Our easy Potato Salad recipe is creamy, delicious, and the best side dish at any BBQ! I make it with Yukon Gold Potatoes, hard boiled eggs, pickles, celery, and a creamy homemade dressing.
Want more side dishes? I love this Corn Salad, Cucumber Salad, Baked Beans, and Street Corn Pasta Salad.
Our Classic Potato Salad is the Real Star of the BBQ
Our Classic Potato Salad is the Real Star of the BBQThere are so many reasons to love a good ol' classic potato salad, and our recipe has the yummiest sauce, and flavor combo, making it deserving of its position as a summer BBQ staple. (It's always so hard to choose between this traditional potato salad recipe, and our baked potato salad recipe. They are different, and both fantastic!) I love that I can potato salad ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until ready to serve.
How to make Potato Salad:
Boil Potatoes: Place whole, unpeeled potatoes in a large pot of water. When it comes to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender. Drain water from pot, leaving potatoes inside, then cover with a lid so they can steam for 5-10 more minutes. Peel potatoes, if desired, then cut into 1-inch chunks.
Make Potato Salad Dressing: Combine egg yolks, mayonnaise, buttermilk, mustard, a splash of pickle juice, and salt and pepper in a bowl.
Combine: Pour dressing over the potatoes. Add chopped egg whites, celery, onion, and pickles. Stir well then cover and refrigerate for a few hours until ready to serve.
Make Ahead and Storage Instructions:
To Make Ahead: potato salad can be made 1-2 days ahead of time. It tastes best if refrigerated for at least a few hours before serving. Store leftover potato salad in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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Recipe
Classic Potato Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
For the salad
- 3 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes
- 4 hard boiled eggs
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 Tablespoons yellow mustard (or half dijon)
- 2 dill pickles , finely chopped, + splash of pickle juice
- salt and pepper
- 2 ribs celery , chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion , chopped
Instructions
- Boil and Chop Potatoes: Place the whole, unpeeled potatoes in a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the water completely from the pot and then cover the pot with a lid to allow the potatoes to steam for 5-10 minutes. Peel potatoes, if desired, and cut them into ½ inch chunks.
- Make Dressing: Separate egg yolks from the whites of the hard boiled eggs and place the yolks in a bowl. Mash the yolks with a fork and then stir in the mayonnaise, buttermilk, mustard, a splash of pickle juice, and salt and pepper, to taste.
- Assemble: Pour the dressing over the warm potatoes. Chop the egg whites and add them to the potatoes along with the celery, onion, and pickles. Stir well, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend.
Notes
Nutrition
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*I first shared this recipe in May 2013. Updated May 2019, May 2023 and July 2024.
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This is the best potato salad recipe I’ve ever made and eaten. I make it exactly as written and my family L♥️VES it!! A Classic American masterpiece . Thank you!
Thanks for your kind words!
This recipe has become one of my two go-to recipes for potato salad. The other recipe is an absolutely different style so I can’t rate one over the other, but this one is absolutely outstanding. My family loves it, my friends love it, and you can adjust the amounts of the add ins (we love a little more red onion) and add your own flair if you so choose, although it really is perfect exactly as written.
I made this recipe for a friends 50th birthday party and doubled the recipe. I’m not so traditional (and I didn’t budget extra time for peeling and cutting the extra potatoes) so we ate it WARM. Holy moly. BEST POTATO SALAD EVER. I mean EVER.
My son-in-law has made me the family potato salad maker. I peel and dice my potatoes first as I hate trying to do so when they are hot. I add mayo (99% fat free) with chopped onion or green onion and mix while still hot. I can then add whatever I have on hand – crispy bacon, peppers, gherkins. I don’t add any egg, never have. Once it is mixed I cover and keep in the fridge until required. I will have to try your recipe with the boiled egg and see what the family think.
Fat free mayo is full of unhealthy ingredients. It’s ok to eat fat. It’s processed food thats bad for you
I agree with Jacey, fat-free mayonnaise is junk, full of chemicals, and is no longer mayonnaise! True mayo is a good quality oil combined slowly with the lemon juice and egg yolks, and some salt + dry mustard. It’s exquisite and easy to make in the food processor. Perhaps those who can’t eat mayo would want to use Greek yogurt and a little cider vinegar instead for the dressing.
After accidentally tossing out my mom’s potato salad recipe years ago, I had pretty much stopped making it because I couldn’t get it “right”. This one is it! My husband and I both give it 5 stars!
I have found the easiest way to do the potatoes is to peel them, cut them up, place in a basket, place in instant pot with 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 3 minutes. All are evenly cooked. I spread out to cool 5 to 10 minutes and then mix up potato salad before putting in fridge to chill. It’s so quick and easy.
So delicious and I’m not a potato salad lover, but this one is awesome!!
Best potato salad ever! I added extra pickles and celery and left out the egg. My kids couldn’t get enough!
Another great LAUREN ALLEN recipe. Covering with a lid and steaming cooked potatoes is brilliant. I added dried mustard and lemon pepper seasoning. I made my own buttermilk by adding a little lemon juice (or white vinegar) to regular milk.
My Family went crazy over this recipe! I did change it a tad, I had no Buttermilk so I used Sour Cream and I did not addd the pickle juice. Still Fantastic! oh and also added scallions for presentation.
Very nice potato salad, something very homey about it, nostalgic even..Husband loved it, and he doesn’t usually like most potato salad.
This was really good! We had a lot of potatoes to use so I thought I would give this recipe a try. I am not usually a big potato salad fan, but this was really creamy and flavorful! Thanks!!
As close to my Mom’s potato salad as I have been able to find. The chopping of the yolks into the mayo mix makes it less runny than a lot of recipes. The only thing I do different is use sweet pickle relish from our garden instead of dills.