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Easy Potato Salad

This EASY Potato Salad recipe is made using a few traditional ingredients including a combination of mayo and mustard, relish, potatoes, eggs, celery, and onions. Garnish with dill, paprika, green onions, and even bacon.

Be sure to try my Italian Pasta Salad Recipe next!

Potato salad with hard boiled eggs in a glass bowl with fresh dill in the background.

Easy Potato Salad

Potato salad is such a classic recipe. It’s super simple to make and while there are just a few ingredients, they all compliment each other and serve a great purpose.

I absolutely love the combination of using mayo and mustard. Adding hard-boiled eggs make it even more fun to eat than just straight potatoes, and I’ll tell you how to make the most perfect eggs every time.

The onions and celery add a nice crunch, the relish adds a hint of tang, as does the white vinegar which also enhances the flavor of the potatoes and slows down discoloration.

Let do this! I’ll show you how it’s made, what potatoes are the best for this recipe, how to store it, and more.

How to Make it

See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

  • Gently boil whole/unpeeled Yukon Gold Potatoes until they can be easily pierced with a fork, 20-25 minutes.
  • Drain and dice into bite-sized pieces. Toss with white vinegar and let cool.
  • Combine with mayo, yellow mustard, relish, garlic salt, onions, and celery.
  • Add in diced hard boiled eggs and mix gently. Season with salt/pepper if desired.
  • Transfer to a clean serving bowl garnish with dill, paprika, and green onions.

A pot of yukon potatoes in water next to a bowl of diced cooked potatoes.

Potato Salad before and after being mixed with mayo mixture. Potato Salad before and after being garnished for serving.

Best Potatoes for Potato Salad

  • Waxy potatoes such as red potatoes or Yukon golds hold their shape best after boiling and have a creamier consistency.

Pro Tips

  • Leave the skin on the Potatoes: This helps prevent the potatoes from getting mushy. The potato skins are also easy to peel off after they’ve been boiled.
  • Use potatoes of roughly the same size: This allows them to cook at the same rate. If you’re unable to get your hands on same-sized potatoes, remove the smaller ones from the heat sooner and allow the larger ones to continue cooking.
  • Start with cool water in the pot then bring it to a boil. It helps for more even cooking.
  • Add white vinegar to the potatoes while they’re still warm: This will enhance the flavor and slow down discoloration.
  • Add the Mayo mixture once the potatoes have cooled: This will prevent the potatoes from getting oily.
  • Cooked/Crumbled bacon makes a great garnish as well. 

How to Hard Boil Eggs:

  • Submerge the eggs in water so they’re covered by 2 inches.
  • Gradually bring them to a boil.
  • Once the boil is reached, cover the pot and turn off the heat.
  • Let them sit for 12 minutes.
  • Place them in a colander and rinse them under cool running water to stop the cooking process. Then peel and dice.

How Much Potato Salad Per Person

  • 1/2 pounds of potatoes per person is a good rule of thumb when making potato salad.

Storage

  • Leftover potato salad that is refrigerated shortly after eating it can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
  • According to Idaho Potato, if the potato salad has been left out at temperatures over 41° for longer than 2 hours, it should be discarded.

Can you Freeze Potato Salad?

  • The creamy mayo base used for potato salad doesn’t freeze well, and neither do hard boiled eggs or celery.
  • If you find yourself with an overabundance of potatoes, you can freeze cooked potatoes to use for future potato salads, twice baked potato casserole, or hash brown casserole.

A glass bowl with potato salad with hardboiled eggs and fresh dill in the back.

Tools For This Recipe

(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.

  • Silicone Spatula– Makes it easy to gently mix and coat the potatoes without breaking them.

Try These Next

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Easy Potato Salad

5 from 7 ratings
This EASY Potato Salad recipe is made using a few traditional ingredients including a combination of mayo and mustard, relish, potatoes, eggs, celery, and onions.

Ingredients

Potato Salad:

  • 8 medium Yukon gold potatoes, about 3.75 lbs. total
  • 2 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
  • 5 hard-boiled eggs, see notes
  • Salt/pepper, to taste

Potato Salad Dressing:

  • ¼ cup yellow onion, finely diced
  • 2 celery sticks, diced
  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • 2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
  • 1.5 Tablespoons sweet relish
  • ½ teaspoon garlic salt

To garnish:

  • ½ teaspoon dried dill weed
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 3 green onions, diced

Instructions

  • Fill a large pot with cool water, enough to cover the potatoes by 2 inches. Clean the potatoes, leave the skin on. Add them to the pot, and stir in a teaspoon of salt.
  • Bring the water to a gentle boil and cook until fork tender, 20-25 minutes.
  • While the water boils, combine the onions, celery, mayo, mustard, relish, and garlic salt in a small bowl. Set aside in the fridge.
  • Drain the potatoes. Once cool enough to handle, dice them into cubes. You can leave the skin on if desired, I leave the skin of some and remove it from others.
  • Drizzle with white vinegar while they're still warm and gently stir to combine. Let them cool.
  • Toss with mayo mixture until combined. Add diced hard boiled eggs and mix gently. Season with salt/pepper if desired.
  • Transfer to a clean serving bowl. Garnish with dill weed, paprika, and green onions.
  • Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours, covered.

Notes

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs:
  • Submerge the eggs in 2 inches of cool water in a pot on the stove-top.
  • Gradually bring them to a boil.
  • Once the boil is reached, cover the pot and remove them from the heat.
  • Let them sit for 12 minutes.
  • Place them in a colander and rinse them under cool running water to stop the cooking process. Then peel and dice.

Red potatoes or Yukon golds hold their shape best after boiling and have a creamier consistency.

Storage: Leftover potato salad that is refrigerated shortly after eating it can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 285kcal, Carbohydrates: 32g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 122mg, Sodium: 351mg, Potassium: 790mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 296IU, Vitamin C: 35mg, Calcium: 46mg, Iron: 2mg
Did you try this recipe?Mention @TheCozyCook on Instagram or tag #thecozycook!

 

This easy potato salad recipe includes tips for perfectly boiled potatoes and eggs, along with a homemade potato salad dressing mixture from my mom and hers! | The Cozy Cook | #PotatoSalad #Potatoes #Eggs #Easter #EggSalad #SideDishes #Recipe #SummerRecipes

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25 comments on “Easy Potato Salad”

  1. Can Relish be eliminated from making POTATO SALAD.? Also vinegar is it just White Vinegar or Distilled White Vinegar. I have Distilled Vinegar and Apple Cider Vinegar.

    • Hi Leone, you don’t have to add relish, there is just 1.5 tbsp. which isn’t overpowering, simply adds some tang- feel free to omit. The recipe calls for distilled white vinegar so you’re good to use that.

  2. This recipe turned out great. My recipe is very similar minus the vinegar but I tried yours and the vinegar made such a difference. We tried this recipe out before I make a double batch for the 4th. And guess what I will definitely be making your recipe!! We loved it💛 Who would have thought that one ingredient would make such a difference. The Cozy Cook is the first place I go to when I want to try something new. Thank you so very much 🙂

    • Hi Wendy!! I’m so glad that you found the game-changing ingredient! This recipe comes from my mom, but she never used vinegar either, and now she does every time! 🙂 It makes such a difference. I’m so glad that you are enjoying the recipes, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie

  3. This is my favorite potatoe salad now!! Once again, another very flavorful recipe Stephanie!!! I Used red potatoes and they were perfect..perfect ingredients, Thanks once more..your flavors are my favorites!!!

    • Yayyy! This makes me so happy Margy. I’m actually making this for Labor Day Weekend festivities. Thanks so much for the great comments and for taking the time to leave a review!💗

  4. Simple but the best! I love this recipe because it’s mostly  ingredients you have on hand and easy to prepare. Don’t let the simplicity fool you, it’s the best potato salad.  So yummy! Thank you for a delicious recipe for our 4th of July weekend! 

    • I’m so happy you enjoyed this one for the Fourth! I agree, very simple but delicious😋 Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review Danielle, much appreciated!

  5. Question – in the ingredients list you put garlic salt but in the directions wrote garlic powder, which works best? I’m making it right now and thinking I’ll go with the powder then add regular salt to taste just to be safe.

    • I’m so sorry Jessica!! I agree that going with powder and adding salt if needed is the safe bet! That being said… it should say garlic salt in both places! I’m going to fix it now, thank you for bringing it to my attention and so sorry for the confusion! I hope you love it! -Stephanie

  6. Potato salad is one of the basics I had mastered and I only tried a new recipe for a fun twist.   I’m so glad I did.

    Stephanie has done it again.  The crunch, tang, luscious potato bites – “my” recipe is going to the back of the file to make room for this fun recipe.   It is truly as easy as the title implies.  

    There is enough dressing that it stays moist through the best leftover days!  The flavors meld so well, We have it on our menu as leftovers 🙂  

    Thank you, Stephanie!
     

    • Thank you so much for the great review Mona!❤️ My husband said he loves the little tang taste as well!😋 I agree, it’s definitely great leftover. We were eating it for as a side for lunch for a couple of days and it was delicious!

  7. This is super delicious! I love the tang from the vinegar. I’m hoping things get back to normal and I can have friends over for some summer cookouts this year. This would make the perfect side dish! Thanks for sharing!

    • I’m SO happy to hear that Tracy, I love the tang that it adds too, it keeps the salad nice and fresh too. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, I really appreciate it. -Stephanie

  8. Girl…. this is delicious!!! I loved it and my husband ( whose mother makes the BEST potato salad either of us have ever had) said “ uhm don’t tell me mom but this might be better than hers”. Thank you – my family and guests loved it and this will be a new family favorite for sure! 

    • Whitneyyy!!! You just made my day, I actually just sent that review to my mom, because this is her recipe! You are the best for taking the time to come back and leave this beautiful comment. I hope you had a wonderful memorial day weekend!❤️❤️❤️

  9. What a classic! This version looks so good, perfect for spring meals.

  10. Tip/substitute: add 1-2 T sweet pickle juice to the mayo dressing + about 8 finely chopped sweet pickles, 1/2 t sugar and 1/4 t celery salt instead of relish. 🙌🏻

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