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Southern Potato Salad is a classic recipe that’s perfect for potlucks, picnics, and BBQs. It’s creamy, tangy, and whips up in less than 30 minutes. You can even make it up to a day ahead of time.
Potato Salads are perfect for a family cookout or as a potluck dish. I promise you everyone will be asking for this Southern Potato Salad recipe!
About the Recipe
This old-fashioned Potato Salad recipe has tender chunks of potato, hard-boiled eggs, and pickle relish with a creamy mayo-based dressing.
It’s the perfect side dish to serve with everything from backyard BBQ favorites like Juicy Grilled Hamburgers, Slow Cooker Dr. Pepper Ribs, and Grilled Chicken Breast to picnic fare like a Club Sandwich or Fried Chicken Thighs.
recipe walkthrough
Ingredients for Potato Salad
- Potatoes – read on for the best potatoes to use for my Southern potato salad recipe. I am a fan of russets or red potatoes.
- Hard Boiled Eggs – choose whichever cooking method suits your fancy – Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs, Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs, or learn the basics of How to Boil Eggs the traditional way.
- Celery + Green Onions – to add crunch and flavor. Add more veggies if you want, like shredded carrots or olives.
- Dressing – the potato salad dressing has creamy mayo, tangy mustard, vinegar, pickle relish, garlic powder, and sugar. Follow the measurements, but then give it a taste and decide if you want to adjust anything. Feel free to customize it to something you really love. You can replace the mayo with Miracle Whip, or use chopped dill pickles instead of relish.
How to Make Southern Potato Salad
See the recipe card below for full, detailed instructions
Boil the potatoes: Peel and dice your potatoes into bite sized pieces. Watch until they are just fork tender – don’t overcook or they will become mushy. Boil, drain, and set aside to dry.
Make the dressing: While the potatoes are drying and cooling, mix the creamy dressing in a large mixing bowl. Taste and add more mustard or mayo, or maybe more pickle relish.
Add the potatoes and stir to coat with the dressing, then fold in the celery, onions, eggs, and potatoes to the large bowl with the dressing and gently stir everything together.
Cover and chill until you’re ready to serve. Sprinkle paprika on top for color.
Best Potatoes for Potato Salad
I use good old russet potatoes when I make Southern Potato Salad. Red potatoes, New potatoes or Yukon Golds will work, too. The key is to choose a potato that will hold it’s shape when cooked.
I love reds and whites because you can eat the skins. You do have to peel russets but they hold their shape the best which is why I love them in homemade potato salad.
I’ve used red potatoes for other potato salad recipes like my Bacon Ranch Red Potato Salad and Lemon Herb Red Potato Salad and I use New or Yukon Gold potatoes for my Grandma’s German Potato Salad.
Storage Tips
Storing Leftovers
Store potato salad in an airtight container and it will keep in the fridge for several days. If it seems a little watery, give it a good stir. If it seems dry, add more mayo.
Recipe Tips
- Drying the potatoes – Lay potatoes out on a flat surface to dry and sprinkle with a little salt. This will help them dry out quicker.
- Flavor variation – For heightened flavor, try a fancy mustard in the dressing, like ground mustard or dijon.
- Make Ahead – Keep refrigerated until ready to serve, and make ahead up to 24 hours in advance.
- Keep Cool. Most food, but especially mayo and dairy based foods, should not sit out longer than 2 hours. In the interest of food safety, you should refrigerate your potato salad within 2 hours of serving.
More Potato Recipes to Love
- Roasted Lemon Potatoes
- Crispy Roasted Red Potatoes
- The BEST Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Loaded Smashed Potatoes
- Grilled Potatoes Recipe
Southern Potato Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Russet potatoes about 5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 ¼ cups Mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Yellow mustard
- ¼ cup Pickle relish
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Sugar
- 2 teaspoons White vinegar
- 5 Hard boiled eggs diced
- 2 Stalks celery diced
- 5 Green onions diced
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Paprika
Instructions
- Place diced potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Add a couple teaspoons of salt and bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Cook until potatoes are fork tender, about 10 minutes. Watch closely and do not overcook or the potatoes will become mushy. Drain and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together mayonnaise, mustard, pickle relish, garlic powder, sugar and vinegar.
- Add potatoes and stir to coat completely. Fold in eggs, celery and green onions. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired. If desired, top with a few sliced eggs and a sprinkle of paprika.
Notes
- Feel free to adjust any of the ingredients for the potato or the dressing.
- Keep refrigerated until ready to serve, and make ahead up to 24 hours in advance.
- Store covered in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
I’m not a huge fan of potato salad but I needed a recipe for potluck and decided to try this. It was very good, in fact I liked it enough to pin it on my Pinterest board so I could make it again.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by D. Brubaker.
Hi, I followed the recipe and added even more vinegar/relish/mustard but still couldn’t taste any flavor. Does letting it cool help the flavors soak in instead of eating right after making it?
Sounds like you may have needed to add more salt.
Very good flavor and very easy to make.
Saving this one !!! Thank you!
You are so welcome Brenda! Thank you for stopping by.
I made this today and it’s wonderful! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
You are so welcome Robin! Thanks for stopping by.
One of the best potato salad recipes I’ve ever made .the finger really gives it a tang I.i only use this one now
That’s awesome Cindy! Thank you so much for stopping by to share.
This is a fabulous recipe, you could easily leave it as is or adjust to your personal taste! I added pimento cheese and onion and it was fabulous!
This is now my favorite potato salad! Thank you so much for such a great recipe!
You are so welcome Renee! Thanks for stopping by.
I just made this and my mom always put a little of thinly cut up radishes and hers so I added that and I sprinkled the top with Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning!! Sounds good and bon appetit 😋
Awesome feedback Deborah! Thanks for stopping by.
This is the only potato salad I’ll ever make. My brother-in-law loves it so much that he gave my father-in-law some and was boasting about it saying you gotta try this! That’s enough for me.. it’s a keeper!
That’s awesome Christine! Thank you so much for stopping by to share.
This is my go to potato salad Everytime
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Teffiney.
This potato salad was a big hit at our last family gathering. Everyone said how good it was. I added a bit of lemon juice to dressing and some diced red peppers for extra crunch and color. Delicious!
Nice! Awesome feedback Nancy, thanks for stopping by.
Perfect – everyone loved it 🙂
Awesome! Thanks for stopping by Amanda.
Definitely a keeper!!!! A must try!!
Thank you Michelle!
I just finished making this potato salad and while I normally don’t leave comments, I feel this one needs appreciation! I had some potatoes, celery, and green onions (which I love and feel don’t get utilized enough in recipes) that I needed to use up. I saw this recipe on pinterest and decided to whip it up. It’s one of those that left me scooping out of the bowl as soon as it was done, but in my opinion is when potato salad is best! The only thing I did slightly differently was to sprinkle it with Old Bay instead of paprika at the end. While I’m a southern girl now, I was born in Baltimore, Maryland and spent many a summer there with my grandparents and it’s just an ingredient that gives everything interest. Thank you so much for this incredibly tasty recipe, it’s the only one I’ll be using from now on!
Hi Rachael, Thank you so much for the awesome comment and you are so welcome.
This is the second time I’ve made this. It’s delicious.
Thank you Kerry!
DELICIOUS ! DELICIOUS! DELICIOUS!
Thank you Marie!