World’s Best Southern Potato Salad Recipe (With Video)

Soft red potato chunks and eggs, seasoned and folded into mayo and miracle whip along with a bunch of chopped vegetables; making it the best southern potato salad recipe ever. Perfect for summer picnics and family cookouts, Potato salad is an American classic summer dish and the KING OF ALL SALADS!

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 It’s that time of the year again where we pull out our grills and throw big cookouts so you know I have to show yall my famous potato salad recipe because you can’t have a cookout without it.

My family loved Potato salad

Potato salad is that one salad my family made all times of the year and what makes it so popular is it tastes good with almost anything. My Grandma made it for family reunions we’d have during the summer every year.

She also made it every year for Thanksgiving dinner, New Year’s Eve parties, and at least once a month for Sunday Dinner! That should tell you how much my family and I loved potato salad.

So try my recipe because if you don’t, you’ll never know how real Southern potato salad tastes! Was that convincing enough? Lol! This creamy Southern-style potato salad is super delicious and very easy to make!

It’s perfect as a side dish for a summer picnic or family cookout, and it tastes great with BBQ ribs & greens. This salad is soul food at its best, folks, so continue reading and give it a shot.

Childhood memories of Potato salad

Potato salad brings back a lot of childhood memories for me. I remember one time, way back in the 90’s, my family had a cookout, and we ran out of potato salad. Lord knows you can’t run out of potato salad, not with my family.

My nana came to the cookout late and literally cursed everyone out when she found out we were out of potato salad and only made one pan. She did not play about potato salad and making 3 pans was a must.

Macaroni & Cheese, Ribs, Collard Greens, and Potato Salad were all dishes my family and other black families MUST-HAVES at a cookout or Thanksgiving dinner… I mean, we’re black. What do you expect? Lol!

As we all know these are all classic African-American delicacies you can never HAVE OR COOK ENOUGH of. Lol! Potato salad was one of the few dishes we had to make so much of because it was always one of the first things to go.

People would catch a MEAN ATTITUDE, and QUICKLY if they came to the cookout late and the potato salad was gone. LMBO!!! So we knew we had to make a few pans every time we threw a cookout. LMBBO!

Gwen and the raw runny Potato Salad story

I have to share this funny story with yall because this will be the only time it’ll be relevant to cooking. I remember my paternal grandmom, who I called “Grandma Gwen,” coming to my Nana Alice Mae’s 85th birthday party in 2016.

And just so you aren’t confused, I mention these two a lot because they are both responsible for me learning how to cook; my Nana Alice was my grandma Gwen’s mother, which made her my great-grandmother.

Anyway, the family is usually consistent when it comes to who makes what. Everybody has that one thing they’re the best at making. But on this day, we had a lot of Nana’s friends bring food they made to the cookout.

So this caused some problems because everything there wasn’t made by the family like it usually is for family reunions. Yall, listen! Someone made some potato, and it was VERY chunky.

The cubes weren’t small or medium-sized like most people cut them; they were large, darn near the size of ice cubes! SMH! And what made it so bad is they were hard in the center!!! Smfh!

One thing everyone in the hood will tell you bout my family is that they were blunt and had no problem telling it how it was and saying what was on their mind. This was sometimes a good thing and sometimes bad. LMBBO!

Anyway, I happened to be sitting beside my grandma when she tried the potato salad. She knew no one in our family made it because of how chunky and runny it was. 

This salad wasn’t bad, y’all; it was T.E.R.R.I.B.L.E and inedible, in my opinion! It was under-seasoned and could have used more eggs. I remember my grandma Gwen giving me that look of disgust and yelling, “Who made this nasty S#**”?!?!

Some people in the area seated by us looked at her and laughed as she began complaining about how the potatoes were large and undercooked and how runny the salad was. OMG, I started laughing soooo hard yall!

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To this day it is still easily one of the best laughs I ever had in my life! Older folk can be so comical when they’re mad and blunt, especially older black folks. That potato salad irritated the hell out of her so she kept it all the way real.

Sadly, she wasn’t in the best health and passed away a year later (2017), with her mother, Alice Mae, the one I’m always referring to as NANA, passing only 5 months after in early 2018.

Losing them broke the family’s hearts, but trust me, they left us with a lot of valuable lessons we’ll carry to our grave. And some funny, long-lasting memories we’ll never forget.

This was one I just had to share with yall since it’s pertaining to potato salad. But yea… she was one unhappy camper that day and made sure to let us all know about it. LMBBO!! I still wonder who it was that made that potato salad.

I’ll probably never know, but I’m almost certain they were there, kept quiet out of embarrassment, and definitely got the message. If you’re not a good cook or new to cooking, stay out of the kitchen.

Especially when you’re cooking for a family that’s known for throwing down in the kitchen and because of that, are overly critical and judgmental when it comes to food. The mistake she made was making potato salad though.

If you’re not the best cook and decide to cook something, people won’t care if certain foods are not the best. But you can’t mess up one of the dishes people come to eat the most, like potato salad, ribs, or macaroni and cheese.

If there’s any food you got to get right it’s those three. Lol! When it comes to the popular dishes, it’s probably best you not cook for any of my family. Just buy the food and we’ll cook it. Lmbbo!

Anyway, let me get down to business and share with yall the ingredients ya gonna need to make what I think is easily some of the best potato salad on the planet. Below are the ingredients and cookware you’ll need.

Cookware & utensils you’ll need:

• Large Pot: Make sure you have a large pot to boil the potatoes and eggs in.
• Big Spoon: You’re going to need a big spoon to serve the potato salad.
• Spatula: Have a spatula on hand to fold the potato salad.
• Knife: You need a sharp knife to chop the potatoes, eggs, and veggies.
• Large Serving Bowl: You need this to both make the potato in and to serve the potato salad.
• Measuring Cups: Measuring cups are essential for accurately measuring things like the mayo and miracle whip.
• Measuring Spoons: Measuring spoons are important for accurately measuring the seasonings.

Ingredients you’ll need:

• Potatoes: Red Potatoes
• Add-ins: Eggs
• Vegetable add-ins: Red Onions, Green Peppers, Red Peppers, and Celery
• Seasonings: Salt, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Black Pepper, and Paprika
• Condiments: Mayo, Miracle Whip, Mustard, and Sweet Relish

The potatoes

Let me get into the potatoes and what potatoes are best used for potato salad and get into the difference between waxy high-moisture potatoes and starchy low-moisture potatoes.

Potatoes aren’t equal and are used for different purposes, which is what you’ll learn below. No matter if you’re making potato salad, baked potatoes, or mashed potatoes, different potatoes are required.

I had to learn that years ago when I first started cooking. But yeah, red potatoes are, to me, the best choice for potato salad. The only other potatoes I’ll use are the ones I’m about to talk about now.

Red potatoes

• Waxy and low moisture: These potatoes are waxy with a low amount of starch and a high amount of moisture. The waxy nature of the flesh means they’ll maintain their shape while boiling for long periods.
• What red potatoes work best for? Red potatoes are suitable for things like Casseroles, Soups, and Potato Salad.
• What dishes are red potatoes incompatible with? Its low starch content means it’ll get gluey when overworked, which is why you won’t use them for mashed potatoes, where you have to do a lot of meshing, which releases starch.

Yukon Gold potatoes

• All-purpose: Yukon Golds are an all-purpose potato, so they are an okay choice for making potato salad since they have a medium amount of starch and moisture.

Russet potatoes

• Starchy and high-moisture: Now I love Russets, but skip them for potato salad. Russets and potato salad don’t get along. They’re known for their high starch content and a very low amount of moisture.
• What russet potatoes work best for? The first choice for frying and baking for things like home-fried potatoes, potato chips, and mashed potatoes since the flesh breaks up easily and they’re dry, which results in fluffiness.
• What dishes are russet potatoes incompatible with? Potato salad, because its high starch, will break up easily and won’t stay whole while boiling like red potatoes will.

Since I just got done talking about the right potatoes to choose for potato salad and helping you understand why, let me get into the preparation process and how to boil the potatoes for both diced and whole potatoes.

Some people like their potatoes cut into small cubes, and some folks like them big and chunky. Some people don’t care about the size as much as they do the shape. 

Both my aunts Tina and Lorretta like to dice their potatoes because they want their potato salad to look nice and pretty, all evenly cubed and uniformed. Lol!

Folk like me couldn’t care less how the potatoes look. If you’re like my aunts Tina and Lorretta and like your potatoes cubed, peel, then dice them into small, medium, or large square shapes, and boil them.

Now, let me get into diced/cube potatoes and give yall some advice on how to dice potatoes and answer some commonly asked questions by my subscribers. Lol!

How to dice potatoes for Potato salad

If you decide to dice your potatoes, try to dice them into even-shaped squares/cubes. This is important because when they’re relatively equal in size, they cook at the same speed.

This method can be difficult at first because peeling the skin will require a potato peeler or knife and the process can be tedious depending on how much potato salad you’re making.

•  How to dice potatoes: After you peel the potatoes, slice them in half and lay them flat side down. Then slice them lengthwise 3 to 4 times, and then (widthwise) into cube shapes of your desired size.
• How to know when they’re done: You’ll know when the potatoes are done because they will be for or knife tender. It doesn’t matter what you use; if you stick them and they slide off easily but slowly, they’re done.
• Pros to dicing potatoes before boiling them: They cook faster because they’re small, whereas whole potatoes will take longer to cook through to the center, and it will give your potato salads’ final result a more uniform look.

Whole Potatoes

If you decide not to dice your potatoes and to just keep it simple by boiling them whole and cutting them once they’re tender, you’re probably lazy a$$ like me! LMBBO!

• How to know when potatoes are done? The same way… if you stick a fork or knife in the center and it comes out easily, and you can’t lift the potato without it sliding off, it’s tender to the core and done.
• Pros of boiling potatoes whole: It’s not as laborious, and the skin is easier to peel once the potatoes are done. You’ll actually be able to just peel it right off. This method requires far less work!
• Cons of boiling potatoes whole: The con, if there is one, would be that they won’t have a uniform look and that they take longer to cook because they’re bigger and require more time to get tender.

Cooking time and “mashed” potato salad

Aside from dicing the potatoes or keeping them whole, it’s important to know how long to cook the potatoes. Cooking time is very important! You want them to be fork-tender but not too tender.

Tender enough that the fork or knife goes in easily but not so tender that the potatoes are soft as butter. So boil until fork tender, or you might be left with what many people call MASHED POTATO SALAD.

That’s when you let your potatoes cook too long, and they become as tender as mashed potatoes. Look, you can still make potato salad with these chunky, mushy potatoes because they usually still have some bite to them.

But when you get done combining and stirring everything, they’ll be broken up with no shape. I’ve had this happen many times before, and it’s just as good. Now if your potatoes get too mushy, just make some mashed potatoes! Lol!

Should you preheat the water before boiling the Potatoes?

One last thing about potatoes, unlike pasta, you DO NOT NEED to PREHEAT the water or wait until the water comes to a boil before adding the potatoes to the pot!!! Doing this is actually counterproductive.

Add the potatoes to cool water, then place them over high heat. Adding them to cool water will ensure they cook at the same speed. I just want y’all to know that so ya won’t be left with both tender and uncooked potatoes! Lol!

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The eggs

The question I always get from my subscribers about salads is, “Do you discard the yolk or add it to the salad”? And my answer is, It’s totally up to you! I always add the yolk and so does everyone in my family.

• The egg yolks: I always add the yolks because I find it gives the salad a nice taste. The egg yolk stretches the salad and gives it color as well.
• How to smash the egg yolks: If you decide to add the yolk, smash the yolk with a fork to remove the lumps first. You want the broken yolk as fine as possible so it’s able to spread throughout the salad.
• How many eggs do you use? When it comes to how many I use, I like a nice amount of eggs in my potato salad, so I use 3; 1 is not enough for me to affect the taste or flavor of the potato salad. You might as well not use any if you just use 1. Lol!
• Eggs for decoration: Sometimes I use 4 to be fancy!! I’ll boil an extra egg to slice and place on top of the salad. It’s just for decoration purposes. I like to beautify my food. I mean, how else you’re going to get people to want to try it?

The vegetables

Now, when it comes to the vegetables, I don’t use a lot because they are supposed to be additions to the salad, not take over the salad. Some people add way too many vegetables to their salad.

I definitely don’t like a lot of onions because they’re sharp and pungent in taste, and if you add too many to the salad, it’ll ruin it. This is why I like to chop mine into small pieces. 

• Red onions: You can use yellow or even white onions I guess but I like to use red onions not just because of their neutral flavor, but they also give the salad color so I use them for decoration purposes as well.
• Celery: Simply put, celery is a must in potato salad ok? End of discussion not open for debate! If you don’t have celery you better use some celery seeds or something… the flavor really adds something nice to potato salad.
• Green and red peppers: I use a combination of both green and red peppers for a balanced flavor because red peppers are sweeter. They also add color to the salad as well so I use them for both sweetness and color.

The seasonings and spices

• Salt: The salt is a MUST because it enhances all the flavors and gives the salad taste. Nobody wants bland tasteless potato salad. Potatoes, in general, are just a food you absolutely must season.
• Garlic powder: Garlic isn’t necessary. I use it when I feel like it, but it gives the salad another layer of flavor. I use just a small amount because Garlic is strong, and using too much can ruin the potato salad.
• Black pepper: This is a must as well… the salad just feels void of something when I don’t add it. You can use white pepper if you have an issue with seeing black specks in the salad. Just use a hint of it, you dont need a lot.
• Paprika: Paprika is just for decoration purposes. If you don’t have Paprika, use additional eggs or parsley flakes. Remember, I shared the story of how disgusted my nana gets when folk don’t garnish their salad. Read here Seafood Pasta Salad Recipe.

The sugar

Now I know a lot of y’all are thinking, “Why?” Well, sugar is very common in potato salad, believe it or not, and it’s just to add a hint of sweetness to an acidic dish filled with onions, peppers, garlic, and mustard.

Most of these mayo-based salads usually have a hint of sweetness to them. It’s needed to balance out the salad, and it just adds some umph to the salad. I won’t even make it without sugar.

The condiments

• Mayo & Miracle Whip: Mayo is a must when making potato salad, and Miracle Whip adds a sweet tangy flavor that takes it up a notch. I MUST have both if you want me to make potato salad. Both are a necessity to me.
• Sweet Relish: It’s not potato salad without sweet relish. I use sweet relish to add a pickle flavor to the salad. Relish is to potato salad like onions are to lasagna… you don’t HAVE TO HAVE it but it’s an important ingredient.
• Mustard: I add mustard, but not too much because I don’t like mustardy potato salad. I can’t stand bitter potato salad and that’s what it will be if you add too much mustard. It’s just for balance and color
• More on the mustard: The vinegar in the mustard is what makes it bitter and balances out the sweetness from the sugar and Miracle Whip. I hate pale white-looking potato salad – It’s not appetizing and looks, “BLAND”.

More on the Miracle whip

I’m going to start off by admitting I used to hate Miracle Whip. I didn’t like the Sweet-tangy taste of it and didn’t understand why some people loved it so much.

I still don’t use it to make lunch meat sandwiches or anything else except salads. Lol! But my Aunt Angie put it in her seafood salad and my nana would always put it in her potato salad.

I remember asking her what she put in her potato salad to make it taste so good… I was shocked and disgusted at once when she said “Miracle Whip”. The thought of it turned my stomach and I suddenly never wanted her potato salad again. Lol!

It’s funny how knowing what ingredients are used to make food can make us go from liking it to being disgusted by it. But after giving it a shot, I decided to add it to my recipe and have been using it since.

I use a 50/50 split combination of both MAYO, Hellmann’s ONLY, and Miracle Whip! I found that ratio to work best but if I had to use more of one, it would definitely be the Mayo! Lol!

I don’t need to use the same amounts as long as there’s a little MW in there to give it that taste, I’m good! LOL! But yes, Miracle Whip is a condiment that works well in conjunction with other condiments.

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How to make Southern potato salad

1. No matter which method you choose, boil the potatoes the same way. You start by adding them to a big pot of cool water and boiling them until tender. Once done, peel and chop them up and add them to the mixing bowl.
   
   

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2. Place a small pot of water over high heat and once it comes to a boil, add in the eggs and boil for 15-20 minutes, then sit in cool water once done to chill.
3. Chop the vegetables and eggs into small pieces. (Preserve one of the eggs).
   
   

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4. Add in the chopped eggs, vegetables, and seasonings, then fold well.
5. Add in the condiments then fold well.
6. Then slice the remaining egg, and place it on top with paprika.
   
   

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7. Then, wrap it with plastic wrap and sit it in the refrigerator to chill. 

I combine the ingredients a little differently in this 2019 video, but it’s still a good guide to use if you’re more of a visual learner. Also, if you decide to combine the ingredients just like in the video, the outcome will be the same.

World’s Best Southern Potato Salad Recipe 2019 Video

Tips for best results:

• Let it sit: Give the potato salad time to marry before serving it. If you plan on having some for dinner on Sunday, make it Saturday night or early Sunday morning and set it in the frig. It tastes so much better after sitting for a few hours.

Why is my Potato salad runny after making it?

Because of the wet ingredients!! This is a good thing unless you like super dry potato salad. Now, I’m not fond of very runny, dripping-off-the-spoon potato salad. I like for it to have a little stiffness while not being super dry.

However, be mindful that your salad will dry up and stiffen significantly after a few hours in the refrigerator. So you never want the salad going into the refrigerator dry.

After a few hours, it’ll become even more dry to where you may need to add more mayo/miracle whip or relish to loosen it up. So yeah, if it looks a little soupy right after making it, don’t worry!

How to fix runny Potato salad

Now let’s say it’s loose because you made the mistake of adding the potatoes to a mixing bowl that you forgot to dry, which I’ve done before. Or maybe you overdid it with the relish or mayo…

If you find that the salad is too loose and runny, you can always add more eggs and the yolks will stiffen it up or boil and add another potato or two to help absorb some of the moisture. This solves that problem every time.

What causes watery Potato salad?

Now runny and watery are a bit different. Runny can be the cause of too many wet ingredients, making the salad soupy and loose, as I just mentioned above.

Watery potato salad, however, is the result of too much (water content and moisture) in the potatoes. Waxy potatoes tend to hold onto the water they absorb while boiling.

• This could be due to cooking the potatoes too long.
• Letting the potatoes sit in the pot of water too long.

How to prevent watery Potato salad?

• Don’t overcook the potatoes, causing water absorption.
• After boiling the potatoes, give them time to dry.

How to fix watery Potatoes?

• Let them sit in the refrigerator and dry before adding the ingredients.
• Microwave them for a few minutes to steam out the moisture.

Making it ahead of time

If you want to make potato salad ahead of time, it won’t involve mixing in the ingredients because potato salad, due to the mayo and vegetables, won’t last long, and it obviously can’t be stored in the freezer.

You may ask why not? Well, it technically can, but once it defrosts, it won’t taste nearly as good as it did at the time of making it. So, if you want to make it ahead of time, just boil the potatoes and store them in the refrigerator.

Chopping the vegetables, boiling and chopping the eggs, then stirring in the condiments, and seasoning it takes less than 20 minutes, so that’s how you prepare it in advance.

Serving suggestions:

• Baked Chicken: Baked chicken tastes great with potato salad, absolutely delicious. Chicken, in general, tastes great with potato salad as it does with everything else.
• Fried Chicken: Fried chicken, in particular, goes great with potato salad, probably more than even baked chicken. This is a popular food combo.
• Fried Fish: Fried fish and potato salad is that delicious food combo that’s underrated. Obviously, fried food tastes great with salad, but fried fish and potatoes will have you in heaven, especially fresh hot fish right out of the oil.
• BBQ: Potato salad is popular during the summertime and one of those foods you’ll always see at family cookouts, especially black family cookouts. Often served with BBQ ribs and chicken. BBQ and salad is a famous combo.
• Pig’s feet: Potato salad is probably the most loved salad in the black community, and a pretty POPULAR pairing is pig’s feet and potato salad. My grandmas always made a big bowl of potato salad whenever they cooked pigs feet. 
• Greens: Greens are a popular soul food, and almost all soul food dishes taste great with potato salad, which has become a part of the soul food delicacy.
• Cornbread: Last but not least, cornbread, another popular soul food, is often found on the same plate as potato salad. These two alone may not go together, but cornbread, potato salad, and pigs feet or chicken do.

Storage

• How to store potato salad? Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. If you want to store it in a tupperware bowl that’s fine too. Just make sure it’s tightly sealed with a lid.

Frequently asked questions

• How long does potato salad last? The quality of potato salad doesn’t last long. It will be fresh and good for up to 3 days. Potato salad is best eaten within 2 days. After that, it sort of loses its swag! Lol!
• Can you leave the skin on the potatoes? Some people like to leave the skin on! I personally dont because I feel like it’s easier to eat without the skin, and that’s because i dont like eating the skin. But if you do, you can leave it on. It definitely adds color to the salad.

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Alright, it’s time to get to it… I recommend following this recipe to a T first before customizing it. This is soul food at its best folks. This potato salad is packed with flavor, it’s creamy and good as all outdoors so try it at least once!!!

Also, make sure you like the recipe with a 5-star rating if you love it as much as I do, and share your experience in the comment section. It helps me in these Google Streets. Subscribe, too, so you’ll get a notice every time I post.

Enjoy, later!
PBJ~

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