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.
What would be some possible substitutes for buttermilk?
You can get powdered buttermilk in the same section of the store where powdered milk is. I just bought some based on a friend’s recommendation. Easy sub for liquid!
I used natural yoghurt with a bit of milk added to make it the consistency of cake batter. Worked a treat.
Wonderful!, Random search landed here and couldn’t be more pleased to visit.
Every thing taste better from scratch Traditional potato salad is a Classic! Thank You.
So glad you found us!!
Got rave reviews from my guests!
I would be concerned about food safety. If you take hot potatoes and add all the ingredients then place in a cover bowl to chill it may not be safe. Time and temperature exposure, you have volatile foods like eggs and potatoes. Better to mix the ingredients and place in a pan, with the salad uncovered, to chill.
Some recipes call for sweet pickles but I like this recipe better with dill pickles. Yummy.
Very nice basic potato salad. I would note that I have found that it is better to peel (if peeling)
potatoes and then cooking. Why? Well, unless you like handling hot potatoes, they are cooled
when done whole and peeled. And, if you put some of the dressing on REAL WARM potatoes, it sinks in better and ads flavor. I also ad the onions to the warm potatoes before cooling.
I followed this recipe as written. It’s our favorite…very simple and flavorful. I always get compliments when I make it for family and friends. Thanks!
I’m 74 yrs old and been making potato salad since I was 15yrs old. You might consider using pickle relish to replace the pickles. I use 2 jumbo eggs for every med size potato and I use a 50/50 ratio of red & yukon potato. I never use mustard. Adding the red potato makes it sweeter, and adding more eggs simply makes it much creamer. You might consider using a large cheese shredder for the eggs it makes them a uniform size, and makes the yokes blend better with the mayo. My potato salad has been a hit with our family for years.
Nice flavor & easy to follow instructions. I only added fresh chopped parsley & minced chives; also substituted Vidalia onion for the red onion. I vary the recipe I’ve used for years & this was a tasty change, plus I found your method with the eggs to be time-saving!
Made this recently and it’s great. I taste tested as I went along and once I mixed the sauce in with the potatoes I thought it was good enough then to serve/eat. It was still warm but I don’t mind that as it makes me think of my mom because she’d make potato salad and eat it right after making it, so that brought back god memories. I did add the celery, egg whites, pickles but left out the onions (my wife doesn’t like raw onions) and it was still was tasty.