This Southern Potato Salad is the best creamy version made with simple ingredients. Tender potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, sweet relish and a dash of mustard come together perfectly in must-have recipe for any celebration or barbecue.
You know those recipes you call your mom for. This potato salad recipe is one of those recipes. I grew up (in Eastern NC) on my grandmother’s old-fashioned Potato Salad and she never had an “exact recipe”. She just tossed in the ingredients and did the taste test.
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Thank goodness I finally learned that making this classic potato salad is much easier than I thought. I was so nervous the first time for some reason.
There are many versions of Potato Salads, but this is traditional southern potato salad I grew up on. To me, this is by har the best potato salad recipe around!
It’s one of those family favorite easy side dishes that everyone looks forward to at so many holidays and family gatherings throughout the year. I mean is there anything better to have with burgers or hot dogs at a cookout than this great recipe!
Ingredients you will need:
Makes 8 servings
Potatoes – Peeled and diced. I think the best potatoes are white potatoes because they are so creamy But Yukon gold potatoes and red potatoes work well too. Starchy potatoes, like Russet potatoes, typically do not do well in potato salad since they have a tendency to fall apart after boiling them.
Hard-boiled eggs – A must for potato salad. I like my potato salad with lots of egg but if you prefer just 3 or 4 that is fine as well.
Mayonnaise – Another classic ingredient for any potato salad. My personal preference is Hellman’s mayonnaise. But I know there are some die hard duke’s mayonnaise lovers that swear by it too . Some people do prefer a whipped salad dressing ,like miracle whip, for a tangier flavor. I personally think regular mayo is best but feel free to use light mayo if you want to cut calories a little more.
Yellow Mustard – adds just the right amount of a tangy flavor.
Sweet pickle relish – has always been in our version of potato salad but you can also use dill pickles or dill relish if you prefer.
Salt and pepper – You can also sprinkle the top with a little paprika too if you’d like.
Other additions you can add is chopped yellow onion and chopped crunchy celery. Green onions, sweet onion and red onion are also great too. My grandmother didn’t add either of these but I know they are popular in some variations.
How to Make this Homemade Potato Salad
Step 1: Place the large eggs in a pot of water. When the water comes to a rolling boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 1 minute.
Step 2: Remove from heat and COVER and let stand for 20 minutes. Or you can make hard boiled eggs in the oven or Instant Pot hard boiled eggs for the perfect hard boiled egg!
Step 3: Peel and dice the potatoes into about 1 inch pieces. You can boil the potatoes with the skin on and scrape the skin off with a knife after you have cooked and drained them.
Step 4: Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover them with cold water and bring them to a boil over high heat for about 15 minutes UNCOVERED or until fork tender. Drain in a colander and then place the hot potatoes in a large bowl or the serving bowl you want to use.
Step 5: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for about an hour to give the potatoes ample time to cool completely. If you try to mix warm cooked potatoes, they tend to crumble when stirring.
Step 6: In a separate bowl, mix the mayonnaise, mustard, and sweet pickles together. Then add salt and black pepper to taste.
Then add the potatoes and fold in gently.
ENJOY!!!
Tips
Plan to give your potato salad several hours in the refrigerator before diving in. The flavors get better and better as the hours go by. (usually 4-6 is plenty of time).
Make a day or 2 before if you have time to let the flavors blend even more.
Variations
Cook the potatoes with the skin on if you prefer.
Use dijon mustard if desired.
Add a dash of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar if you prefer a tangier flavor
Add a little celery seed and/ or garlic powder if desired.
If you happen to have any leftovers, they will keep just fine for about 4 days in the refrigerator. If your potato salad has been at room temperature longer than 2 hours (or 1 hour if the temperature is over 90 degrees F), discard any leftovers since bacteria can grow if left out longer.
You can serve potato salad warm or cold. I actually love it warmed. Just be sure to heat it up and not let it sit out to get warm.
Try these other side dish recipes too:
Southern Potato Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs potatoes peeled and diced
- 7 hard boiled eggs chopped
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 4 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place eggs in a pan covered with cold water. When the water starts to boil, reduce to low and simmer uncovered for 1 minute .
- Remove from heat and COVER and let stand for 20 minutes. Or you can bake your eggs in the oven for the perfect hard boiled egg!
- Peel and dice the potatoes into about 1 inch pieces.
- Cover them with water and bring them to a boil for about 15 minutes UNCOVERED or until tender. Drain in a colander.
- Let the potatoes cool before mixing so they won’t crumble. I actually put mine in a bowl in the refrigerator for about an hour.
- In a separate bowl, mix the other ingredients together.
- Then add the potatoes and mix gently.
- ENJOY!!!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclosure
Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
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Bonnie Dietrich
Very very good
Pat
Delicious
Alice Blackwell
My husband was born and raised in Oklahoma and I have learned so much over my 23 years with him about country cooking. He loved his Mama’s potato salad using mashed cold potatoes. I on the other had was raised in Indiana and we always made it with diced potatoes. I love it both ways and this recipe is right on the money for us. Making it today for our Labor Day cookout. I like it year round but with warm potatoes in the winter. Thanks for allowing me to pin this.
Freida
Perfect recipe with clear instructions and a great outcome. Love it!
Linda
So nice to see a simple Potato Salad with out a lot of extra ingredients. This is exactly how I learned from my Mama to make Postato Salad & yes our family is from the South. I do use sweet pickles [or relish], chopped onion & a little paparika on top. We liked it fresh, slightly warm & ready to eat, better than after refrigerated. Also, we tended to stir it a little more rather than leaving big chunks of potato. A friend told me she didn’t like it that way because it was too much like creamed potatoes, so I try not to mash the potatoes up as much as I did before.
Sherri
It’s my favorite!!
Terri Lorraine Young
I like my potatoes a little smashed, seems like the flavor goes through better. I add a little sweet onion and vinegar too,
Genny
I have been looking for a good potato salad recipe. Southern Potato Salad is it!!!
Claudis
Also needs chopped onion. I like a little chopped red bell pepper, too, for looks as well as flavor. And all southern potato salad has paprika sprinkled on top. Born and reared in Texas. Eaten gallons of potato salad. Mom liked sweet relish, but I like dill relish better. But I don’t care much for sweets.
Tammy
I made this tonight since I couldn’t sleep. I added a few diced dill pickles as well as sweet relish. It taste amazing. My husband and son will be happy when they get home from work. Thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s going to be great with the chicken im making in the crockpot.
Sherri
I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂 I love making it year round too!
LILLIE MARIE HAWES
This how I make my potato salad, but I prefer dill relish over sweet relish and I add a little pickle juice to my salad
Soi cau 247
I like it and will give it a try tonight Soicau247.
Sadie jean
This tastes just like what my southern mother-in- law makes. Ha! she won’t share her recipe.Thank you To Simply inspire! I can’t wait to bring it to my next family cookout. It’s delicious
Ed
What does one do with the eggs?
Sherri
Hard boil the eggs, dice them and mix them in
Cassie
This is the version mu mother always made, but she boiled the potatoes and eggs together and the potatoes with the skin on. It def adds more flavor to the dish. I lightly score my potatoes with a knife prior to cooking and the skin peels off beautifully!
Debra
I see this a lot: “A stalk of celery”. Shouldn’t it be a “rib of celery”? If someone were to put in a whole stalk, it would be celery salad instead. Am I wrong?
Chris
According to the USDA, a “stalk” means the whole bunch or head and a single piece or stick is called a “rib.” This does not reflect common usage, however, so use caution in interpreting recipes! “Celery stalk,” in American English, is commonly used to mean one piece/rib/stick of celery.
Ed Matthews
Just another hint at making great tater salad is to use two different types of taters together….i.e. Red and Russet as an example..
Amanda
This is my recipe as well though I use dill relish and a splash of lemon juice, it’s amazing!!!!
Donna
Definitely needs onion but no pickle relish!! And, needs much more mustard!!
Janice Laws
This is my potato salad for the Holidays.Don’t put onions in because some can’t eat them.Love this just the way the recipe is.
Sue
Yep. It ia amazing without the relish. I used the two different mustards and half of a celery heart.