A classic Southern Potato Salad that will be the best you ever had. Creamy and tangy and made with simple ingredients.
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Southern Potato Salad
Can I tell you guys a secret?
I’ve never really liked potato salad.
I know! A comfort food, soul food, southern food lover. NOT even liking potato salad. But it’s true.
That is, until I found this Best Southern Potato Salad recipe that turns every potato salad naysayer into a believer, guaranteed.
This potato salad is creamy, tangy, and flavorful with just a little kick of spicy. Plus it has a little crunch from the celery and onions. The potatoes are not too hard, or too soft. It’s just about as perfect as it can get!
It gets requested All. The. Time. for barbecues, cookouts, and even holiday potlucks.
The ingredients are classic and simple, which make it easy to make. This is the perfect go-to potato salad recipe that you’ll want to make again and again.
Best Potatoes for Southern Potato Salad
The potatoes you use can make or break your potato salad.
The reason is that different potatoes have different textures. Some potatoes are more starchy, while others are more waxy. The texture makes a big difference in a potato salad!
Starchy potatoes include russet or Idaho. These potatoes cook soft and sometimes even have a gritty texture due to the starches. These potatoes often disintegrate into a potato salad, making it more of a chunky mashed potato casserole than a true potato salad.
The best potatoes for potato salad are generally the waxy types of potatoes, which are Yukon Gold or red potatoes. Both of these potatoes remain firmer and hold shape when cooked, which is ideal for potato salad when you want your potatoes to stay cubed and intact.
How to Prepare Potatoes for Potato Salad
Because of the texture of the skins on both Yukon gold or red potatoes, you don’t even need to peel before boiling. (I sometimes don’t peel the red potatoes at all, and just dice them up with the skins on!)
Just cut your potatoes in half, and place them in a large pot with enough water to cover the potatoes plus an extra inch or two.
Bring the water to a boil, then add a teaspoon of salt. Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes, until fork tender. (Fork tender means that they’re soft enough to pierce easily with a fork.)
Remember that the residual heat in the potatoes will continue cooking them, even after they’ve been drained, so be sure not to over cook.
As soon as they’re tender enough, drain and let them sit in the colander to fully remove moisture. Leave your potatoes sit (or pop them in the fridge for a little bit!) just until they’re cool enough to handle, but still warm.
Peel potatoes with a paring knife, and dice into bite sized pieces. I like my pieces smaller, around a half-inch cube, but you can make your pieces however big or small you’d like.
How to Make Southern Potato Salad
In a large mixing bowl, mix together mayo, sour cream, relish, mustard, vinegar, sugar, dill, salt, and pepper. Stir until everything is combined.
Add remaining ingredients and gently fold into dressing mixture.
Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving, or preferably overnight.
Pro Tips
- Everybody makes potato salad a little different, so feel free to make it your own. I love adding green bell pepper and pimentos. You can also add bacon, hot sauce, extra jalapenos, or a pinch of cayenne pepper, if you like it spicy!
- I use mild jarred jalapenos because my kids don’t like the kick from fresh jalapenos. If you love spicy, then feel free to add fresh jalapenos. I recommend seeding them and tasting just a tiny bit to gauge their level of hotness (it varies so much depending on when and where they were grown!).
- This potato salad is best made ahead. It needs to be chilled for at least one hour before serving, but overnight is best because it gives the flavors a chance to meld together, making it extra tasty.
More Cookout Recipes You’ll Love
- Dill Pickle Pasta Salad – if you love pickles, you’ll adore this pasta salad!
- Best Fruit Salad – fresh, simple, and sweet!
- Pizza Pasta Salad – one of our family favorite pasta salads with all our favorite pizza toppings!
- Deviled Egg Potato Salad – a combination of two southern cookout classics!
- Berry Spritzer – fresh, festive, sparkling drink that can be made into a cocktail or a mocktail!
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: Southern Potato Salad
Best Southern Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 3 pounds red potatoes cut in half
- 1 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup mustard
- 1/4 cup dill pickle relish
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dill
- 5 hard boiled eggs finely chopped
- 1/2 cup celery chopped
- 1/2 cup red onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely minced jalapeno pepper about 1 pepper, seeds removed
Instructions
- In a large pot, boil potatoes with enough water to cover and boil potatoes just until tender, about 8-15 minutes. Drain when done, and place in a bowl to chill in the refrigerator. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, but still warm, peel with a paring knife and dice into half-inch cubes.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, relish, mustard, vinegar, sugar, dill, salt and pepper. Stir mixture until everything is combined.
- Add remaining ingredients, and stir to incorporate, fully coating potatoes with mixture.
- Cover and chill at least 2 hours, or until ready to serve. Potato salad is best if chilled overnight before serving.
Notes
- Everybody makes potato salad a little different, so feel free to make it your own. I love adding green bell pepper and pimentos. You can also add bacon, hot sauce, extra jalapenos, or a pinch of cayenne pepper, if you like it spicy!
- I use mild jarred jalapenos because my kids don’t like the kick from fresh jalapenos. If you love spicy, then feel free to add fresh jalapenos. I recommend seeding them and tasting just a tiny bit to gauge their level of hotness (it varies so much depending on when and where they were grown!).
- This potato salad is best made ahead. It needs to be chilled for at least one hour before serving, but overnight is best because it gives the flavors a chance to meld together, making it extra tasty.
- For directions on cooking and preparing potatoes for potato salad, check the post above. For directions on cooking perfect eggs for potato salad, check out this post.
Nutrition
This Best Potato Salad Recipe is creamy and flavorful with just the right amount of spicy. I never even liked potato salad until I tried this recipe!
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[email protected] says
May 3, 2015 at 7:05 pmThis is a bit different than what I am used to but it looks amazing. I am willing to try it!
Made From Pinterest says
May 4, 2015 at 11:10 pmThis looks amazing! I am sooooooo making this as soon as I possibly can. Yum! Keep up the awesome posts. i always look forward to what you have to post! Thanks so much!
Carole from Carole's Chatter says
May 7, 2015 at 3:01 pmHi, lovely salad. I do hope you’ll come over to Food on Friday: Salads to bring this to the party! Cheers from Carole’s Chatter
Jamie @ Love Bakes Good Cakes says
May 9, 2015 at 1:12 amThank you for joining us at Freedom Fridays! Pinned and scheduled a Facebook share! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Katherines Corner says
May 9, 2015 at 2:39 pmokay I just drooled a little…Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. Watch for your feature on Monday xo
Michelle says
May 13, 2015 at 1:18 pmThank you so much!
Lyn says
June 26, 2015 at 11:20 ammy neighbor recently gave me a recipe for potato salad that is similar to yours, but with fewer ingredients. I am convinced it is the red potatoes and the red onion that make it delicious.
Marjorie says
August 3, 2015 at 12:41 pmi make my salad the same way except no vinegar or sour cream. Also the potatoes should be peeled and chopped while hot. I add black olives instead of pimentos and jalapeños. I like it better without the sour cream but it is optional. This is the first recipe I’ve ever seen close to our family recipe.
Michelle says
August 3, 2015 at 4:08 pmYour family recipe must be delicious 😉 As for chilling the potatoes before peeling, I just chill them in the fridge for a few minutes while I finish prepping the rest of the ingredients. They’re still warm, but then I don’t get burned 🙂
A.M. Dijkstra says
August 4, 2015 at 11:50 amYou better mix all ingredients into the still HOT potatoes and chill afterwards; it tastes much better when soaked in overnight that way.. my German friend taught me her classic recipe.
LadyMac says
November 26, 2015 at 8:52 amPotato Salad like macaroni and cheese is secred in the African American culture. We don’t everybody’s potato salad! This recipe was excellent. Thanks for sharing.
Michelle says
November 26, 2015 at 8:57 amThank you so much! It’s my favorite, so I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Nikki Bennett says
June 6, 2016 at 10:13 amDo you peel your red potatoes? Your picture doesn’t look like the potato skin was left on.
Michelle says
June 6, 2016 at 10:18 amFor potato salad, yes I do.
Edye says
June 27, 2016 at 12:22 pmYUM! This would be great for a summer BBQ 🙂
Blessings,
Edye
Ashleigh says
June 27, 2016 at 9:34 pmLooks absolutely delicious! I’m right there with you; I don’t usually go for the potato salad, but I’ll give this one a try!
Come over to my link party and share this with everyone:
Hope to see you there!