Southern Style Potato Salad
People take their potato salad very seriously here in the south. I learned that quickly after moving to southern Louisiana from northern Michigan (I know, right?). I was never a fan of potato salad in my youth but after living in here for nine years, I not only love it but I crave it often. And boy, was I craving some potato salad this week! I made a lighter fresher tasting version of potato salad for the blog last summer but today I wanted the real stuff. Heavy, creamy, tangy, no holds barred Southern Style Potato Salad.
Originally posted 3/12/2010 updated 6/27/2017
Old-Fashioned Southern Style Potato Salad
What is “Southern Style” Potato Salad?
Southern Style Potato Salad has a creamy and tangy dressing that has both mayonnaise and mustard, plus plenty of texture from the finely diced celery and sweet relish. I do like my potato salad with slightly less dressing, rather than super goopy, so if you like yours more “wet” you may want to make more dressing.
What Kind of Potatoes are Best for Potato Salad?
You want the potatoes in your potato salad to hold their shape and not break down into a mashed potato-like mush, so make sure to choose a waxier variety of potato, like Yukon Gold, or red potatoes.
How Long Does Potato Salad Stay Good?
This is kind of a large batch, so make sure to store your leftovers properly. Refrigerate your potato salad as soon after making it as possible. It should stay good in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. If you can not finish a full 8-cup batch within that amount of time, consider making a half batch. Simply change the number of servings in the recipe below and all the ingredient amounts will adjust accordingly.
Southern Style Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 3 lbs yukon gold potatoes ($3.00)
- 1 tsp. salt ($0.05)
- 2 large eggs ($0.54)
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise ($0.99)
- 2 green onions ($0.28)
- 1-2 stalks celery (1 cup chopped) ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp sweet relish ($0.06)
- 1 Tbsp mustard ($0.06)
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar ($0.10)
- Freshly cracked pepper to taste ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp Tony Caschere’s seasoning salt ($0.05)
Instructions
- Peel, wash, and cut your potatoes into one inch cubes. Place them in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add 1 tsp of salt to the water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Boil the potatoes until they are tender (about ten minutes). Test the doneness by piercing the potatoes with a fork, then drain them in a colander and let them cool.
- While the potatoes are boiling, begin to hard boil the eggs. Place the eggs in a small pot and cover them with cold water, then bring the pot to a boil over high heat. If your eggs were cold (just out of the fridge), let them remain boiling for one minute before turning off the heat. If they were room temperature, turn the heat off as soon as it reaches a rolling boil. After turning off the heat, cover the pot with a lid. Let the eggs sit for exactly 15 minutes (use a timer), carefully pour out the hot water and run cool water into the pot to stop the cooking process. Adding a few ice cubes doesn't hurt either. If you don't replace the hot water with cool water the eggs will continue to cook and your yolks risk turning green.
- Rinse and finely dice the celery, and slice the green onions.
- To make the dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, pepper, relish, and red wine vinegar in a bowl. Add a 1/2 tsp Tony’s or seasoning salt, mix and taste test for more. You want the dressing heavily seasoned because it will taste diluted once mixed with the potatoes.
- Peel and dice the hard boiled eggs. Add the cooked and cooled potatoes to a large bowl along with the diced celery, sliced green onion, diced eggs, and dressing. Stir until everything is combined and coated in the dressing. If you prefer a softer, less chunky potato salad, mash the potatoes slightly.
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Southern Potato Salad – Step By Step Photos
Peel and cube 3 lbs. of potatoes. Add the cubed potatoes to a large pot and cover with cool water. Add 1 tsp salt to the water. Place a lid on the pot and bring it up to a boil over high heat. Boil the potatoes until tender (about 10 minutes, depending on the size of the cubes), then drain in them in a colander and allow them to cool. Make sure the potatoes are completely tender before draining. Use a fork to pierce one of the larger pieces to test the doneness.
While the potatoes are cooking, hard boil the eggs. Add your eggs to a small pot (I cooked extra just to have on hand) and cover with cool water. Bring the pot up to a boil and then let the eggs boil for one minute before turning off the heat. Let the eggs sit in the hot water with a lid on top and the heat turned off for exactly 15 minutes, then carefully pour out the hot water and run cold water over the eggs to stop the cooking process. Once cool enough to handle, peel the eggs and dice them.
Make the dressing for the potato salad by combining 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1 Tbsp mustard, 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp sweet relish, 1/2 tsp Tony Cachere’s or your favorite seasoning salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Whisk the ingredients together, taste, and add more seasoning salt if desired. Remember, you want the dressing to be heavily seasoned because the flavor will be diluted once mixed with the potatoes.
Place the cooked and cooled potatoes in a large bowl along with the diced celery, sliced green onion, and diced eggs.
Pour the dressing over the ingredients in the bowl and then stir until everything is combined and coated in dressing. To make the Southern Style Potato Salad slightly less chunky, mash the potatoes as you stir.
Some of the best potato salad I’ve ever made and eat. Was impressed. Was leery at first but wanted to attempt to make and so glad I did. I’m not much on onions in potato salad but the green onions are different and are really good. It is all in what one likes but I def recommend this recipe!
I love your step by step photos in all of your recipes. They are fantastic.
Isn’t it interesting how we all make potato salad differently although more often than not, its because of the way our Mother’s or Grandmothers made potato salad.
Mine is not too different from yours save for the sweet relish ( only use sweet relish in macaroni salad.) For us, its potatoes, usually fresh from the garden or the nearby farm, either white or red, a dash or so of olive oil and white vinegar, chopped kosher dill pickle and cornichon with a bit of juice from both, finely chopped celery & green onion, cooked and crisped chopped bacon, ( spouse favorite ) sometimes capers sometimes not, hard boiled eggs ( but grated finely, not chopped, as I dislike eggs but can actually eat them if hidden in food. A mixture of regular Hellman’s mayo, light mayo and a blob of miracle whip, ( because my mother always did ) yellow deli mustard, a few good grinds or so of 4 salt ( a mixture of white crystal salt, organic pacific sea salt, Bolivian mountain rose salt, & alae Hawaiian salt ) & freshly ground tellicherry pepper. If I decide to use a sprinkle or so of paprika to top the salad, I like to use smoked paprika.
30 min is a joke… this took me over an hour. Maybe my knife skills are really bad, but still.
I learned how to make potato salad from my Pennsylvania Dutch Grandmother and it is quite different from the Southern Style Potato salad. We use red potatoes, hard boiled eggs, bacon cut into rashers and fried and hard boiled eggs (You can add fresh celery too but my kids don’t like it). The dressing is made with Hellmanns mayonnaise, light vinegar and sugar. We season it with sea salt, pepper, fresh parsley and tarragon. The tarragon tastes wonderful in potato salad.
I would love to try your potato salad ! I’m from NY and I have lived in the south with my kids for 25 years and I love northern potato salad made like yours . I have not found a recipe yet that comes close. If you don’t mind sending me recipe.
Yours truly
Lynn
I am from NC and we always make it the way you do Brianna. With yellow onion and dill pickles. Yum.
Up in Virginia, potato salad is made with regular yellow onions and dill pickles instead of celery and relish. And apple cider vinegar.
I’m from Virginia too and I learned to make potato salad just like this from my Mom…….with yellow onions. We always used sweet pickle relish and celery. If celery wasn’t in the fridge then it was celery seed.!
Fabulous recipe…reminds me of my Mom’s. Sometimes she would mince sweet pickles instead of the relish.
Love potato salad – thanks for reminding me! :)
I guess the versions vary based on what state you’re in the south because I’ve never seen relish in southern potato salad. I love my mom’s potato salad; it is the only dish she knows how to make hahaha.
Why not boil the eggs with the potatoes?