Easy Potato Salad

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This old-fashioned recipe for Easy Potato Salad has probably been passed down by our grandmas for generations. It’s a summer classic destined for backyard barbecues, family celebrations, and picnics.

A white s erving bowl with potato salad.


 

I’d probably eat (and enjoy) any potato salad you put in front of me, but this is the one that makes my heart sing. I love chunks of potatoes paired with hard-boiled eggs and celery, all coated in a dressing that is creamy and flavorful.

It’s the classic American potato salad, and it’s as good as your mom made but better than you remember. Try it at your next picnic or barbecue – you’ll love it!

Recipe ingredients

Labeled ingredients for easy potato salad.

At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.

Ingredient notes

  • Potatoes: Waxy varieties like new potatoes or Yukon golds hold their shape well. But, I like big Russets because they are easiest to peel and I don’t mind if the potatoes fall apart a bit in the salad.
  • Vinegar: Or substitute cider vinegar or white wine vinegar.
  • Mustard: Substitute 1 teaspoon ground mustard for the prepared yellow mustard.
  • Paprika: I love to garnish potato salad with sweet paprika, but dill (fresh or dried), chives, or scallions are also delicious. Or use a combination.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. In a large pot, add potatoes, 1 tablespoon salt, and enough water to cover. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain well and cool slightly.
A colander with chunks of boiled potatoes (one pierced by a knife).
  1. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, mustard, and garlic powder.
Dressing for easy potato salad in a clear bowl.
  1. In a large bowl, add potatoes, onion, celery, and chopped eggs. Add mayonnaise mixture.
Ingredients for potato salad in a clear bowl before being mixed.
  1. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 ½ teaspoons salt and ¾ teaspoon pepper). Garnish with paprika.
A white s erving bowl with potato salad.

Recipe tips and variations

  • Yield: This recipe makes about 10 cups of potato salad, enough for 10 large (1-cup) servings or even more smaller servings.
  • Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
  • Make ahead: The potatoes can be cubed and submerged in water in the refrigerator up to 24 hours in advance. The hard-boiled eggs can be boiled a week in advance.
  • Mix-ins: Make this potato salad your own by adding cooked bacon, fresh chives or other herbs, minced pickles or relish, peas, capers, or slivered radishes.
A white s erving bowl with potato salad.

Recipe FAQs

What is the shelf life of potato salad?

Potato salad should not sit out at room temperature longer than 2 hours. According to the USDA, “If the potato salad was held in excess of 41°F for over two hours, then discard.” It’s better to be safe than sorry.

For your next picnic

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A white s erving bowl with potato salad.

Easy Potato Salad

This old-fashioned recipe for Easy Potato Salad has probably been passed down by our grandmas for generations. It’s a summer classic destined for backyard barbecues, family celebrations, and picnics.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 10 servings (1 cup each)
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Calories 395
5 from 259 votes

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • In a large pot, add potatoes, 1 tablespoon salt, and enough water to cover. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain well and cool slightly.
  • Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, mustard, and garlic powder.
  • In a large bowl, add potatoes, onion, celery, and chopped eggs. Add mayonnaise mixture and stir to combine.
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 ½ teaspoons salt and ¾ teaspoon pepper). Garnish with paprika.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. Potatoes: Waxy varieties like new potatoes or Yukon golds hold their shape well. But, I like big Russets because they are easiest to peel and I don’t mind if the potatoes fall apart a bit in the salad.
  2. Mustard: Or substitute 1 teaspoon ground mustard.
  3. Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
  4. Make ahead: The potatoes can be cubed and submerged in water in the refrigerator up to 24 hours in advance. The hard-boiled eggs can be boiled a week in advance.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupCalories: 395kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 7gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 16gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 126mgSodium: 282mgPotassium: 652mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 218IUVitamin C: 27mgCalcium: 40mgIron: 2mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @culinaryhill on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece! #culinaryhill
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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Comments

  1. I made this potato salad to take to a work potluck luncheon a few months back. It was a hit! We recently had another potluck, and I had requests to bring it again. It is the best potato salad recipe I’ve ever made!
    Thank you :)

  2. I’ve never had much success making potato salad, but this recipe is perfect! Definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing! :)5 stars

  3. OMG…Absolutely delicious! Just made this and love it! My only complaint is that there was too much mayonnaise mixture. I probably shouldn’t have thrown it all in all at once. However, I WILL make this again, but next time with less mayonnaise. This will also now be my go-to recipe for potato salad. THANK YOU for sharing!5 stars

    1. Thanks for your comment Robin! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for giving it another chance in the future by adding less mayo. My mom always added this much mayo, so it’s what I’m used to! :) -Meggan

  4. This was very tasty! I appreciated the precise measurements. I’ll definitely add this to my favorite potato salad recipes. Thanks for sharing!5 stars

  5. I love potato salad and have tried several different recipes throughout the years. This is the BEST! Perfect just as written.
    Thank you so much for an easy, delicious recipe.

    1. I love potato salad I made this yummy potato salad today step by step it was easy to make yummy will make this again

  6. first time i have ever made potato salad. thanks so much for the recipe. the only thing i added was salad delight pickles.

    1. Thank you for your comment, Anna! I appreciate it! I’m so glad you loved it. :) – Meggan

  7. Made this for the first time for a family gathering and wave reviews all around!!!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
    I did not add the garlic nor the paprika (just my preference).5 stars

    1. You’re welcome, Susan! Thank you for trusting my recipe, I’m glad it was a hit! – Meggan

  8. I’m not usually the one asked to make potato salad but when I was asked, I found this recipe. It’s the best potato salad I’ve ever made. I got raves about the amount of eggs. It was so creamy but not too much. It will be my go to recipe from now on5 stars

    1. Hi Margaret, it’s 2 tablespoons white vinegar. Hope you love this potato salad! – Meggan

  9. I .made this and was so surprised at the fantastic taste. I did not put eggs in it because I diced veggies instead like carrots, yellow, red, orange bell peppers and celery used 1 cup of mayo.it was fantastic

    1. Thank you so much for the comment, Carleen! I’m so glad you loved it! – meggan

  10. I followed the recipe and the Potato Salad came out perfectly well. I made Potato Salad Sandwiches and they where great. Your recipe is great especially easy to prepare and have plenty for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.

    Thank You.

  11. Excellent! Loved this! Followed recipe to a ‚T‘! I especially liked the mayo ‘mix’ (mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, mustard, and garlic powder)….I suggest making extra….I used it as one of my fondue Bourguignonne sauces as well as using it as a sauce to fill my avocados!! Great Salad/Dip sauce as well!!! Thank you!5 stars

    1. Hi T, you can adjust the serving size with the slider tool on the recipe card. Hope you enjoy! – Meggan

  12. This recipe was a hit, I gave my wife a break and prepared supper and everybody, even myself was amazed as to how good the potato salad came out. Oh another thing was that you were spot on about it being the past down from generation recipe, tasted just like my grandmother and my mothers. Delicious. Thanks for everything.

  13. I really like this receipt. I don’t add the garlic (hubby can’t eat it) but even without it, it’s fantastic!!5 stars

  14. I’m normally not a fan of potato salad, But I needed a side for my Smoked BBQ ribs,
    And this came out great.
    Thanks for sharing.5 stars

  15. Well done! And easy recipe that is actually easy and uses normal ingredients. Also I love the “jump to the recipe” button. I could care less about somebodies great aunt Tilly who stole this recipe from a sandanistan freedom fighter during the revolution and smuggled messages to the resistance based on the salt and pepper ratio of the dish. Well done5 stars

    1. Wow, somebody who actually SAW the Jump to Recipe button! LOL! It’s always there, people miss it all the time. I’m glad you saw it. And I’m even happier you liked the recipe. Story-telling is going away from blogs all over the place, so hopefully you don’t see too much of that anymore. We bloggers got the message. :) Thanks for stopping by! -Meggan

  16. Great potato salad recipe. It’s delicious. Too bad you made it so difficult to write it down for people on a smart phone without a printer with all these advertisements and videos getting in the way. It’s just too busy here for a senior citizen to try another recipe. I guess you all based this site on catering to the a specific type of person and didn’t consider an average or older person. Shame on you.5 stars

    1. Hi Tamara, I’m sorry about all the trouble you had on my site (and that I took so long to reply; I was on vacation in Wisconsin in an area with no WIFI). What I wanted to tell you is, if you go to the recipe card and click “print recipe,” a new window will open on your phone with no ads and a text-only version of the recipe. It will be really easy to see it, cook from it, or write it down. I will talk to my ad company about all the ads, it doesn’t look horrible on my own phone but clearly you had issues. So sorry about that! And I’m not catering my site to a specific person other than people who love to cook. But I know I need to make it easier for you to do that, fewer ads would help! Sorry again. Sincerely, Meggan

  17. Excellent! You add the potatoes to the cold water and bring them and the water up to temperature together. That way, the outside is not over done and mushy while the inside is cooking to firm. Basically my same recipe.5 stars