Southern Potato Salad Recipe
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This Southern Potato Salad recipe is a delicious side perfect for casual suppers and cookouts! Potato salad is an easy make ahead favorite!
This potato salad recipe is a simple, classic side dish that’s so easy to make. It is a favorite year round – from summer cookouts to potlucks to a southern Sunday meal. Potato Salad goes so well with everything from hamburgers and grilled chicken to other side dishes like fried okra and baked beans.
When I was a girl I loved being the taste tester when Mama made her potato salad. What a lucky job it was because her Southern Potato Salad is the best! She was asked to make it for every cookout or family reunion because everyone loved it. And my family requested it for so many suppers and family gatherings too. So I got to test it a lot.
Southern Potato Salad Recipe
This potato salad recipe has been in my family for so many years. My great grandmother made it by this recipe and passed it down through the generations. Mama taught my sister and me how to make it and it’s always been our go-to recipe.
Best Potatoes for Southern Potato Salad
You need to use starchy potatoes that get a little bit soft when you cook them. I prefer Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, but I most often use Russets. A waxy potato won’t do for this southern favorite, so get one that will get somewhat soft.
How to Make Potato Salad
To make this recipe you will need these ingredients.
Southern Potato Salad Ingredients
- Potatoes (Russets preferably)
- Eggs
- Onion
- Dill Pickles
- Yellow Mustard
- Mayonnaise (not the sweet dressing type)
- Salt
Cook potatoes. Start by scrubbing and peeling 3 pounds of potatoes. Cube them, add to cold water and boil until tender enough to pierce with a fork, but not until they are mushy. Drain well once they are done.
Boil eggs. At the same time, hard boil 6 eggs and then peel them once they’re done. Chop the eggs in preparation for the salad.
Dice onion and pickles. While the potatoes are boiling, dice your onion and dill pickles.
Combine. Stir together the drained potatoes, chopped eggs, diced onion, diced pickles and salt with the mayonnaise and mustard until creamy. Add more mustard, mayo and even pickles to taste.
Taste test. Make sure your tasting spoons are lined up and at the ready. You will want to have them for your own taste tests!
Once you’ve completed your potato salad, you can either serve right away or refrigerate to serve later.
Make Ahead Favorite
My family’s Southern Potato Salad recipe is one that is delicious made the day of serving, but is a great make-ahead dish as well. Just keep it tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to serve. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Perfect for Cookouts, Picnics and Suppers
You’ll find this dish served at most family get-togethers in my family – from holidays like Easter alongside my Cola-Glazed Ham to reunions to cookouts to Sunday suppers! It’s a great potluck dish anytime, too. Potato salad is delicious with chicken, beef, and pork and is a dish that everyone in my family loves!
More Delicious Side Dishes and Salads
Here are a few more scrumptious sides for summer cookouts, potlucks and family suppers to try! Many are make ahead too!
Here’s my family’s Potato Salad recipe. It’s a special favorite!
Southern Potato Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled, cubed and boiled until tender
- 6 boiled eggs, chopped
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 medium dill pickles, diced
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup yellow mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients together and mix until well-combined and creamy. Add more mayonnaise and mustard depending on tastes.
Notes
Since potato salad is often served at cookouts and potlucks, many people wonder how long it can sit out and still be safe to eat. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that potato salad with mayo and eggs, like most perishable foods, should not be left out of the refrigerator for more than two hours at room temperature. If the temperature is above 90°F (32°C), the recommended time is reduced to one hour. Please use your best judgment, but if the temperature is hot, as is often the case with most outdoor summertime cookouts, I recommend refrigerating within one hour. Recipe Success Tips
- When serving guests, chop into larger pieces. I sometimes chop ingredients into larger pieces so that people can remove things (onion, pickles) if they don’t want to eat them.
- Let your potato salad cool a bit before placing it in the refrigerator. It’s a good idea to let the salad cool for a few minutes after mixing before covering it and placing it in the fridge to chill. The steam from the warm potatoes can add too much moisture to your potato salad if not given a few minutes to cool down.
- Taste your potato salad to see if it needs any adjustments after refrigeration, before serving. If the potato salad is warm when mixed (as it will be for most of us), the potatoes will absorb a lot of flavor from the other ingredients, and you may need to taste it to see if it needs a little something extra, such as more mustard.
- Use dill pickle juice to make your potato salad creamier! It gives this Southern potato salad an extra “tang” that is so delicious! Add a couple of tablespoons at a time and taste to avoid over-saturating with liquid. This works especially well when serving the cold potato salad after it’s been refrigerated and you want to make it a tad creamier before serving. Delicious tip!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
This is my absolute favorite potato salad!! It’s the only one I will make after I found your recipe several years ago. Thanks!
Thanks, Misty! So glad you love this potato salad as much as we do!xo
Robyn,
This is by far the best potato salad I’ve ever eaten! I make it all during the year, but make it so often in the summer! We love it!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! It is delicious!!!
Thanks, Leigh!
When I was a teenager my best friends mother made her potato salad this way with dill pickles instead of sweet relish. This was back in the 1960’s and brings back so many wonderful memories. Any relations to Sue and Wilbur Horn??
I don’t know your friend’s parents but this is the way my mother has always made her potato salad. No sweet relish for us!
Making this recipe today, only difference is I will be adding some sour cream to my mayo and some chopped celery.
I hope you enjoy it, Linda! It’s one of our favorites! xo
I use this same recipe with the exception that I only use about a tablespoon of mustard. The rest is on point with what I use.
Isn’t it delicious, Tom?! It’s how my family has made it for generations. Thanks!
I also added 1/2 stalk of finely chopped celery. Backed off a bit on the amount of mustard, our family prefers the Vlasic Sweet Salad Pickles and I used Red potatoes… it was a true hit at our southern family reunion! Thank you!
So wonderful to hear, Brenda! Thanks! xo
How many would u estimate this recipe feeds? I know it will be a hit so I want to have plenty. Thank you.
Hi Debra, it should make 12 servings. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks! xo
This is very similar to my mother’s recipe, except she mashed the potatoes and served it warm the 1st time, then cold for leftovers. And she used about half of the mustard called for.
And she mixed everything but the potatoes 1st, then added them last. I just made this with cooled potato chunks, and the minute the condiments were mixed, I knew this was my mom’s recipe in her head. I just had a flashback of her making potato salad for holiday and special occasions, and how I miss that sweet lady. Thanks for reminding me.
This is such a sweet memory you’ve shared, Linda. I know you must miss her so much!
This recipe has been a special one in our family for a long, long time and has been a part of so many special meals. I hope it can bring back some precious memories for you as well.
Thank you, Linda. xo
This was pretty good. Much more tastier than regular potato salad. I also used petite yukon gold potatoes.
It’s one of our family favorites and I’m glad you enjoyed it Susan! Thanks so much!
Just like my mom used to make it same way to taste you the bomb I’m going to meet me some this weekend thank you Rick
So happy you enjoyed it Rick! Thanks!