Bring the best potato salad recipe your friends and family have ever eaten to the next gathering. Get the lowdown on the finest potato salad right now.
Taste of Home Senior Editor Ellie Martin Cliffe brought a family favorite dish to the Test Kitchen to make it the best potato salad ever. Nick Iverson, who is Head Test Cook, and our taste panel tried out different ingredient and potato combinations. We even managed to prevent the potatoes from disintegrating.
The secret to the best potato salad ever is revealed here. (Ellie’s secret family recipe is included.)
Here Are 6 Easy Steps To Make The Best Potato Salad Ever
Ingredients
- 1 peeled garlic clove
- Small red potatoes, 3 pounds; quartered
- equal to 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
- 1-and-a-half tablespoons of salt, split
- Divide 6 giant hard-boiled eggs into 3 equal halves.
- Mayo, one cup’s worth
- One-half cup of sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground mustard
- Add paprika to taste, plus a little more for garnish, around 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
- One-fourth of a teaspoon of pepper
- One medium sweet onion, coarsely chopped
- Chopped celery stalks from 2 stalks
- Parsley, fresh, minced, 2 teaspoons
Step 1: Gather the Required Materials
When all of the ingredients are set out on the counter ahead of time, it takes a lot less time to get ready. Don’t worry if you don’t have any hard-cooked eggs on hand; it doesn’t take long to prepare some.
Nick can whip up this dish from memory:
Cover the eggs with about an inch of cold water in a large saucepan.
Toss it in the microwave for a few seconds to reheat.
After 13 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and let it stand covered.
Drain the water and immediately place the eggs in an ice bath to prevent further frying.
Always a success, without fail! See?
Step 2: Use a Toothpick to
Insert a peeled garlic clove skewered onto a toothpick into the oven. This accomplishes two goals: In addition to releasing some of the garlic’s flavor into the cooking water, it also makes it easier to locate the garlic clove amid the potatoes (and, therefore, the potatoes). The garlic’s taste is also improved by cooking.
Step 3: Throw Everything into a Dutch Oven
Put the garlic kabobs, red potatoes, cider vinegar, salt, and 1 teaspoon salt into a Dutch oven. We went with red potatoes because their waxy meat is more substantial, and the flesh and skin provide taste and color. It also turns out that the vinegar aids in setting up the flesh of the potatoes so that they don’t break apart when you mix everything. Soak the potatoes in a pan full of water for a few minutes.
Step 4: Start Preparing Some Food
When the water in the saucepan comes to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for approximately 10 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender. While the potatoes are in the oven, prepare the dressing by combining the mayonnaise, sour cream, paprika, and the remaining vinegar and salt in a bowl.
We experimented with mayonnaise, sour cream, and cream cheese. Finally, we found that a combination of sour cream and mayonnaise provided the most desirable silky mouthfeel and zingy punch.
Chopping the celery, onion, and hard-cooked eggs while the dressing is set aside. Nick knows a neat trick: he can “cut” the eggs by placing them on a cooling rack with a grid pattern. It’s quicker and more stable. Put the rack over a bowl and slide the egg in there after you’ve peeled it.
Do not return to the chopped ingredients until the potatoes have been finished.
Step 5: The Project is Completed
Snip off a little and halve it to see if the potatoes are done. That solid flesh might fool you in more ways than one. Feel free to try a potato, even if it is only half-cooked. On the interior, it should be very tender, almost buttery. Don’t leave the garlic in there when you rinse the potatoes. Shred it, then mix it with the dressing before folding in the heated vegetables, eggs, and potatoes.
Step 6: Have Patience
For best results, refrigerate the salad for at least 4 hours before serving. Dress the salad with egg slices, parsley, and paprika before serving. Done!
There are Ten Unique Ways to Enjoy Potato Salad
This simple (but fantastic) recipe is meant to serve as inspiration. Get inspired by some of the Taste of Home Facebook followers and come up with your own!
Apple, diced
The true show-stopper is a diced apple, although I use the standard components plus a few vegetables like cucumber and celery. That wonderful, refreshing crunch that you don’t even see coming!” To: Sue Vail, St. Catharines, Ontario
Just a Hint of Curry Powder
Some curry powder mixed with mayonnaise is my little secret. In other words, it’s a hit with everyone. — Cheryl Boots, Corunna, Michigan
Let there be bacon
I create a killer bacon ranch variation. To make this dish, boil some red potatoes (no need to peel them) and then stir in some hard-boiled eggs, some celery, some cooked bacon, some cheddar cheese, some ranch dressing, and some pepper to taste. To make it even better, sprinkle some more bacon on top. Tucson, Arizona native Katie Lapare
Worse, you don’t even have a peeler! OK, No Sweat.
I use red potatoes, boiled with the skins on, then throw in some marinated artichoke hearts, green olives, and red onion that has been drained and sliced thinly. I use a lime-infused Italian dressing and slowly add more until everything is evenly coated. Grants Pass, Oregon’s Jane Kirkham
A little heat never hurt anyone.
I add some minced habaneros to the mix. It’s a hot place, and we prefer it that way! Christianna Madden, from Big Bear, California
Mustard, please!
In place of regular mustard, I like to use honey mustard in my easy potato salad. The food is delicious. Bo McCollom, Decatur, Alabama
Boost the Temp with Some Whip
“Miracle Whip, a tonne of eggs, plus relish made from pickles, mustard, and green peas that have been boiled just a little bit” Shredded carrots are a frequent addition that I mix in. Everything gets devoured. Ms. Lelia Maguire Oster of La Salle, Colorado
Accept Radish into Your Diet
“I like adding sliced radishes to the mix, unpeeled red potatoes, hard-cooked eggs, celery, green onions, sweet pickle relish, and the other usual suspects. The dressing can be made somewhat runnier by adding some of the pickle-relish liquid. From: Leoda Johnston Barr, Lincoln City, Oregon
Let There Be Cream
Add mayonnaise and ranch dressing for added creaminess. My spouse gets all the credit since his potato salad is the best-loved one. Chicago resident Kathy Luka.
Use some Tomatoes
For example: “In honor of my mom, I usually put tomatoes in my potato salad.” Weaver (Alabama) resident Laura Prince
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