Potato salad
Potato salad is a tried-and-true summer classic. Often paired with grilled meats, the hearty salad also tastes great on its own. Made with tender new potatoes, peppery radishes for crunch, and freshly shelled summer peas, you get a wonderful mix of tastes and textures. To make things even better, it also has a scrumptious dressing made with creamy sour cream, chives, and flavourful Dijon mustard. Following our easy potato salad recipe allows you to serve an enticing dish with beautiful colours, garnished with fresh summer herbs.
Ingredients
Dressing
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500 ml
Sour cream
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20 g
Chives, finely chopped (approx)
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2 tsp
Dijon mustard
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2 tsp
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
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2 tsp
Coarse salt
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Pepper (to taste)
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Potato salad
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1 kilo
Small new potatoes, boiled and cooled
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100 g
Radishes, cut into thin slices
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100 g
Freshly shelled peas
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Garnish
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Sprigs and finely chopped dill (to taste)
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Instructions
Dressing
Potato salad
Recommended information
Serving suggestion
Tips
For fresh and full of texture potato salad allow the potatoes to chill. Once the potatoes are boiled, let them cool completely before adding the other ingredients. This will prevent the other ingredients from wilting and keep the salad looking and tasting fresh.
Tips
If you want to save time, you can boil the potatoes in advance, so they are ready to mix with the dressing when you get closer to serving time.
Questions about potato salad
To learn more about potato salads, continue reading below where we have answered some of the most frequently asked questions.
How to make a homemade potato salad?
Start by boiling new potatoes. Allow them to cool while you shell the peas, dice the radishes, and prepare the potato salad dressing by mixing sour cream with chives, dill, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Toss the potatoes with dressing, add the remaining ingredients, and garnish with chives and dill. Leave the covered dish in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow for the flavours to marry and deepen.
What to put in a potato salad?
A basic potato salad recipe usually contains boiled potatoes and a dressing. Some recipes use mayonnaise for the dressing, but it is possible to make a potato salad without mayo by using a fresh, tangy, and creamy alternative like sour cream. Some great ingredients for potato salad with vegetables include freshly shelled peas, radishes, spring onion, crunchy asparagus, and diced celery.
What are the best potatoes for potato salad?
New potatoes are the best ones for potato salad. The small, young potatoes have been harvested before they reach maturity and have a tender texture that is firm yet creamy, making them perfect for when you want them to hold their shape. They also have a mild, slightly sweet flavour that pairs well with a variety of other ingredients and seasonings. As such, a potato salad with new potatoes is one of the best versions you can make.
What goes well with potato salad?
Cold potato salad is a classic side dish for grilled meats like sausages, steaks, and chicken. It also pairs well with rich BBQ dishes such as pulled pork, ribs, and brisket needing a bit of brightness to keep them from becoming overly heavy. Other great ideas include serving it with a side of crusty bread for texture or vegetables like grilled asparagus and corn on the cob to balance out the flavours of the potato salad.
How long can potato salad sit out?
You can leave it out at room (or yard) temperature for 1-2 hours, but it is best to minimise the time your food spends outside the fridge. If you are bringing it to a potluck or picnic, you might want to store it in an ice-packed cooler. This will make it last longer and allow you to serve it cold or chilled. Serving it this way makes the flavours more pronounced.
How long can potato salad last in the fridge?
If stored properly, homemade potato salad with radishes may keep for up to 3-5 days in the fridge. Simply store it in an airtight container. It is, as such, possible to make it ahead of time. This is great if you are preparing for a large gathering and want to prepare as much as you can in advance. Just make sure to garnish right before you serve it. When using fresh herbs such as chives and dill in potato salad, they may wilt and lose some of their freshness if stored with the creamy dressing.
Can you freeze potato salad?
Creamy potato salad does not freeze well which is why we do not recommend it. The dressing does not fare well in the freezer. Rather, it is prone to splitting and turning grainy when frozen and thawed. As such, it is recommended to make the dish fresh and eat your leftovers within a few days.
How much potato salad per person?
The amount of potato salad we recommend per person will depend on whether it is being served as a side dish or a main course. As a side dish, 100-150 g per person should be fine. But as a main course, around 400 g of salad per person is more appropriate.
Other recipes
An easy recipe for potato salad
A great salad for summer does not necessarily require many ingredients. A few high-quality ones are enough to create a satisfying meal. Creamy potato salad with chives and dill perfectly exemplifies this. By pairing a few select summer greens with humble potatoes and covering them with a delicious dressing, you can create a salad that will work well as a filling main course on its own or as a delectable side dish with grilled meats and other BBQ delights.
Radishes and peas are all you need
Summer-fresh radishes, peas, and new potatoes are a great trio because they all have fresh, vibrant flavours that complement each other well. Radishes have a crisp texture and a slightly spicy, peppery taste, which provide a refreshing contrast to the starchy sweetness of new potatoes. Peas have a sweet and slightly nutty flavour that balances out the spiciness of radishes and the earthiness of new potatoes to create a balanced dish.
Summer is the season for many fresh vegetables, including radishes, peas, and new potatoes. These ingredients are at their peak during the summer months, which means they are more flavourful and affordable than they are during any other time of the year. Do not surpass the chance to explore everything these wonderful ingredients have to offer.
On the lookout for more great salad recipes with delightful summer fruits and vegetables? Jump to these with watermelon, carrots, or cabbage. We promise you will not be disappointed by these colourful and flavour-packed dishes.
Do not forget the creamy dressing
Even a simple potato salad recipe needs instructions on how to make a delicious dressing to tie the dish together. Our choice to make the dressing for potato salad with sour cream gives the dish an extra layer of freshness from this tangy dairy product. In addition, the texture is just as creamy and delicious as you would expect. To flavour the dressing, we use the same fresh herbs as for the garnishing.
Dill has a unique, fresh taste that is often described as slightly sweet and tangy, with a hint of anise or liquorice-like flavour. It has a distinctive aroma and is commonly used to flavour fish, pickles, sauces, and salads. Chives, on the other hand, have a milder and more delicate flavour compared to dill. They have a subtle onion-like flavour but with a hint of sweetness.
Flavour-packed Dijon mustard is added to spice it up a bit and make it richer. Dijon mustard has a distinctive, pungent flavour that is sharp as well as tangy. This makes it mirror the peppery sharpness of the radishes. All in all, a potato salad with mustard dressing makes for a well-rounded meal with a lot of depth and complexity.
Boiling the potatoes perfectly
The best potato salad recipe, of course, needs the very best potatoes. New potatoes are tender and slightly sweet with a delicate flavour. Unlike more mature potatoes they are typically boiled for a shorter amount of time – because they, as a rule, are both smaller and more tender. Boiling potatoes for potato salad is not difficult but requires a bit of knowledge about how long to boil potatoes for potato salad.
Select small new potatoes that are similar in size to ensure that they cook evenly. After washing them under running water, place them in a large pot and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2-3 cm. To enhance the flavour of the potatoes, add a pinch of salt to the water.
Place the pot on the stove and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and let the potatoes simmer gently. Check the new potatoes after 15-20 minutes by inserting a sharp knife or fork into the centre of one. They are done when they are tender all the way through but not falling apart.
Add a personal touch
An easy way to put your own spin on this recipe is to pair the young potatoes with different vegetables, depending on your personal preferences as well as what is in season. Use our easy recipe as a starting point to try out different ideas and variations throughout the summer. This keeps things fresh and allows you to develop the best potato salad recipe for you.
A great choice for summertime is fresh asparagus and spring onion. The former has a complex flavour with buttery sweetness as well as a subtle earthy bitterness that makes it quite tasty, while the latter has an understated sharpness. If you want an onion flavour, that is a bit more pronounced, thinly sliced red onion can add a slightly sweet, tangy flavour and a pop of colour to the salad as well. Diced celery also adds a fresh, crunchy texture.
If you want to experiment with adding something that is not a vegetable, crumbled bacon is a popular choice. The savoury ingredient adds a smoky, salty flavour that many will appreciate.
You can, of course, also play around with the flavouring of the dressing. Yellow curry and red paprika are good spices that, apart from the flavour, provide a nice colouring. The former will add a bit of spice and complexity, while the latter has a deep sweet-smoky flavour that really stands out when paired with grilled meats and vegetables.
