Southern Potato Salad
No backyard BBQ is complete without a southern potato salad! Bites of tender Russet potatoes, hard boiled eggs, sweet pickles, onions, celery and a dressing featuring mayo, Dijon mustard, and seasoning.
This potato salad was great!! ~Carla
Quick Look: Southern Potato Salad
- ⏱️ Prep: 20 minutes
- 🍳 Cook: 30 minutes
- 🕒 Total: 2 hours 20 minutes (includes cooling time)
- 👥 Servings: 8
- 📊 Calories: 474 kcal
- 🔥 Cook Method: Stovetop
- 👩🍳 Flavor Profile: Creamy, tangy, savory with a hint of sweetness
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy
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Table of Contents
Why Is My Southern Potato Salad So Good!
- I’m not exaggerating when I say that this potato salad recipe is awesome! It’s all about the combination of creamy, savory potatoes combined with the tang of Dijon mustard and a touch of sweetness from sweet pickles.
- Yes, you read that right. My recipes makes a few substitutions from the old fashioned, more traditional recipes, but I promise it’s for the better!
- I also really love that this recipe is totally budget-friendly. Nothing on this list of ingredients is hard to find or will break the bank. Just simple, classic potato salad ingredients that are held together by the mouthwatering (and also easy to make) creamy and tangy potato salad dressing.
Important Ingredient Tips and Substitutions
- Potatoes – best potatoes for this potato salad are Russet potatoes, aka Idaho potatoes. It’s not as starchy, it’s smooth, fluffy, and tender, which makes them perfect for a southern potato salad.
- Eggs – this is a classic ingredients in the Southern potato salad. If you’ve ever struggled with eggs that are hard to peel, my hard boiled eggs peeling method makes it foolproof every time.
- Vidalia onion – A sweet onion that brings mild flavor without the sharp bite of a yellow or white onion. If you can’t find Vidalia, any sweet onion works.
- Pickles – using pickles is my personal preference and something I recommend if you also like to have a little crunch with a burst of flavor. Sweet pickles bring in more crunch and less sweetness than a relish. You can add more pickles without overpowering other flavors or even use kosher pickles.
- Mustard – this is another ingredient that I changed from a traditional, old fashioned southern potato salad. I do not like yellow mustard because of the harsh and overpowering flavor of yellow mustard, so I use Grey Poupon Dijon mustard instead.
How to Make Southern Potato Salad: Tips and Steps
- Cook potatoes whole, in skin! When cut before cooking, potatoes are much more likely to crumble apart and you will have mashed potatoes. Potatoes are done when a fork slides through the center without resistance.
- Let everything cool completely before cutting: Cook the potatoes and eggs ahead of time and give them enough time to cool down completely before cutting. It’s much easier to cut potatoes and hard boiled eggs when at room temperature.
- Peel the potatoes before cutting. There are many potato salads that are great with potato skins 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.
- Dice the 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. Use egg dicer or just cut the eggs with the knife. Dice the pickles, onion, and celery into small pieces so they are distributed evenly through the salad.
- Mix the potato salad ingredients together first so that it’s evenly mixed. Then, whisk the dressing and add dressing mixture to the potato salad. Mixing the potato salad twice will ensure that ingredients are incorporated evenly throughout.
- Taste before serving. The dressing is seasoned, but potatoes need salt. After mixing, taste and adjust. If you’re serving it cold, go slightly generous with the seasoning since cold temps mute flavor.
- This potato salad can be served still warm or cold.
Make-Ahead and Storage
- Make ahead: Cook the potatoes and eggs up to two days in advance. Drain the cooking water completely and store them in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before dicing and assembling.
- Storing: Keep leftover potato salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Cover tightly after each use and always use a clean spoon to scoop some out.
Southern Potato Salad Recipe FAQs
What potatoes are best for southern potato salad?
Russet (Idaho) potatoes. They’re fluffy and tender, hold their shape after cooking, and absorb the dressing without getting gummy.
Can I use yellow mustard instead of Dijon in Southern potato salad?
You can, but the flavor will be sharper and more pungent. Dijon gives a smoother, more balanced dressing. If yellow mustard is what you have, start with less and taste as you go.
Can I leave out onions from southern potato salad?
If you don’t like onion flavor, you can definitely leave it out. You will get crunch and juicy pop from pickles and celery, just increase amounts of both slightly.
Can I use relish instead of whole pickles in southern potato salad?
You can, but I recommend whole sweet or dill pickles and diced yourself. Relish tends to disappear into the dressing, much softer in texture, and makes the whole salad sweeter. Diced pickles give you actual crunch and a real burst of flavor in each bite.
What’s the best mayo to use in a potato salad?
Most importantly, use mayo you like the flavor of! Hellmann’s (avocado oil) or Duke’s are the two I use most. Both are full-fat, real mayonnaise and give you that rich, creamy dressing.
More Potato Salad Recipes To Try
- Parmesan dill potato salad
- Fennel potato salad recipe
- Roasted garlic Asiago potato salad
- Loaded baked potato salad
- German potato salad recipe
- Corned beef potato salad
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? PLEASE leave a 🌟 star rating! Let me know how you liked it by leaving the 📝 comment below or share and tag me on social media @willcookforsmiles. DON’T FORGET to subscribe to my newsletter!
Southern Potato Salad Recipe
No backyard BBQ is complete without a southern potato salad! Bites of tender Russet potatoes, hard boiled eggs, sweet pickles, onions, celery and a dressing featuring mayo, Dijon mustard, and seasoning.
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Servings: 8
Calories: 474kcal
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.
Video
Notes
- Potatoes: For this 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.
- Make ahead: cook potatoes and eggs ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator for a couple of days if needed. Make sure to drain the cooking water off. Store cooked potatoes and eggs in an air-tight container, in the refrigerator.
- Storing: Store leftover potato salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Make sure to keep the container covered nice and 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.
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
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Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in May 2019.
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Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
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
Hi Sharon, I hope you like the recipe and if you don’t like onions I think it’s fine to leave them out.
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.
This potato salad has definitely been a hit with my family as well 🙂
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.
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! 🙂
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.
Sounds Delicious!
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.
Yum! 🙂
This potato salad was great!!
Thanks, Carla!
Great potato salad! Thanks!
Josh, I am glad you liked it!