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Homestead Potato Salad

It wouldn't be a picnic at the Homestead without potato salad. . . Dave's favorite. This is my basic recipe. It's just the starting place. Add-ins; celery, pickles, cucumber, carrots, radishes, etc. may all be used – or not. Feel free to add or eliminate as your taste directs. This is also great with chunks of summer sausage, chopped olives, capers . . . let your taste be your guide. It's best when it has been chilled several hours - or overnight - and seasonings adjusted before serving.
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 5 lbs potatoes (Russet, Yukon Gold, or a combination) cooked to ‘fork-tender’ *
  • 7-8 hard boiled eggs
  • 1/2 cup diced dill pickles
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions (white and green portions)
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
  • 1/2 cup diced cucumber
  • 1/2 cup julienned or grated carrot
  • 4-5 radishes thinly sliced

Dressing

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon celery seed (or more to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill weed (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Instructions
 

  • Scrub the potatoes until clean.
  • *Boil/cook potatoes until fork tender. Drain and let cool – (overnight is best).
  • When the potatoes are cool, peel and dice into ½ - 1 inch chunks. Set aside or cover and refrigerate.
  • Chop 5 of the boiled eggs and place on top of the diced potatoes.
  • Chop the dill pickles.
  • Slice the green onion, celery, radishes and grate or julienne the carrots.
  • Place the veggies and pickles on top of the potatoes and eggs, reserving a few radish and green onion slices for garnish.

For the dressing.

  • Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Stir to combine well.
  • Pour onto the salad ingredients. Gently stir to combine and coat the salad ingredients.
  • Taste to adjust seasonings. The salad may seem a little salty to begin with, but the potatoes will absorb the salt.
  • Allow the salad to chill, covered in the refrigerator for at least several hours.
  • When ready to serve, taste the salad and adjust seasonings as needed. When the taste meets your approval, place the salad into a serving bowl. Slice the remaining boiled eggs and place them on the top of the salad. Add the reserved radish and green onion slices. Lightly sprinkle paprika on top of the salad.
  • Enjoy.

Notes

*The potatoes should be cooked with the peel on to keep them from becoming slimy or mushy. If you use a pressure cooker to cook the potatoes, my method of choice, they can be peeled before cooking. To facilitate the even cooking of the potatoes, they should be a uniform size, cutting the larger ones if necessary. Over-cooking will result in a mushy end product.
Depending on the potatoes you use, the salad may require more dressing. Russets will absorb more of the dressing than Yukon Gold. It may be necessary to mix up more. Keeping the proportions the same, mix a smaller amount of dressing and add it to the salad.