Potato salad. Is there a more iconic picnic dish on the planet? If there is, I’ve yet to taste it. Like gravity, potato salad has been here since… the beginning of time.
Let’s get into it. Potato salad, like barbecue or sweet tea, divides people into loyal factions. You’re either team vinegar or team mayonnaise. Me? I’ll take a silky, mayo-based version every time—just the way we do it down South, proudly below the Mason-Dixon line. One friend, after a forkful of my rendition, declared: “Ich liebe diesen Kartoffelsalat mehr als das deutsche rezept.” Translation? “I love this potato salad more than the German stuff.” And yes, that’s high praise.
Treasured Family Potato Salad Recipe?
I’d love to say this is a treasured family recipe passed down for generations, but it’s not. In my family, no one ever wrote down recipes, and by the time I wanted to learn them, it was too late. There’s a life lesson in that—capture the things you love while you can.
So instead, this is my own culinary heirloom-in-the-making. Over the years, I’ve added what I crave and quietly discarded what I don’t. It’s been tested and tweaked through countless summer afternoons. The most personal touch? I skip the whites of hard-boiled eggs entirely. My mother always added them, but I’d spend more time picking them out than enjoying the dish. My solution: yolks only. Creamy, golden, rich—the essence without the filler.
Still, I’ll concede a single sliced egg makes a beautiful garnish, and I always add one on top. It’s a little nod to tradition for those who still love the classic touches.
And there you have it: my signature Southern potato salad. Unfussy, deeply comforting, and unapologetically tailored to my tastes. A reminder that the best recipes aren’t always inherited—they’re discovered, one bite at a time.
Amazing Potato Salad
Potato salad with mayo, mustard, onion, celery, pickle and hard boiled egg yolk
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 50
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 3 pounds 1x
Ingredients
- 3 lb red potatoes
- 1 cup Hellman’s mayo
- 3 TBL yellow mustard
- 1/2 white onion – finely chopped
- 3 hard boiled eggs
- 2 celery ribs – diced
- 1/4 tsp celery seed
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 6 gherkin dill pickles – chopped
- Kosher salt to taste
- Fresh coarse ground black pepper to taste
- 1 hard boiled egg – sliced for garnish
- Paprika – sprinkle for garnish
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with 2 inches of salted water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer until fork tender all the way through, about 20 minutes. Drain well. Let cool, then peel, discard skins and cut into bite size pieces
- Hard boil the eggs: place them in a pot of cold water, bring to a boil, immediately remove from heat, rest for 10 minutes, remove and let them cool
- Mix your salad dressing. Mayo, mustard, garlic salt, pepper and celery seed first, then add the onions and celery and mix. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. It should be salty. When you mix it with the potatoes it will tone it down
- Peel your hard-boiled eggs, reserve 2 yolks, reserve the third whole egg until ready to garnish
- Pour the dressing over the potatoes and gently fold it in
- Add the dill pickle and egg yolks and gently fold them in
- Slice the hard boiled egg and use it for garnish. Sprinkle the paprika over everything
- Chill in the refrigerator for several hours