This creamy, tangy American potato salad recipe is my all-time summer picnic favorite! I toss the warm potatoes in a basic vinegar-mustard dressing before assembling the salad. Loaded with hard boiled eggs, soft potatoes, crunchy onion and celery, tossed with a mustard-y mayo dressing, this salad is everything your next summer grilling party needs.
I’ve been so excited to share some of my favorite savory summer dishes with you. This one is a staple at our latest grill-outs. The soft potatoes, crunchy celery, hard boiled eggs, and tangy mayo-mustard are such a winning combination. I can’t seem to get enough!
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Ingredients used in American potato salad
- Potatoes: Yukon Gold are my favorite variety of potatoes to use in this salad. Red russets can also be used too. I peel my potatoes before dicing and boiling them.
- Onion: Vidalia onions give a sweet and crunchy onion flavor to this salad. I prefer to chop them up quite small so they blend well with the sauce.
- Eggs: Potato salad absolutely has to have hard boiled eggs, in my not-so-humble opinion. The only exception to this is if you or a guest has an egg allergy or chose to eat vegan. In that case, you should omit eggs and use an egg-free vegan mayo substitute for this recipe.
- Celery & Celery Seed: My secret ingredient for American potato salad is celery seed. It gives a delightful aromatic, earthy flavor to the potato salad that enhances everything subtly and perfectly. Most people won’t detect it because it tastes like celery and looks like cracked black pepper when everything is mixed together.
- Distilled White Vinegar: Potato salad gets it’s extra tang & punch from splashing the warm potatoes in vinegar.
- Sugar: Helps balance the tang from the vinegar.
- Mustard: This tart and tangy ingredient lends the signature yellow color from turmeric used in yellow mustard. Mustard adds more vinegar to the salad and it complements eggs and onions very well.
- Mayonnaise: Use Mayonnaise and not it’s sweetened cousin, Miracle Whip, for the best taste possible.
- Dill Pickle Relish: This is my third vinegar-based ingredient. Dill pickle relish lends a classic summer flavor of dill pickles to the salad.
- Salt and pepper: Added for taste.
- Paprika: Used to garnish the top of the potato salad. Paprika has a subtle flavor and no heat.
How to make the potato salad
- Prepare your ingredients first.
- Boil potatoes.
- Marinate warm potatoes.
- Add onions, hard boiled eggs and celery.
- Combine and add the remaining ingredients.
- Chill for 2-4 hours before serving to let the flavors blend.
- Garnish with a hard boiled egg and paprika sprinkled over the top.
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Storing and serving
This salad should be kept cold at all times. Do not let it sit out in room temperature longer than 1 hour. I like to place my bowl of potato salad over a larger bowl of ice to keep it extra cold when serving.
Store the potato salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days for maximum freshness.
How to make perfectly hard boiled eggs
- Fill a pot with about 3 inches of water. Add a splash of distilled vinegar and a pinch of salt. Bring water to a rolling boil on the stove.
- Place your eggs in a bowl of lukewarm water while the pot of water heats on the stove. Bringing their temperature up from cold refrigeration will help them to not crack.
- Once the water is boiling, submerge the eggs in the water and place a lid on the pot. Set your timer for 10 minutes and remove the eggs when the timer goes off. I use a strainer spoon to scoop the eggs.
- While waiting for your eggs to finish boiling, fill a large bowl halfway with ice and add water so it’s ¾ full. Let this sit on the counter to chill.
- Place your eggs in the ice water immediately. I recommend peeling after 20-30 minutes in ice water.
- Egg peeling technique: Crack the bottom (wider end) of the egg first on the countertop. Roll the egg so the entire outer shell has cracks all over it but is still intact. Dip the egg back in the ice water for 1-2 seconds. Remove the egg and proceed to peel. The peel should come off much easier now.
More delicious egg-based recipes
- Creamy Deviled Eggs: The perfect afternoon snack or appetizer. These deviled eggs aren’t runny, sloppy, or too mustard-y. The consistency is made perfect with the addition of cream cheese.
- Clafoutis: A French dessert made with fruit covered in a batter that consists of eggs, sugar, milk, and flour. It’s a thick custard that is similar to flan in texture.
- Ricotta Cheesecake: A lighter, airier, Italian-style cheesecake that tastes incredible and pairs perfectly with fresh berries or chocolate ganache!
- Classic Creme Brûlée: A classic French dessert made of rich and creamy vanilla custard and crunchy caramelized topping.
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American Potato Salad
Delicious and creamy American potato salad with a mustard-mayo dressing, potatoes, hard boiled eggs, onions, celery, and seasonings.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut
- ½ Tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 4 teaspoons yellow mustard, divided in half
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup (100g) onion, Vidalia (preferred), yellow, or white
- 2 medium stalks celery (90g)
- 4 eggs hard boiled, reserve 1 for garnish
- ¾ cup (65g) mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- â…› cup (30g) dill relish
- paprika, for garnish
Instructions
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[Prepare your ingredients first] Wash the celery and onion. Hard boil, cool, and peel the eggs. Peel and cut the potatoes.
Make the potato salad
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Fill a large (8-qt) pot halfway with water. Add about a tablespoon of salt to the pot and bring it to a boil. Add the diced potatoes and cook until fork-tender. This should take 10-12 minutes. Drain the potatoes and rinse them with cold water for about 15-20 seconds to help them cool down.
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Place the warm potatoes into a large bowl. Add the distilled vinegar, 2 teaspoons of yellow mustard, celery seed, and salt and pepper to the potatoes and stir. Let this sit for 10 minutes to marinate and continue cooling. In the meantime, mince onions, chop celery, slice eggs.
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To the large bowl of potatoes, add the minced onions, 3 sliced hard boiled eggs and celery. Give it a quick stir.
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Combine the remaining 2 teaspoons yellow mustard, mayonnaise, sugar, and dill relish. Add this mixture to the large bowl of potatoes and gently stir until everything is coated in the dressing.
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Chill for 2-4 hours before serving to let the flavors blend. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Garnish with a hard boiled egg and paprika sprinkled over the top.
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This salad should be kept cold at all times. Do not let it sit out in room temperature longer than 1 hour. Store the potato salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days for maximum freshness.
Recipe Notes
For helpful tips and instructions on hard boiled eggs, visit the original recipe on www.prettysimplesweet.com
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