly and is big enough for the entire recipe.
Recipe Notes:
We tried both methods and found that cooking the potatoes whole worked out better in the end results. The potatoes cooked evenly and dicing was a breeze. However, I’m sure you could cut pieces before cooking with similar results.
We did you all a favor and tried EVERY mayo brand we could find. Our findings? Best Foods, also known as Hellmann’s, beat the bunch. It is delicious and has the perfect consistency.
That being said, you can substitute with Greek yogurt if you prefer. When substituting mayonnaise, it’s important to keep in mind that the taste and texture of the potato salad may vary slightly depending on the substitute used.
This recipe will last up to five days if stored properly. The longer this recipe sits the better it tastes. The secret with this recipe is to make it in advance. It needs time to sit together and blend all of the flavors you toss into the mix. I suggest overnight but in a pinch you could swing 4 hours.
Yes. In fact, this recipe does call for boiled eggs in it. If you aren’t a fan of eggs you can leave them out.
The question of the day. Both dill and sweet relish are equally delicious in this recipe, but with equally different results. The most popular option for a potato salad recipe is sweet relish. It add both a sweet and sour flavor that is a staple in the flavor profile. However, replacing with dill will give you a flavor packed salad that pairs well with all of your bbq favorites.
More Delicious Side Dish Recipes
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Classic Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 5 large potatoes
- 3 hard-boiled eggs peeled and chopped
- 1/2 cup celery finely diced
- 1/3 cup red onion finely diced
- 1/2 cup dill relish
- 4 heaping tablespoons Mayo or Miracle Whip
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup bacon finely diced (optional)
Instructions
- Place your potatoes into a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes or until fork tender. Drain the water and allow to cool just enough to handle. Peel and chop into fairly decent sized pieces.
- Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir until fully combined. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours prior to serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Equipment
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Comments & Reviews
Val says
This is just like my dad made. I put dill relish and sweet relish in it and it was really yummy
Jesseca says
I’m so glad you liked it, Val! One of my faves. I’ll have to try it with both relish types!