The Best Potato Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to boil potatoes whole or cut up for potato salad? ›

Drop a whole russet into the pot and by the time the outside has cooked through, the inside will still be raw. Larger potatoes should be cubed to ensure they cook evenly (peeled first if desired). Smaller potatoes tend to have thin skins and can be boiled whole, no peeling required.

To keep your salad from falling apart into mush, it's important to use the best potatoes for potato salad. Skip the russet potatoes and use a waxy variety instead, like Yukon gold, red potatoes or fingerlings.

Bobby Flay's Mustard and Scallion Potato Salad

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustards, vinegar, salt and pepper, olive oil, honey, lime juice, jalapeño, and scallions. Add the warm, sliced potatoes to the bowl and fold until well combined.

Rinsing potatoes helps remove excess starch, so it is recommended to rinse the potatoes before cooking. To ensure even more starch is out of the way, it's recommended that they even be quickly rinsed after boiling. We recommend using hot water for rinsing after boiling and cold water prior to boiling.

Potato salad can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Some people say potato salad tastes better the next day. Even if you're not in that camp, you need to allow about 1 hour for the potatoes to cool before adding the mayonnaise.

Prepping and cooking potatoes. To peel or not to peel? If you'd like to add a little extra color and texture to your salad, leave the skins on. Just be sure to scrub them thoroughly with a vegetable brush before you cook them.

Peel potatoes, if desired, and cut them into 1 inch chunks. Make Potato Salad Dressing: Mix together egg yolks, mayonnaise, buttermilk, mustard, a splash of pickle juice, and salt and pepper, to taste. Combine: Pour dressing over the potatoes. Add chopped egg whites, celery, onion, and pickles.

According to Love Potatoes, dropping them into cold water instead of boiling water (and letting the potatoes and water heat up together) will prevent the outside from cooking faster than the inside. As for whether the “perfect recipe” calls for mayo or mustard, we'll let your family and friends fight that one out.

Potatoes can retain moisture. To prevent this, drain the potatoes very well in a colander or pot. Allow all the steam to escape the potatoes before mixing them with the dressing and other ingredients. Steaming the potatoes instead of boiling them is a good way to ensure that excess moisture isn't trapped inside.

How can you tell if potato salad is good? ›

Signs your potato salad is bad: It's slimy, it tastes odd, it smells bad, it has black, white or green mold growing on it, it's been left out on the counter for over 2 hours (or less if outside in the sun), it's been in the refrigerator for over 5 days. ”If in doubt, throw it out!”

Bottom Line: When stored safely, fresh potato salad should keep for up to five days.

POTATOES, MAYONNAISE (SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, EGG YOLKS, VINEGAR, SALT), MUSTARD (WATER, VINEGAR, MUSTARD SEED, SALT, SUGAR, SOYBEAN OIL, TURMERIC, PAPRIKA, GARLIC POWDER, SPICES, ANNATTO EXTRACT (COLOR], XANTHAN GUM, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVOR), DILL PICKLE CUBES (CUCUMBER VINEGAR, SALT, CALCIUM CHLORIDE, NATURAL ...

Answer. Potatoes for salad should be cooked whole then peeled and cut in order to preserve its nutrients. Potatoes are full of several vitamins and minerals such as potassium and vitamin C. These nutrients in the potatoes are conserved when they are steamed or boiled with its skin.

Cutting potatoes before boiling does aid in removing excess starch. Excess starch can make potatoes gummy or gluey. That said, cutting the potatoes too small can lead to too much water absorbing into the potatoes. A good rule of thumb is to go with a 2-inch dice on the potatoes before boiling them.

The Vinegar Trick

In his recipe, López-Alt shares his secret for perfectly cooked potatoes every time: Adding vinegar to the water (specifically, 1 tablespoon of vinegar per 1 quart of water) prevents overcooking. This one tip has transformed potato salad for Kristina Razon, the Senior Food Editor at Kitchn.

The potatoes for a salad should be cooked whole then peeled and cut in order to preserve the texture of the potatoes. What happens if potatoes are cut before cooking? If potatoes are cut before cooking, they will absorb more water while boiling. This leads to an undesirable texture of the potatoes.

You don't have to cut potatoes to boil them, but smaller pieces of potato will boil faster than larger pieces. It will also be easier to work with smaller pieces if they will later become mashed potatoes or another dish.