Southern Potato Salad Recipe

145 Comments

4.85 from 32 votes
Jump to RecipeJump to Video

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

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.

Potato salad in glass bowl // addapinch.com

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.

Potato salad ingredients of chopped cooked potatoes and diced hardboiled eggs ready to combine, in stainless pot. // addapinch.com

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!

Adding yellow mustard to Potato salad ingredients of potatoes, diced eggs, chopped pickles, and mayonnaise in a large stainless pot. // addapinch.com

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!

Coleslaw

Cucumber Tomato Salad

Southern Macaroni Salad

Easy Tortellini Pasta Salad

Southern Baked Beans

Here’s my family’s Potato Salad recipe. It’s a special favorite!

Southern Potato Salad Recipe

4.85 from 32 votes
Southern Potato Salad – Potato salad is a classic recipe perfect for every possible summer celebration! Made with potatoes, pickles, onions, and eggs, this potato salad is an all-time favorite!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 12

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

Make-Ahead:
Store potato salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.ย 

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 242kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 330mg | Potassium: 531mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 150IU | Vitamin C: 13.8mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 4.2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Enjoy!
Robyn xo

Southern Potato Salad Recipe - Southern Potato Salad is a classic recipe perfect for Sunday suppers, summertime lunches, picnics, reunions, and every possible celebration! This potato salad recipe is a family favorite! // addapinch.com

Welcome to Add A Pinch

About Robyn

Robyn Stone is a cookbook author, wife, mom, and passionate home cook. Her tested and trusted recipes give readers the confidence to cook recipes the whole family will love. Robyn has been featured on Food Network, People, Southern Living, and more.

4.85 from 32 votes

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Review




145 Comments

  1. Debra says:

    Looks very delicious!!! I will most definitely try this southern potato salad recipe.

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      I hope you enjoy the salad, Debra.

  2. Ron Sullivan says:

    I use sweet pickles instead of dill pickles and miracle whip instead of mayonnaise. Otherwise itโ€™s the same Recipe, I prefer a sweeter potato salad

  3. MARY WILLIS says:

    I don’t buy dill pickles, however, I do sometimes use dill relish. How much of the relish would I need?

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      I’m sorry, Mary, but I have never used relish in my salad so I’m not sure how much you would need. Maybe someone else on here has and can answer your question.

  4. Savannah Rhodes says:

    5 stars
    This is just like my mom used to make and is how I now make it. I will usually eat potato salad only if either of us has made it. I can even eat it by itself as a snack or in a slice of bread as a sandwich. I usually leave out the raw onion though and add celery salt and dill weed. Super recipe!!

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      I love this potato salad as a snack, too! Thanks, Savannah.

  5. Susie says:

    5 stars
    This was the exact southern potato salad that I was searching from my childhood memory. Delicious.

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      Susie, I’m happy you found this recipe. This is the one my mother has always made.

  6. Katina L Brown says:

    5 stars
    Simple and delicious

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      Thanks, Katina!

  7. Angie says:

    5 stars
    This is the way my family makes potato salad. Dill pickles instead of sweet. Sometimes I add sliced green olives.

  8. April says:

    5 stars
    Taste just like my grandma use to make, talk about wonderful memories in every bite. Definitely will be a regular in our house!

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      Thank you, April. I love these recipes that our grandmothers made and the memories they bring back.

  9. Karol says:

    The ‘recipe’ for our potato salad was in Mom’s head too. Very similar to this. We grew up on Miracle Whip and still don’t care for mayo so Miracle Whip and yellow mustard base. After I left home it was ‘by guess and by golly’ until I got it right. It really still is as I don’t measure anything and go by taste and how big of a dish I want to make. Mom used a bit of sweet pickle juice in hers. I use a tiny bit of sugar on the end of a spoon. DH is the designated tester here. He could eat potato salad every week I think. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      Karol, my mother has told me that one of her grandmothers made potato salad with sweet pickles and juice, too but without mustard. She was always the tester for her grandmother’s potato salad. It’s funny that she never made that version when I was growing up.

  10. Parrish Nored says:

    My husband is the cornbread dressing taster in our house before it goes in the oven. lol Love the potato salad recipe. Especially that you use dill pickles. “Don’t be putting no sweet pickles in my tater salad!” ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks Robin!

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      Glad you like the potato salad, Parrish! I like the dill pickles better, too!