Tender potatoes, crunchy vegetables, and delicate hard-boiled eggs all mixed up in the tangy mustard dressing. This is my definition of the perfect side dish for any picnic or BBQ dinner. Potato salad recipes are not hard to to come by—nearly every American family seems to have their own recipe for this dish. They’re all good in their own ways too.
My recipe for potato salad uses a mustard and mayonnaise dressing with hard-boiled eggs and green onions. I generally like adding onions to my deli salads, but I find that red and white onions add too much bitterness. By using green onions, the onion flavor is slight and doesn’t overpower the rest of the flavors. If you don’t have green onions on hand, you can always use in 1/2 of a small cooking onion or 1/4 of a large red onion chopped up. Your potato salad will have a stronger flavor, but it’s still good.
What type of potatoes should I use in potato salad?
The best potatoes for potato salad are Yukon gold, but I usually make it with Russet potato because that’s what we almost always have on hand. It comes out okay, but the Russets have a tendency to break down when they are cooked. You have to watch them very closely or you’ll end up with mashed potatoes. Yukon gold potatoes hold their shape much better. If you have a choice, I’d go with those. Otherwise, also long as the potato is cook to be tender and easily breakable by fork, you can really use any type of potato that you like.
How soft should the potatoes be?
This is really a matter of taste. If you like the grocery store style potato salad, you probably want your potatoes a little softer. When you’re testing them pierce them with a fork. If the fork goes in easily, chances are your potatoes are done. Don’t forget that potatoes retain a lot of heat and will continue to cook slightly as they cool.
Other ideas to make this potato salad yours.
- Dice a half of red pepper.
- Add chopped fresh parsley.
- Skip the mayo and mustard and replace with 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil.
- Skip the vinegar and replace with 2 tbsp of relish.
Ingredients
- 8 medium potato cubed
- 5 eggs hard-boiled, cubed
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 4 green onions chopped
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup mustard
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp celery seed
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium pot, boil the cubed potatoes until fork can easily break it apart. Strain and let cool.
- In a large boil add the potato, celery, carrot, green onions, mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, paprika, and celery seed.
- Stir until combine than add salt and pepper to taste.
- Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.
Making Potato Salad in a Tiny Kitchen
Making potato salad in a tiny kitchen is completely doable and totally worth it. The only part of this recipe that might cause a bit of a problem is when you refrigerate it. Unless you’re planning on eating a lot of it later that day, I recommend that you transfer the it into many smaller containers before you try to stash it in your fridge. A large bowl in a small fridge can be quite the space challenge.
Dishes will include a medium pot (which can just be rinsed), a strainer (also rinsed), a cutting board, knife, large bowl, and spoon. This potato salad recipe is a delicious side for any kind of picnic, barbecue, or camping excursion. It stores well and can be made up to three days in advance. If you’re like me, it also makes a great lunchtime snack.
