Food & Cooking Recipes Salad Recipes Classic Potato Salad 4.0 (124) Equal parts creamy and crunchy, this potato salad is potluck perfection. Close Credit: Carson Downing Prep Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 35 mins Total Time: 1 hr Servings: 8 Jump to recipe Our classic potato salad recipe features tender yellow spuds, hard-boiled eggs, and crunchy mix-ins like celery and sweet onion. There’s no vinegar in this recipe—instead, the mayonnaise-based dressing gets added tang from a couple tablespoons of lemon juice and a dollop of zingy Dijon mustard, plus chopped dill and scallions for even more freshness. Rather than peeling the potatoes before cooking, they’re boiled whole, then peeled and chopped into bite-size pieces while still hot—you’ll love how easy it is to slide the skins right off. Big on flavor and low on effort, this crowd-pleasing recipe is here for all your summer entertaining needs. 28 Potluck Side Dishes Guaranteed to Please Everyone The Key Components of This Classic Potato Salad The potatoes: Like most other potato salad recipes, this one calls for waxy, not starchy, potatoes. With firmer flesh that absorbs less water, waxy potatoes (in this case Yukon golds) hold their shape better after cooking and are less likely to crumble when mixed. The dressing: A blend of mayonnaise, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and dill forms the easy, tangy dressing that coats the vegetables and binds this salad together. Use fresh lemon juice and fresh dill for the best flavor (though a teaspoon of dried dill can be used in a pinch). The crunch: This recipe gets its crunch from thinly sliced celery, finely chopped sweet onion, and sliced scallions, which provide a welcomed contrast to the creamy, tender potatoes. Mellow white onion can be swapped for the sweet onion but don't use a more assertive allium like red or yellow onions as they can overpower the other flavors. The eggs: Half a dozen hard-boiled eggs are folded into the salad at the very end, bulking it up and lending a Southern feel to this recipe. Follow our tips for perfectly cooked, easy-to-peel eggs. They include using older, rather than fresh-from-the-store eggs and letting them come to room temperature before boiling. Regrowing scallions at home: If you've never have, you should!, scallions are easy to regrow at home. Before you slice them for this recipe, remove and reserve the bottom inch of each one, including the roots. Place these pieces in a narrow glass of water (leaving the cut tops exposed) and let them sit on a sunny windowsill, refreshing the water every few days. Within a couple of weeks, you'll have a new (free!) bunch of scallions ready to use for more recipes. Making This Potato Salad Ahead You can make this potato salad up to one day before you plan to serve it. Store it, covered, in the refrigerator until it's time to serve. Give it a good stir and taste before putting it oit—if you find the potatoes have absorbed some of the dressing and the salad seems a bit dry, stir in another tablespoon or two of mayonnaise and/or a squeeze of lemon juice. Sprinkle with the reserved scallions just before serving. Directions Credit: Carson Downing Cook potatoes: Put potatoes in a large pot of salted water; bring to a boil. Cook until just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain; let cool. Credit: Carson Downing Mix dressing: Stir together mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, and dill; season with salt and pepper. Credit: Carson Downing Peel potatoes and fold into mayo mixture: Peel potatoes; cut into 1-inch chunks. Fold into mayonnaise mixture. Credit: Carson Downing Add remaining ingredients and refrigerate: Fold in celery, onion, scallions, and eggs (reserving some scallions for garnish). Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Add reserved scallions right before serving. Credit: Carson Downing How to Store (and Enjoy) Potato Salad Safely Leftover potato salad can be refrigerated for up to two days in an airtight container. Because it contains mayonnaise and eggs, which are very perishable, it shouldn't be left at room temperature for longer than two hours—or one hour, if it's particularly warm or sunny outside. This is especially important to keep in mind if you'll be serving this salad (or other mayo-based sides) at outdoor barbecues, potlucks, or picnics. What to Serve With Potato Salad This tangy recipe makes an excellent accompaniment to summery proteins like grilled spatchcocked chicken, these smoky baby back ribs, or even this show-stopping grilled cowboy steak. Serve it alongside other salads like this herby cucumber-celery recipe or this eye-catching tomato-beet salad. As for other non-salad side dishes, you can't go wrong with some grilled summer squash, baked mac-and-cheese, or a three-pepper corn casserole. 5 More Potato Salad Recipes to Try Martha's Favorite Potato Salad Smoky Potato Salad With Corn and Chipotles Deviled Egg Potato Salad Potato and Green Bean Salad Balsamic Potato Salad Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.