Homemade Potato Salad Recipe

Our homemade potato salad has a lovely balance of creamy dressing, crisp vegetables, and gentle tang. The version presented here is our family’s tried-and-tested favorite, finetuned over the years. It is a variation of the creamy egg and potato salad recipe, somewhat similar to the popular Olivier salad, or Russian salad.

Now, potato salad is one of those ever-popular meals for which every family in every country will have their own recipe. We replace some of the heavy mayonnaise with white Greek-style yogurt, giving it extra creamy and tangy depth without weighing you down. With many colorful and flavorful ingredients, it is very different from the plain and basic potato salad you buy in supermarkets. In fact, it is so good that we use it for many holiday meals.

Our Family's Best Creamy and Lighter Potato Salad Recipe

This potato salad is a somewhat luxurious, multi-ingredient version, packed with color and flavors. Apart from the humble potatoes and eggs, there is a mix of carrots, sweet and sour pickles, crisp red onion, crunchy corn and peas, all held together with mayo, Greek yogurt and mustard.

That said, it is easy to make - just chop and mix. It is also budget-friendly - all the ingredients are common basics. Plus, it can be made in large batches for big family get-togethers, and it keeps well in the fridge for up to two weeks.

We usually make the potato salad every Christmas Eve to serve alongside grilled fish. But it shows up throughout the year too, usually next to a batch of homemade chicken nuggets.

One final important tip before you start: Prepare the salad day ahead and let it rest overnight in the fridge, so the seasonings fully blend! The difference in taste is well worth the wait.

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Why You’ll Love This Homemade Potato Salad Recipe

There’s a lot to love about this light and creamy potato salad:

• Lighter & tangy: We swap some of the traditional mayonnaise for Greek-style yogurt. It makes the potato salad lighter, less heavy, with a delicious, bright tang.
• A guaranteed crowd-pleaser: This is a fine-tuned family recipe, proven over the years to be the perfect dish for holidays, Christmas Eve dinners, picnics, and potlucks. It is easy to make in double or triple batches to please large crowds.
• Ideal for make-ahead meals: This salad gets better if it rests overnight! Preparing it ahead allows the vinegar, mustard, and seasonings to fully marry and deepen the flavor, making meal prep stress-free. Plus, it keeps well in the fridge for up to two weeks.
• Packed with texture and flavor: We like to chop the ingredients into small bits, so every mouthful offers a satisfying mix of creamy potato, crunchy pickles, crisp red onion, and sweet frozen vegetables.
• Flexible serving: It pairs perfectly with fish, homemade chicken nuggets, schnitzel, grilled chicken, or any BBQ entrée. It can also be served on a baguette as a party appetizer.

This creamy potato salad is proof that simple, traditional ingredients can combine into something larger and memorable.

We hope you will enjoy our family favorite homemade potato salad as well. Now let's get into the recipe!

Potato Salad Ingredients

• 5 medium potatoes (approx. 2 lb or 1 kg)
• 2 red onions (7 oz or 200 g), diced
• 1 cup peas (300 g) fresh or frozen (we use frozen)
• 1 cup corn (300 g) fresh or frozen (we use frozen)
• 5 sweet and sour pickled cucumbers (approx. 11 oz or 320 g), diced
• 2 carrots (approx. 6 oz or 170g), cooked together with the potatoes
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, diced
• 3 tablespoon French or Dijon mustard (whichever you prefer)
• 0.5 cup mayonnaise (150 g)
• 1 cup Greek-style yogurt (200 g)
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of salt (we like using Himalayan pink salt)
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 5 tablespoons of pickle juice from pickled cucumbers

Optional variation with meat:

• 1 cup diced ham or cooked bacon

Instructions to Make the Potato Salad

1. Cook and cool the potatoes and carrots

We prefer steaming the potatoes and veg inside the pressure cooker - they retain more of their flavour that way, and cook faster. (Here is the one we love, but there is a more budget-friendly option too.)

If you have one, put about an inch (or 3 cm) of water into the pressure cooker. Then place in the steaming rack. Make sure the water level is below the steaming rack, but you need to have enough water for 5 minutes of hard boiling.

Add the whole, scrubbed potatoes in skin, and whole peeled carrots onto the steaming rack. Wait for the pressure to build, and once the steam starts coming out of the pressure valve, cook for 5-6 minutes.

If you do not have a pressure cooker, any old-fashioned pot will do. Put the potatoes and carrots in the pot. Cover them with hot water and bring to a boil. Cook in gently simmering water until fork-tender (about 10-15 minutes for carrots and about 20-25 minutes for potatoes, depending on their size). Drain and allow them to cool completely.

2. Boil the eggs

While the vegetables are cooking, hard-boil the eggs for 10 minutes (time it from when the water starts to boil). Once cooked, plunge them into a cold bath to stop the cooking process. Allow them to cool completely.

3. Dice the potatoes, eggs, and vegetables

Once the potatoes are cool, peel the skin and dice them into small cubes (about ½ inch, or 1 cm).

Peel the shells from the hard-boiled eggs, and cut them into similar small pieces.

Then dice the cooled carrots and pickled cucumbers again into small, about ½ inch pieces.

We like the red onion finely chopped.

Now, some potato salads use large chunks, where you can taste a large piece of potato or a piece of onion. Here we are going for relatively small bits that allow all the tastes to mix together in a single mouthful.

4. Put all the vegetables in a mixing bowl

In a large mixing bowl (we are using about a 5-quart / 5 litre bowl for the amounts used in this recipe), combine the diced potatoes and carrots with the red onion, pickled cucumbers, frozen peas, and frozen corn.

5. Add the wet ingredients

Add the mayonnaise, white yogurt, and mustard to the potato mixture.

Make sure all the cooked ingredients (potatoes, carrots, and eggs) have completely cooled down, otherwise your mayo might separate and turn oily.

6. Add seasoning

Add the vinegar, salt, and sugar. We also love adding some of the pickle juice, which adds an extra mix of flavors.

While we give you reasonably precise amounts for the size and weights given, you might have larger potatoes, onions, or carrots, or slightly different tastes than we do. In that case, feel free to taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning based on your preference. Add more vinegar or pickle juice for tang, or salt for savory depth, or sugar for sweetness.

7. Mix all the ingredients

Use a spatula or large spoon to mix all ingredients. Gently fold the vegetables into the wet mayo, yogurt, and mustard. Keep mixing until all ingredients are evenly coated and come nicely together, as in the picture here.

8. Chill and rest to perfection

Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and rest the potato salad in the fridge for at least a few hours until chilled. Ideally, prepare the salad the day ahead and leave it in the fridge overnight.

While the salad tastes good on the first day, leaving it resting overnight allows the flavors from the mustard, yogurt, and pickles to truly blend and deepen. The difference is a good salad to a heavenly good salad - well worth the wait!

Quick tip: Now that all the ingredients are mixed, you can transfer the salad into a smaller bowl that fits better into the fridge (around a 2.5-quart or 2.5-litre bowl should do).

Cook's Notes & Variations

• Lighter Option: The Greek yogurt makes this recipe lighter and gives it a wonderful extra tang. We recommend using full-fat Greek yogurt for the best texture.
• The Meat Variation: For a heartier main dish, stir in 1 cup of diced, cooked ham or crispy fried bacon bits when mixing in the vegetables and eggs.

Potato Salad Meal Inspiration

This potato salad is wonderfully versatile, which makes it easy to pair with many meals throughout the year.

• As a holiday side dish: In our family, the potato salad is traditionally served every Christmas Eve alongside fish, adding a creamy and colourful side to the festive table.
• With homemade mains: Try it with our German schnitzel recipe, or it goes perfectly with simple comfort foods like homemade chicken nuggets, grilled chicken, or grilled/baked fish.
• For picnics and gatherings – since it tastes even better chilled and rested overnight, it is an ideal make-ahead dish for potlucks, barbecues, or family get-togethers. It is also easy to prepare a double or triple-size bowl for a large get-together.
• As a light lunch, or party appetizer: Slice some baguette and make open-face sandwiches with a layer of potato salad. Decorate with Hungarian salami and more of the pickled cucumbers - see the picture below for perfect canapés.
• With the meat variation: If you add ham or bacon, you can serve the salad on its own as a protein-rich main dish or snack.

How We Shape and Serve the Potato Salad

For a simple yet beautiful presentation, we like to serve this potato salad shaped into neat domes using a small teacup. It is an easy technique that makes even an everyday dish look a little special:

• Start by rinsing a teacup with cold water. This helps prevent the salad from sticking.
• Fill the cup with potato salad, then lightly press it down with a spoon to compact it, just enough to hold its shape.
• Place the cup upside down onto the serving plate and gently lift it away. If needed, give the cup a small shake to loosen the salad. It will slide out and hold its dome shape.

You might have a few goes - if you pack it too loosely, you will have bubbles and gaps in the shape. If you press too hard, it will be harder to get out of the cup.

Be patient - it usually takes a few seconds for the salad to start separating from the cup after it is turned upside down. If you rammed it in too hard and it won't come out no matter what, just scoop it out with the spoon, rinse the cup, and try again.

Arrange one to three potato salad domes on each plate (depending on the size of your teacup and how hungry your family is - standard single side serving is around 7 oz or 150 grams) and serve them alongside fish, chicken, or your favorite mains.

You can dress the top of the dome with a small curled parsley leaf or a pickled red pepper, for an extra touch.

This is a great serving presentation, especially for festive meals like Christmas Eve dinner, but it is simple enough as an extra treat even for everyday family meals.

No matter how and when you enjoy it, this potato salad has a lovely balance of creamy dressing, crisp vegetables, and gentle tang that fits beautifully with both everyday meals and special occasions. It is one of our favorite family recipes, fine-tuned over the years. Hope you will enjoy it as well.

Recipe

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