How to Make Potato Salad

Is there anything more comforting than potato salad? Whether it’s mayonnaise-based or made with oil and vinegar, potato salad is always a hit.

Make your own potato salad at home, and you can customize it to your liking. There are so many options for dressings and add-ins!

Best Potatoes for Potato Salad

Waxy potatoes will hold up better than starchy ones when boiled. Red-skinned potatoes work best, but new potatoes or fingerlings also can be used.

Avoid russets for potato salad, since they’ll fall apart when boiled.

How to Make Potato Salad

1. Rinse 2 pounds of red-skinned potatoes, peel them and cut them into cubes. Keep the peeled potatoes in a bowl of water until you’re ready to cook them, so they won’t discolor.
2. Add the potatoes to a pot and cover them with cold water, until the water is an inch above the potatoes.
3. Add a little salt to your water, cover your pot, and heat on high until boiling.
4. As soon as the water comes to a boil, uncover the pot and lower the heat to a simmer.
5. Continue cooking the potatoes until you can easily stick a fork in them. It should take 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of your cubes.
6. Drain your potatoes and return them to the pot.
7. For classic potato salad, let your potatoes cool before adding a mayonnaise dressing. Stir in 1 cup or more of mayo, 2 teaspoons mustard, some chopped hard-boiled eggs, salt, pepper and if desired, some chopped green onions.
8. For a marinated potato salad, add oil and vinegar, instead of mayo, to the potatoes while they’re still warm. Add seasonings and chopped red onion, if desired.

How to Serve and Store Potato Salad

Mayonnaise-based potato salad needs to be served chilled but can stay at room temperature up to two hours. If it’s 90 degrees F or hotter, don’t leave the potato salad out for more than an hour.

Keep mayonnaise-based potato salad on ice during a party. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to three days if there are eggs in it, or up to four days if made without hard-boiled eggs.

Marinated potato salad (vinegar based and without eggs) should be served at room temperature. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four days.

How to Make Vegan Potato Salad

For vegan potato salad, skip the hard-boiled eggs and use a vegan dressing such as oil and vinegar, or vegan mayo. Try this Lemony Grilled Potato Salad or this Italian Potato Salad with Green Beans!

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