Southern Potato Salad

What some people refer to as picnic season, I lovingly call potato salad season. I don’t know about you, but anytime I’m planning to dine outside, I always like (nay, expect) to see a bowl of creamy potato salad front and center—and southern potato salad recipe is one of my family’s favorites.

This potato salad is southern comfort food at its finest. What makes it “southern” is its inclusion of mustard and chopped sweet pickles. As a result, this easy potato salad recipe has a wonderfully balanced blend of flavors, unlike other potato salad recipes that often get flagged for being bland or gloopy. This classic cookout recipe is sure to please at any backyard barbecue, potluck or family luncheon.

Ingredients for Southern Potato Salad

• Potatoes: You can’t have potato salad (or these other tasty potato recipes) without, well, potatoes. Peel and cut into uniform cubes, then boil until fork-tender. Don’t make the mistake of overcooking or undercooking the potatoes, as both options will yield a less-than-satisfactory potato salad texture.
• Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs are a common addition to many potato salad recipes. If you don’t have a go-to method already, learn how to boil eggs perfectly every time with our guide.
• Onions: While some potato salad recipes opt for yellow or red onion for a little extra bite, this southern potato salad recipe opts for mild-tasting green onions. They add flecks of green to the dish and enhance the potato salad with a subtle onion flavor, rather than overwhelm it.
• Pickles: For southern-style potato salad, finely chopped sweet pickles are the name of the game. The sweetness of the pickles balances the sharpness and acidity of the onion and mustard.
• Mustard: A little mustard is an essential ingredient to make the best southern potato salad. You can use yellow mustard, Dijon or any kind you enjoy. Here are our Test Kitchen’s picks for the best mustard.
• Mayonnaise: One cup of mayonnaise is all you need to make a potato salad that’s rich and creamy, rather than heavy or too saucy. For an authentic taste, choose Duke’s Mayo if you can find it. Otherwise, try your hand at making homemade mayonnaise for some extra zhush.
• Seasonings: Just a pinch or two of celery seed, salt and pepper is the perfect simple seasoning for this classic southern potato salad recipe.

Directions

Step 1: Boil, drain and chill

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Add the potatoes to a large saucepan and cover them with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cook, uncovered, until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain, transfer to a large bowl and refrigerate until cold.

Editor’s Tip: This basic boiled potatoes recipe is a great guide for cooking potatoes to perfection.

Step 2: Toss to combine

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Add the eggs, onions and pickles to the chilled potatoes.Taste of Home Toss well, then stir in the mustard, celery seed and mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper and mix until everything is evenly coated in the dressing.

Editor’s Tip: Use a gentle hand when mixing potato salad. Slowly folding everything together will help ensure the hard-boiled eggs and potatoes retain their shape.

Step 3: Chill and serve

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Cover and refrigerate until cold. Serve.

Southern Potato Salad Variations

• Spice it up: This southern potato salad recipe keeps it simple with just a bit of salt and pepper. However, you can add other herbs and spices to the recipe to enhance its flavor further. Dill, paprika, parsley, chives and garlic are all great options to try.
• Try relish instead of pickles: Although we recommend using sweet pickles for authenticity, you may also use dill pickles or your favorite pickle relish if that is your preference. This dill pickle potato salad is a great reference for a recipe with dill pickles.
• Toss the potatoes with pickle juice: If you love recipes with pickles, you can toss the drained, boiled potatoes in a splash of pickle juice before chilling them in the refrigerator.
• Make a lighter salad: You can make this potato salad a little bit lighter by swapping half of the mayonnaise for fat-free or low-fat Greek yogurt. If you don’t enjoy mayo, this no-mayo potato salad may be the one for you.
• Add olives: If you enjoy a potato salad with more acidity rather than sweetness, you can add up to 1/2 cup of sliced green olives. We love how their briny flavor pairs with the mustard, while contrasting the sweet taste of the pickles. This potato salad with kalamata vinaigrette is also great for olive lovers.
• Use extra mustard: For extra zip, you can increase the amount of mustard to suit your tastes.

How to Store Southern Potato Salad

Like all homemade potato salads, this one should be kept in an airtight food storage container in the fridge. It’ll last for three to four days when stored this way.

Can you make southern potato salad ahead of time?

Yes! In fact, potato salad is one side dish recipe that gets better with time. As the salad sits, the flavors marry together, and the potatoes absorb all of the lovely complex flavors in the dressing. If you make it ahead, just be sure to serve within two or three days to ensure its freshness.

Southern Potato Salad Tips

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What types of potatoes should you use for southern potato salad?

You can use any waxy potato you like. Yukon Golds, fingerlings and red potatoes are all great choices for potato salad recipes. While some enjoy leaving their potatoes unpeeled for potato salad, if you treat this potato salad as a Yukon Gold potato recipe, we recommend peeling those because their skin remains tougher than other varieties once cooked. Fingerling and red potatoes, however, may be left unpeeled since their skins become tender when boiled. Learn more about the different types of potatoes.

What can you serve with southern potato salad?

Potato salad pairs with just about any menu item you’d expect to see at a summer cookout or lunch table. Keep things simple and serve this southern potato salad recipe with one of these cold sandwich recipes, or pair it with a platter of finger-licking good barbecue ribs, a juicy burger recipe or one of these garden-fresh summer salads.