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The Best Potato Salad Recipe

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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!

potato salad in a light green dish

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.

Or serve it with some slow cooker sloppy joes or hot dog chili!

potato salad in white serving bowl

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.

For another potato salad variation, try deviled egg potato salad.

Things you’ll need

  • Marzetti SLAW dressing – this is what makes this potato salad different & in my opinion, so good.
  • Potato peeler – I really like this one because it has a large handle that doesn’t slip out of your hands.
  • 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.

Ingredients

Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card.

  • 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
overhead shot of ingredients laid out to make potato salad

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!

Check out my complete guide to stovetop hard boiled eggs!

overhead shot of ingredients in a white bowl to make potato salad

Tips & Suggestions 🥔

  • 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.
overhead shot of potato salad in large white bowl

Need more side dish recipes? Try these:

potato salad in light green dish in front of serving bowl
potato salad in a light green dish

My Favorite Potato Salad

Melissa Williams | Persnickety Plates
My very favorite potato salad that I’ve been making for years. Slaw dressing gives it a unique twist.
4.75 from 8 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 10 servings
Calories 347 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 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
  • ¾ cup slaw dressing I use Marzetti
  • ¼ 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.
    9 medium russet potatoes
  • 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.
    5 hard boiled 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.
    2 celery heart stalks, 20 sweet petite gherkins, 3/4 cup slaw dressing, 1/4 cup mayo
  • 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.
    salt and pepper
  • 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.

Notes

Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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



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  1. Rachel Willis says

    I love potato salad, but have never made it with slaw dressing. Will have to give that a try this summer.

  2. Krista Low says

    My grandmother always made Macaroni and Potato salad in the spring and summer time. It makes me think of her and makes me look forward to fun in the sun! I haven’t used the slaw dressing before to make it before, very interesting. I would not have come up with that on my own 🙂 Krista @ A Handful of Everything

  3. ~Melissa says

    This is my favorite potato salad recipe too! The slaw dressing really is a key ingredient. This recipe was passed to me by my Mom, and I make it a ton during BBQ season (I get requests). My husband likes it best when I use baby red potatoes and leave the skins on. Here’s the really freaky part though. My name is Melissa, and I live in Metro Detroit! 🙂

  4. Elaine says

    5 stars
    Haven’t tried this recipe but since the potato salad dressing is not available presently I’ll rate it the same as that. I’m going to try it this weekend since I have about 12lb of russets. I’ve been searching for a copycat recipe with 5 ✨ ratings & this will be the 1st one I’ll attempt.
    Hurry back tater salad dressing!!!

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