The ultimate picnic side, potato salad is everywhere come spring and summer. There are plenty of bbq’s, potlucks or parties, so by Labor Day, you’re sure to have tried at least ten iterations of the dish. The fact that everyone makes potato salad a little differently is what inspired the recipe for potato salad we’re sharing with you today. Pat, Laurie and I started talking about how we each make potato salad at home, and while many of our ingredients overlapped, some of them elicited responses of surprise or sheer shock. Okay, so no one was actually shocked, but there were a lot of “You put what in there?” comments thrown around, which made for no lack of laughter in the test kitchen that day.
In the end, we decided to share the basic recipe with a smattering of optional ingredients so you can customize the potato salad to your liking. We think the basic recipe is delicious on its own, and we love adding our own twist to it, too. We recommend starting with the base recipe and adding your preferred additions to taste. Here are our favorite add-ins:
Pat: “I love adding zip and zing to my potato salad with pickle relish (usually dill, but sweet relish is good too), mustard, lemon juice and onions. Sometimes I’ll add a sprinkling of sugar to the dressing to create a sweet and sour effect.”
Laurie: “My potato salad isn’t complete without hard-boiled egg, parsley and celery. I would omit the relish and stick to the basics. I go with the ‘simpler is better’ method when it comes to potato salad.”
Kristel: “I like to add mustard seed, celery seed, vinegar, chives and plenty of salt to my potato salad, and I don’t usually include eggs. Often, I substitute red potatoes for the traditional white potatoes and add a bit of sour cream to lighten everything up a bit.”
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 pounds potatoes peeled, cooked and sliced
- 4 hard boiled eggs chopped
- 1 1/2 cups sliced celery
- 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons sweet relish
- 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
- chopped parsley
- Chopped chives
- In a large bowl, stir mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper until well blended.
- Stir in potatoes and any of your favorite add-ins: eggs, celery, onion, relish and celery seed.
- Cover and refrigerate for several hours.
- Garnish with chopped parsley or chives before serving.
TAGS: egg cooker, food processor, potatoes
CATEGORIES: easter, Everyday Recipes, fourth of july, Holidays, labor day, memorial day, side dishes
