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Country Style Potato Salad

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Making your own potato salad may seem like a hassle, but with this easy Country Style Potato Salad recipe you can customize the flavors to your liking. In addition to the boiled potatoes, all you need are a few hard-boiled eggs, a couple of chopped veggies, seasonings, dressing, and you’re done!

Cookouts and potlucks are a wonderful way to eat a variety of food, without having to cook it all yourself. Along with the customary hamburgers and sausages you’ll find a bowls of yummy side dishes.

One staple food item that always seems to appear on the table is potato salad, right?! But store-bought potato salad often leaves something to be desired. 

white bowl filled with country style potato salad on a wooden background with sliced tomatoes in the background

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Well, you’re in luck. This Southern-style potato salad recipe is just the solution. Making your own potato salad lets you control the ingredients and the spices so you can make it exactly how you love it.

And potato salad

The Best Potato Salad 

While I often think I don’t have time to whip up something homemade (let’s face it, buying potato salad at the store is much faster), this version can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until ready for serving.

The best part is you likely have most of these ingredients in your pantry! If you don’t, none of them are out of the ordinary or even expensive. And that means you won’t be wondering what to do with any leftover single-use ingredients.

labeled ingredients to make country style potato salad on a wooden cutting board

Ingredients for Country Style Potato Salad

  • Potatoes: You’ll want to make sure they are a similar size for even cooking. No need to dice or peel the potatoes before boiling – easy peasy!
  • Red Onion:  Why red onion? They add beautiful color along with that distinct onion flavor. They are a bit milder than other onions, but you won’t be cooking them, so they will still have that zing you love.
  • Celery: Whenever a little crunch is needed, celery comes to the rescue! I love that celery is cheap, but adds just the right amount of flavor and bite to the softer ingredients.
  • Hard-Boiled Eggs: These will need to be ready to go when the potatoes are cooked. I prefer to make mine in the Instant Pot since it takes all the guesswork out of it.
  • Spices: You don’t need much in this department, just salt, black pepper, and paprika. 
  • Sweet Relish: It adds just enough of that sweet pickle taste without overwhelming the entire dish. Use whatever brand you have on hand.
  • Mayonnaise: I know better than to try to cajole you into using my favorite brand. Mayo seems to be one of those condiments that people have intense personal opinions about. So just go ahead and use your favorite brand, anything works.
  • Yellow Mustard: While mustard has a distinct flavor, yellow mustard can add that flavor, without it being over the top. Plus, it isn’t spicy, so it won’t overpower your potato salad.
two photo collage showing potato salad ingredients in a bowl and making the dressing

Recipe for Country Style Potato Salad

  1. First, add your potatoes to a large saucepan. 
  2. Cover with water and cook until fork-tender. 
  3. After the potatoes are cooked, add them to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. This also makes them easier to peel. 
  4. Remove the skins and cube the potatoes, then add the potatoes to a large bowl with the chopped onion, chopped celery, and chopped hard-boiled eggs. 
  5. In a smaller bowl, whisk the spices, mayo, relish, and mustard then add to the potatoes and stir to combine. 
  6. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

    Well, that was an easy Southern potato salad recipe, wasn’t it?
2 photo collage of adding mayonnaise to potato salad ingredients and mixing the salad

What Kind of Potatoes Should I Use?

Waxy potatoes will hold their shape better after cooking. We like to use Yukon Gold for potato salad. We’ve also used Red potatoes with good results and even Russets in a pinch.

How Long to Boil Potatoes for Potato Salad?

If you’re wondering about how long it takes to cook potatoes until “fork-tender,” start at about 15 minutes of boiling. Then (here’s the fun part), stab one of your cooking potatoes with a fork.

Yes, “fork tender” is literal. If the fork breaks the skin and pierces the potato easily, the potatoes are done. If not, continue cooking and testing it every 5 minutes or so.

closeup of potato salad on a spoon garnished with chives

Tips for an Easier Prep

  • Chopping onions can be a tearful experience. Onion goggles, while perhaps a little silly looking, really do work for keeping the tears at bay. If you don’t want the goggles, I highly recommend buying a vegetable chopper. 
  • Most vegetable chopper models come with different sized blade plates which also allow you to also dice other vegetables fast and uniformly. Believe me, this little contraption makes you look like pro dicer without a lot of effort!
  • If you don’t have an Instant Pot, let me go ahead and make your life easier – invest in the pressure cooker. It will give you perfectly cooked, easy to peel eggs every time. It’s also one of the quickest ways to put dinner on the table.
  • If you don’t want to venture into Instant Pot cooking world, check out egg cookers. An egg cooker will take the guesswork out of cooking eggs and give you perfect, easy to shell hard-boiled eggs.

What to serve with potato salad

More Easy Salad Recipes

closeup view of a white bowl of country style potato salad with sliced tomatoes in the background and a graphic overlay
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white bowl filled with country style potato salad on a wooden background with sliced tomatoes in the background

Country Style Potato Salad

Serve this easy Country Style Potato Salad at your next cookout, BBQ, potluck or family dinner. Easy to customize to your tastes.
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American, Southern
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 437kcal
Author: Lori

Ingredients

SALAD INGREDIENTS

  • 6-8 medium potatoes, Yukon Golds, about 2 pounds
  • ¼ cup red onion, chopped finely
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped finely
  • 3 eggs, hard boiled, chopped

DRESSING INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
  • ¼ cup sweet relish
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon paprika, plus more for garnish if desired

Instructions

  • Add potatoes to a large saucepan, cover with water, going 1-2 inches above the potatoes and cook until fork tender.
  • Remove cooked potatoes from pan and add to a large bowl filled with water and ice (this stops the cooking process and makes peeling easier). Leave in the ice water bath about 5 minutes.
  • Remove skins from potatoes, rinse and cut into small cubes.
  • In a large bowl add the chopped potatoes, celery, onions, relish and eggs.
  • In a small bowl, combine the Dressing ingredients and whisk until well combined.
  • Add dressing to potatoes and stir gently to combine.
  • Cover and store in refrigerator until ready to serve.
  • Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes

  • Adjust the ingredients to tailor to your taste preferences.
  • Substitute with red or russet potatoes.
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Nutritional Estimate

Calories: 437kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 17g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 784mg | Potassium: 826mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 445IU | Vitamin C: 35mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional information is provided as a reference, using an online calculator. We recommend verifying the information independently for accuracy.

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