How To Make the Best Homemade Potato Salads

A picnic, barbecue, or potluck menu is just not complete without a big, crowd-pleasing bowl of homemade potato salad. These top tips will help you make the best potato salad every time.

How To Make Potato Salad

There's more than one formula for a great potato salad. There are creamy potato salads, vinegar-based potato salads, warm potato salads, cold potato salads, and a world of add-ins to flavor up the mix. And then there are the potatoes: Russets, reds, Yukon Golds. We'll take you through the different styles of potato salads, show you how to cook the potatoes, and suggest top recipes to try.

Try this recipe for Best Classic Potato Salad from Nicole McMom, and watch the video above to get all her tips for how she makes her favorite potato salad.

1. Picking the right potatoes

The potatoes you use will make all the difference in the texture of your salad. Some cooks prefer waxy potatoes such as Yellow Finn, Yukon Gold, and red potatoes because they hold their shape when they're cooked and keep their firm texture in the salad when they're chopped up and tossed with dressing.

Russet or Idaho potatoes have a drier, starchier texture and tend to break down during cooking, chopping, and tossing with dressing. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. This kind of potato soaks up dressing like a sponge and tends to yield a softer, creamier potato salad. Read up on how to choose the right potato for the recipe.

Tater Tip: Potatoes can add color highlights to your salad. Red potatoes are red on the outside and creamy white on the inside, while purple potatoes hold their color all the way through. You can also use sweet potatoes to add a cheerful touch of orange, as in this Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad.

2. Prepping and cooking potatoes

To peel or not to peel? If you'd like to add a little extra color and texture to your salad, leave the skins on. Just be sure to scrub them thoroughly with a vegetable brush before you cook them. Once you've either scrubbed or peeled your potatoes, cut them into bite-size chunks, place them in a large pot, and cover them with water. Use a large enough pot to allow for several inches of head room to accommodate the boiling, starchy water. Bring the potatoes to a boil, then generously salt the water. Reduce the heat if necessary to keep the pot at a gentle boil.

How long to boil potatoes for potato salad? Depending on your definition of "bite-size," the potatoes will take between 8 and 15 minutes to cook. As soon as they're tender enough to cut through easily, drain them and let them sit in the strainer for a bit to let the steam evaporate excess moisture. Remember that the residual heat will continue cooking the potatoes a little bit even after they've been drained.

Hot or not?

• If you're making a warm potato salad to be served immediately, prepare your dressing before you cook the potatoes so it's ready to use as soon as the potatoes are drained.
• If you're cooling the potatoes before adding dressing, spread the potatoes out on a baking sheet in a single layer to cool. This is a good time to add some seasonings, since potatoes are at their most absorbent when they're still warm. Sprinkle the warm potatoes with salt, pepper, dried herbs, and a spritz of your favorite vinegar. When the potatoes are no longer steaming, transfer them to the refrigerator to chill.

Beyond boiling. Boiling's not the only way to cook potatoes for potato salad. Try some of these other methods:

• Grill: Grilled Potato Salad (pictured below)
• Microwave: Colorful and Easy Potato Salad
• Slow cooker: Slow Cooker German Potato Salad
• Pressure cooker: Pressure Cooker Potato Salad
• Oven: Loaded Baked Potato Salad

3. Adding ingredients

Some people like to let the potatoes take the lead with just a few additions for flavor and texture, while others pack as many extras as they can into the mix. It's your potato salad; you make the rules.

Whether you're making creamy or vinegary potato salad, some favorite choices for seasoning the dressing are apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, pickle juice, horseradish, paprika, hot pepper sauce, dried and fresh herbs, and any variety of prepared mustard from plain yellow to stone-ground, or Dijon-style to extra spicy.

Dill, chives, and parsley are especially good partners with potato salad, but some other potato-friendly herbs are sage, tarragon, basil, thyme, and rosemary.

Apart from herbs and spices, there are many other delicious additions:

• Tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, sweet bell peppers of any color, pickles, capers, chiles, peas, celery, green beans, red onions, green onions, shallots, olives, fennel, pimentos, watercress, and artichoke hearts
• Crumbled cheeses including Gorgonzola, blue cheese, smoked Cheddar, or feta
• Raw or toasted nuts and seeds, especially sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, or pecans
• Tidbits of cooked or cured meats like salami, ham, prosciutto, smoked salmon, shrimp, chicken, or bacon
• And, of course, hard-cooked eggs

4. Choosing a dressing

Are you a creamy potato salad person? Or do you prefer tangy vinegar-based dressings? Time to choose!

Creamy potato salads almost always have a mayonnaise-based dressing, but can also include sour cream, yogurt, and creamy-style salad dressings. This style of salad is often served cold, although there are many warm variations.

More creamy potato salad recipes to try:

• Old Fashioned Potato Salad (pictured above) is a classic creamy potato salad.
• Warm Dijon Potato Salad is made with boiled red potatoes and thinly sliced red onions tossed with a creamy mix of mayo, Dijon mustard, vinegar, and Parmesan cheese.
• Bacon and Eggs Potato Salad is a creamy, hearty mix of red potatoes, bacon, eggs, and peas tossed together and cooled for an hour to let the flavors meld.
• Amish Potato Salad has a sweet and sour cooked dressing to coat the potatoes, eggs, celery, and onion before chilling in the fridge for a day.
• Baked Potato Salad is "like a baked potato in a bowl" with creamy sour cream, bacon, Cheddar cheese, and just a titch of mayo.

More: See all our recipes for creamy potato salads.

Vinegar-based potato salads are sometimes called German potato salad. This style of potato salad is dressed with a mixture of vinegar and vegetable oil, with a little sugar sometimes to balance the vinegar, and is traditionally served warm.

More vinegar-based potato salads to try:

• Real German Potato Salad (pictured above) is warm and savory with bacon and onions.
• Picnic Potato Salad with No Mayonnaise gets its tangy edge from balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, fresh basil and chives, and crumbled blue cheese. You'll toss the warm potatoes with the dressing, and let the salad chill before folding in the cheese and chives.
• Light and Easy Greek Potato Salad features a zippy dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, a touch of sugar, and dried rosemary. Serve this warm or cold.
• Warm Green Bean and Potato Salad with Goat Cheese includes roasted red peppers and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

More: See all our recipes for German-style potato salads, no-mayo potato salads, and dairy-free potato salads.

5. Mixing it all up

Once you've chosen your dressing ingredients, mix well and take a taste. Need more salt? Vinegar? Spice? Adjust seasonings before you start coating the potatoes with the dressing; the less you stir, the prettier your salad will look. And remember, the potatoes are much blander than the dressing; a spoonful of strong-tasting dressing may be just right once it's balanced out with the potatoes.

Finally, flavors will intensify with time. If you can manage it, make your potato salad a day ahead to let the flavors meld and blossom.

How long does potato salad last in the refrigerator?

Try to eat it up within three or four days. Okay, but how long is potato salad good for if you leave it out? The FDA says don't keep your potato salad out at room temperature for more than two hours. However, if the outside temperature is above 90 degrees F, the FDA cuts that timeline to just one hour. For best results, keep your picnic potato salad on ice in a cooler.

Explore our collection of Potato Salad Recipes, complete with photos, reviews, and tips.