↑

Will Cook For Smiles

The Best of Homecooking

  • Home
    • About Me
    • Work With Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Subscribe!
  • Recipes
    • Popular Posts
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Healthy Dishes
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Sandwich
    • Cauliflower
    • Drink
    • Cocktail
  • How To
  • Instant Pot
    • Instant Pot Main Dishes
    • Instant Pot Side Dishes
    • Instant Pot Soups
  • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Chicken
    • Beef
    • Seafood
    • Pork
    • Chili
    • Pasta
    • Slow Cooker
    • Vegetarian
  • Dessert
    • Cheesecake
    • Cake
    • Cookies
    • Chocolate
  • Holidays
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Super Bowl Recipes
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Cinco de Mayo
    • Mother’s Day
    • Father’s Day
    • BBQ
    • 4th Of July
    • Fall Recipes
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas Dinner
    • Christmas Baking
    • Holiday Leftover Recipes
    • New Year’s
Home » Side Dishes » Southern Potato Salad

Southern Potato Salad

Created: May 20, 2019 Updated: June 23, 2020 by lyuba 14 Comments

11.1K shares
Jump to Recipe

Southern Potato Salad is a delicious combination of potatoes, hard boiled eggs, onions, celery, sweet pickles, mayo, mustard, and seasoning. This classic potato salad is perfect for potlucks, cookouts, and picnics. A Southern classic side dish that goes perfectly with grilled meats and sandwiches. 

You can never go wrong with a potato salad at the barbecue party. Try a few other potato salads like Parmesan Dill Potato Salad or Roasted Garlic Potato Salad or bring them all.

Southern Potato Salad

 

SOUTHERN POTATO SALAD RECIPE

Never give another thought about what you can bring to a potluck dinner or a friend’s barbecue party. Classic Southern potato salad is always a crowd-pleaser and have not failed me yet. 

It’s all about the combination of creamy, savory potatoes with a tang of mustard and a touch of sweetness from sweet pickles. That combination of flavors is quite satisfying and goes very well with smokey, grilled chicken, burgers, hot dogs, or steaks. 

Even the pickiest guests have not been able to resist my potato salad. One bite is all it takes to convince them to grab that spoon and scoop a hearty helping onto their plate. If I haven’t convinced you, give it a try and see for yourself. 

PIN THIS RECIPE

Ingredients for Southern Potato Salad

WHAT GOES INTO SOUTHERN POTATO SALAD

Potatoes – if you’re wondering what potatoes to use in a Southern potato salad, I always recommend Russet. It’s not as starchy as some others so it won’t turn into glue while you’re trying to cut them. These potatoes are also smooth, fluffy, and tender, which makes them perfect for this potato salad.

Hard boiled eggs – I recommend a ratio of potatoes and eggs where eggs don’t get lost among too much potatoes. The point of this salad is to feature a combination of both.

Onion – Use sweeter Vidalia onion for an extra sweet crunch. 

Celery – celery province a fresh crunch that this smooth salad needs to variate the textures.

Sweet pickles – I prefer to add pickles over relish to my potato salad because pickles also bring in more crunch and less sweetness at the same time. You can add more pickles than relish without overpowering other flavors.

Mayonnaise – there is quite a bit of mayo in this potato salad, so make sure to choose your favorite tasting one because the flavor will come through clearly. 

Mustard – I’m just going to come out and say it, I do not like yellow mustard. Because of the harsh and overpowering flavor of yellow mustard, I use Grey Poupon Dijon mustard instead. I find the flavor a lot more complimentary to other ingredients.

Mix mayo mixture into the potato mixture

TIPS FOR THE BEST SOUTHERN POTATO SALAD

Cook potatoes and eggs ahead of time and give it enough time to cool down completely before cutting. It’s much easier to cut potatoes and hard boiled eggs when at room temperature. 

Dice potatoes into small pieces. You want everything cut into small cubes so that it all mixes well and each bite has an even amount of ingredients.

Peel potatoes before cutting. There are many potato salads that are great with potato skin left on but not this one. The texture of this potato salad is smooth, creamy, and tender and potato skins would really change the texture here.

Mix diced potatoes, eggs, onions, celery, and pickles together first so that it’s evenly mixed and then add the mixture of mayo, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Mixing the potato salad twice will ensure that ingredients are incorporated evenly throughout.

This potato salad can be served still warm or cold. 

How to make southern potato salad

CAN I MAKE SOUTHERN POTATO SALAD AHEAD?

Yes, absolutely. You can prepare this potato salad ahead of time partially or completely. 

Potatoes and hard boiled eggs can be cooked the night before. Cook potatoes and hard boiled eggs, strain all the water, and let it cool down to room temperature. Cover both with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to prepare the salad. 

Potato salad can also be prepared completely and stored in the refrigerator, in an air-tight container, until ready to serve.

HOW TO STORE COOKED POTATO SALAD

Store potato salad in a closed food storage container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Make sure to keep the container air-tight either with the lid or plastic wrap. If using plastic wrap, make sure to use a new sheet after each time you open it.

To minimize exposure to bacteria and extend life of potato salad, use a clean spoon each time you take out some potato salad.

Southern potato salad

SOME MORE RECIPES TO TRY

Italian Tortellini Salad

Avocado Corn Salad

Herbed Grilled Potatoes

Apple Walnut Broccoli Salad

Creamy Pea Salad

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Southern Potato Salad Recipe

If you made any of my recipes and shared them on Instagram, make sure to tag me @willcookforsmiles and #willcookforsmiles so I can see all the things you tried!

Connect with Will Cook For Smiles!

Be sure to click below and follow me on my social media, so you never miss a recipe.

   

Don’t forget to sign up for email, so you won’t miss any new recipes.

Easy Southern Potato Salad

PIN THIS RECIPE

Southern Potato Salad

Delicious combination of potatoes, hard boiled eggs, onions, celery, sweet pickles, mayo, mustard, and seasoning.
4 from 7 votes
Print SaveSaved! Rate
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: barbecue side dish, Potato Salad
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Cool to room temperature: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 474kcal
Author: lyuba

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs Russet potatoes
  • 8 eggs
  • 6 oz sweet pickles
  • 1 Vidalia onion
  • 2 celery ribs

Dressing:

  • 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • salt
  • fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions

  • Cooking potatoes:
    Rinse potatoes and place them in a pot. Fill the pot with cold water, making sure potatoes are covered. Bring the pot to boil and lower the heat to medium. Cook until potatoes are tender. (You can stick a fork into the middle of a potato to test it.) Drain off water and let potatoes cool to room temperature.
  • Cooking eggs:
    Place eggs into the pot and add cold water to it. Add just enough water to cover the eggs. Heat up the eggs and water over medium-high heat until water comes to a roaring boil. Immediately cover with a lid and take off heat. Let eggs sit in the hot water, covered with a lid, for 10-13 minutes. Drain off water and let eggs cool to room temperature.
  • Peel potatoes and eggs.
  • Dice potatoes and eggs into small cubes and add to a large mixing bowl.
  • Dice pickles, onion, and celery into even sized pieces and add it to the mixing bowl as well. Gently mix everything together with a wooden spoon.
  • In a small bowl, combine mayo, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper and mix well. Add the mayo mixture to the potato mixture and mix everything together.
  • Serve right away or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.

Nutrition

Calories: 474kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 178mg | Sodium: 483mg | Potassium: 858mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 425IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 2.6mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles

Southern Potato Salad Recipe

LYUBA

ABOUT LYUBA

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...

11.1K shares

Filed Under: 4th Of July, BBQ, Gluten Free, Potatoes, Side Dishes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.

Comments

  1. Josh says

    May 20, 2019 at 10:56 pm

    Great potato salad! Thanks!

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      May 21, 2019 at 7:55 am

      Josh, I am glad you liked it!

      Reply
  2. Carla says

    May 20, 2019 at 11:22 pm

    This potato salad was great!!

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      May 21, 2019 at 7:55 am

      Thanks, Carla!

      Reply
  3. jb says

    December 18, 2019 at 3:11 pm

    We use Sweet Mixed Pickles and Celery Seeds in our dish. Other than that, this is pretty much spot on how we make our version.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      December 22, 2019 at 9:37 pm

      Yum! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Granny Jean says

    April 11, 2020 at 4:45 pm

    I make mine just like yours except I chop hamburger dill slices. I do not need to add any vinegar. When mixing up I add a pinch or so of sugar., to taste. It helps enhance the flavors and takes some of the harshness of the yellow mustard.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      April 13, 2020 at 12:13 pm

      Sounds Delicious!

      Reply
  5. Jocelyn says

    April 20, 2020 at 3:51 pm

    4 stars
    Good afternoon Lyubab, I use the same ingredients except I don’t like pickles so they don’t go in and I use sweet onions. My first time on your site so I’ll be sure to look at more.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      April 20, 2020 at 4:10 pm

      Hi Jocelyn,

      So glad you liked my potato salad! I hope you will try some of my other recipes and let me know what you think! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Inez meares says

    February 26, 2022 at 2:14 pm

    I’ve been making my potato salad like this except no celery and added a bit of sugar since the 50s. Everyone loves my potato salad and ask me to bring it to all the gatherings.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      February 28, 2022 at 10:38 am

      This potato salad has definitely been a hit with my family as well 🙂

      Reply
  7. Sharon Parsons says

    July 15, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    I have been trying to find a potato salad as close to my mom’s and this has to be the closest so far and I’ve been looking for 9 years. I’m going to try it this weekend. Question though, covid has ruined my palate for onions (bummer) will this lose to much flavor if I omit them? Thank you for sharing the recipe

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      July 18, 2022 at 3:23 pm

      Hi Sharon, I hope you like the recipe and if you don’t like onions I think it’s fine to leave them out.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Well, hey there!

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read More.

Soup Recipes

spooning some beef soup from a bowl

Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

closeup of Italian wedding soup topped with shaved Parmesan

Italian Wedding Soup

closeup image of crab soup in a bowl centered in a photo

She Crab Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Chicken Meatball Soup

closeup of top view of Cioppino in a bowl

Cioppino – Seafood Stew

A bowl of white bean soup is presented with a spoon on a countertop.

White Bean Soup

vegetable broth in two canning jars next to fresh carrots, garlic, and celery

Vegetable Stock

Our Popular Recipes

Mango Salsa

Instant Pot Chili

stacked cheeseburger eggrolls on a wooden tray with a small white bowl filled with dipping sauce and an eggroll cut in half and sitting on top of the stack of eggrolls

Cheeseburger Egg Rolls

close up view of view from above of salted chocolate white chocolate chip cookies on a wire cooling rack on top of a wooden table and top cookie broken into 2

Salted White Chocolate Chip Brown Butter Chocolate Cookies

The Best Turkey Burgers

batch of peanut butter chocolate caramel cookies on cooling rack above wood table

Sumbitches: Peanut Butter Chocolate & Caramel Cookies

Top Rated Recipes

The Best French Toast

Cauliflower Parmesan Crisps

Christmas Cheesecake (Cranberry Jam White Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake)

Avocado Salmon Rice Bowl

round decorative bowl filled with apple pie bread pudding topped with ice cream and a fork leaning on the side of the bowl viewed close up.

Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Smores cheesecake on a wooden table

S'Mores Cheesecake Recipe

Sides

30 Min

Pasta

Salads

Breakfast

Drinks

Soups

Gluten Free

FEATURED ON:

featured on

[cp_popup display="inline" style_id="32674" step_id = "1"][/cp_popup]
The Best Classic Tiramisu

The Best Classic Tiramisu

January 14, 2023
Tiramisu...
Baked Ham with Orange Honey Ham Glaze

Baked Ham with Orange Honey Ham Glaze

December 2, 2022
This...
Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata

August 11, 2022
Chicken...
Pad See Ew

Pad See Ew

August 10, 2022
Pad...
Chicken Meatballs

Chicken Meatballs

July 15, 2022
These...
Baba Ganoush

Baba Ganoush

July 1, 2022
Baba...
Painkiller

Painkiller

June 30, 2022
A...
Truffle Fries

Truffle Fries

June 28, 2022
Truffle...
Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

June 21, 2022
Thai...
Strawberry Daiquiri

Strawberry Daiquiri

June 16, 2022
The...
Privacy Policy
©2023, Will Cook For Smiles. Design by Pixel Me Designs