The Best Potato Salad Recipe

My favorite potato salad recipe is filled with eggs, sweet pickles, and slaw dressing that gives it a unique twist. I’ve been making it for years & it’s always a hit!

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I love this potato salad. I make it for almost all of our BBQs and every Easter.

Serve it alongside macaroni salad, my husband’s famous macaroni and cheese, and some baked beans, and you’ve got a party.

A variation of this recipe was given to me years ago by my friend’s mom. I’m not a big fan of mayo so I liked that her recipe used mostly slaw dressing. I ran with it and made it my own.

I also typically don’t like crunchy things in my otherwise soft food (i.e. celery and pickles), but I let it slide in this dish.

INGREDIENTS

• Potatoes – I like to use russet potatoes in my potato salad.
• Celery – I opt for celery hearts.
• Pickles – Sweet gherkins. I always get the “petite” size.
• Eggs – Hard boiled eggs.
• Slaw Dressing – I always use Marzetti slaw dressing.
• Mayo – I always use olive oil mayo.
• Salt & Pepper

HOW LONG DO I BOIL THE POTATOES?

First, start by scrubbing your potatoes then cutting into 1/2″ to 1″ pieces. Keep them similar in size so they’ll cook evenly. Add them to a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook them for 15-20 minutes or until fork tender. You don’t want them crisp but you also don’t want them too soft or you’ll end up with mashed potatoes.

Now that I have an instant pot, I’ve been using that to pressure cook my potatoes for potato salad. It’s slightly faster and less hands-on.

If you’re going that route, pour in a cup of water, add the potatoes to a steamer basket and place in the pot, cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. The pot will take about 10 minutes to come up to pressure, 3 minutes to cook, then quick release to finish.

PERFECT HARD BOILED EGGS

I’ve also started making my hard boiled eggs in the instant pot. It is fast and I find that they’re easier to peel!

You’ll add a cup of water to the instant pot, put the rack in, add the eggs, seal the pot, cook for 6 minutes on high, let stand for 6 minutes, then quick release and move the eggs to an ice bath for 6 minutes.

That’s it! They peel really easily and you can make a large batch.

If you want to boil them, I have a trick for that, too.

Add your eggs to a pot of salted water. Bring up to a boil then turn off heat and cover with a lid. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes in the water. After 10 minutes, drain and spray the eggs with cold water. You’ll have perfectly yellow yolks – no green!

TIPS & TRICKS

• I like to use russet potatoes. I’ve tried it with yukon gold and red skins, but always come back to russets.
• You’ll want your potatoes to be fork tender, but not too soft, or you’ll end up with mashed potato salad.
• The slaw dressing is what gives this potato salad great flavor. I always opt for Marzetti brand.

NEED MORE SIDE DISHES IN YOUR LIFE? TRY THESE:

• Arabic Potato Salad
• Loaded Baked Potato Salad
• Feta & Artichoke Pasta Salad
• Coleslaw

TOOLS FOUND ON AMAZON TO HELP YOU:

• Potato peeler – I really like this one because it has a large handle that doesn’t slip out of your hands.
• Marzetti SLAW dressing – this is what makes this potato salad different & in my opinion, so good.
• Instant Pot – I am still new to the instant pot, but it does make boiling potatoes & eggs SUPER fast.
• Veggie Chopper – For a shortcut, you can use a veggie chopper for the pickles, celery, and even the eggs.

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HOW TO MAKE POTATO SALAD

My Favorite Potato Salad

My very favorite potato salad that I’ve been making for years. Slaw dressing gives it a unique twist.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 45 mins

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 10 servings

Calories 347 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 9 medium russet potatoes cut into 1/2"-1" cubes
• 2 celery heart stalks diced
• 20 sweet petite gherkins or 10 regular size, diced
• 5 hard boiled eggs peeled & sliced
• 3/4 cup slaw dressing I use Marzetti
• 1/4 cup mayo
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Scrub your potatoes, peel them and chop them into approximately 1/2″ – 1″ cubes. Keep the pieces similar in size so they will cook at the same speed.
• Add potatoes to a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Continue boiling until potatoes are fork tender. You don’t want them hard, but you also don’t want them too soft. Otherwise they’ll fall apart and you’ll have mashed potato salad.
• In another pot, boil your eggs.
• My egg boiling trick (that I think came from Rachael Ray) – Add your eggs to a pot of salted water. Bring up to a boil then turn off heat and cover with a lid. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes in the water. After 10 minutes, drain and spray the eggs with cold water. You’ll have perfectly yellow yolks – no green!
• While the potatoes are boiling, chop up the celery. I like the celery to be really small. Size is really up to you.
• Also, chop up the pickles and use an egg slicer to slice up the cooled eggs.
• Combine the egg, pickles and celery into a large bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Once potatoes have finished cooking, I drain them and stick them into the fridge so they’re easier to work with. If they’re too hot, they’ll fall apart while you’re combining the ingredients.
• Once cooled, add the potatoes to the egg/pickle/celery mixture and season with more salt and pepper.
• Add the slaw dressing and mayo and stir to fully combine making sure all the potatoes are coated and the egg/pickle/celery is pretty evenly distributed. Add more salt and pepper and/or mayo or slaw dressing, to taste.
• Let it hang out in the fridge for a little while then serve.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 347kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 8gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 438mgPotassium: 881mgFiber: 3gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 524IUVitamin C: 11mgCalcium: 71mgIron: 2mg

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Originally published April 8, 2013