Easy, creamy potato salad! Looking for something a little different for your next cookout? This recipe features red onion, celery, egg, and a complex blend of herbs and spices. It all adds up to scrumptious!
My mom always made a delicious potato salad featuring hard-boiled eggs and Miracle Whip. The star of the show was her crunchy, homemade lime pickles, dyed a brilliant green with food coloring. Over the years, all my attempts at duplicating her recipe fell flat, no matter how hard I tried. So I kind of gave up and relegated myself to store-bought salads.
While they’re not all bad (Reser’s is my fav), they’re just not the same as freshly made from scratch. But this summer, I ran across a recipe I’d saved from my then-local newspaper, the San Jose Mercury News 10+ years ago, and gave it a try. With a few tweaks and adjustments. this quickly came to be our new favorite potato salad recipe. And it’s really quite easy to put together!
Origins…
Remember back when local newspapers used to have a special food and cooking section every week? They seem to have gone the way of the buffalo, and I sure miss them. A Mercury News reader, Bev Lewis, shared her recipe in the food section, and that’s what this one is based upon.
Her big secret? There are two of them, actually. First, the potatoes are “dressed” with red wine vinegar while they’re still warm. The vinegar gets absorbed by the potatoes, and it reduces the amount of mayo needed by a fair bit. I don’t know about you, but I’m just not a fan of gloppy, mayo-drenched salads!
Second, it features an interesting blend of spices and herbs that I’ve adjusted to being more to my taste. That’s why we cook, after all – to get food on the table, sure, but also to adapt recipes to our personal preferences and palates. So feel free to use this recipe as a guide, and adapt away!
How to Make Easy, Creamy Potato Salad
All told, count on taking about an hour to make this recipe, but most of that time is hands-off. You’ll want to use a waxy type of potato here – not Russets, which tend to be too mealy for this use. I typically use red potatoes, but Yukon Gold or another waxy potato will work just fine. I recently ran across a variety called Butter Buds, which feature a red skin with a golden interior. Kind of a hybrid of red and Yukon Gold potatoes, I guess.
Start by placing the potatoes in a large pot or Dutch oven, one layer deep. Wash them first if they’re dirty, and try to get them as close to the same size as possible (though that’s not absolutely necessary, I’ll explain in a bit). Barely cover them with water, add a good teaspoon of salt, and set the burner to medium-high. Once they come to a boil, reduce heat as needed to maintain a boil and set a timer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the eggs in one layer in a smaller saucepan, cover with water and start them out on medium-high heat. Once they come to a simmer, reduce heat to keep them just at the boil and start a timer for 12 to 15 minutes.
Finishing the Potato Salad
Mince the onion and chop the celery while the potatoes and eggs are cooking. When the timer goes off for the eggs, remove from heat, drain the water and fill the pot with cold tap water. Repeat at least once, until the eggs are cool enough to handle. Immediately start peeling the eggs. Place the peeled eggs back in the pot of water to continue cooling.
When the timer goes off for the potatoes, start checking for doneness by poking them with a skewer or small knife. Start with the smallest potatoes, and if they’re tender throughout, remove them and place them on a counter or cutting board. Repeat until all potatoes are tender. Let them stand for 10 to 15 minutes until cool enough to handle, then peel them with a paring knife, removing the stem end.
While they’re still warm, cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces (about 1/2 to 3/4 inch square). Add the pieces to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with the red wine vinegar. Toss to coat, then add the spices and herbs, onion and celery, and toss again. Add the mayo to taste, stir to combine, then chunk in the eggs and gently stir to distribute them throughout the potato salad. Serve cold. Best if it sits at least a few hours to let the flavors combine.
PrintEasy, Creamy Potato Salad
Easy, creamy potato salad! Looking for something a little different for your next cookout? This recipe features red onion, celery, egg, and a complex blend of herbs and spices that add up to scrumptious!
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: side dish
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
3 pounds waxy potatoes (red, Yukon Gold or other), unpeeled
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt (like Lawry’s)
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 cup red onion, minced (about 1 medium)
1 cup celery, chopped (about 1 stalk)
1 to 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise, or to taste
Instructions
In a Dutch oven or other large pot, place the potatoes in a single layer. Cover with water and add a heaping teaspoon of salt. Cover and set it on medium-high heat. When the water begins to boil, set a timer for 20 minutes and lower heat to maintain a gentle boil.
Meanwhile, place the eggs in one layer in a small saucepan and cover them with water. Cover the pan and set it on medium-high heat. When the water begins to boil, set a timer for 12 to 15 minutes and reduce heat as needed to maintain the boil.
While the potatoes and eggs are cooking, mince the onion and chop the celery. Set aside, and start gathering the herbs and spices. When the timer goes off for the potatoes, start checking them for doneness with a metal skewer or sharp knife, starting with the smallest potatoes. As the potatoes become tender throughout, remove them from the pot and set them aside on a counter or cutting board to cool enough to handle (about 10 to 15 minutes).
When the timer goes off for the eggs, remove from heat and drain the water; fill the pot with cold tap water. Drain and fill the pot at least once more, until the eggs are cool enough to handle. Immediately start peeling the eggs by cracking the shell all over on the counter, then peeling them. Place the peeled eggs back in the water as you peel them to cool completely.
Peel the still-warm potatoes with a sharp knife, cutting out the stem end and any deep eyes that can’t be peeled easily. Cut the potatoes into ½ to ¾ inch pieces and add them to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the red wine vinegar over them, and toss to coat. Add the spices, herbs, onion, and celery and toss again to combine. Add the mayonnaise and stir gently to combine, adding more to taste. Chop the eggs into the bowl and stir gently to combine. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let the flavors combine.