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My Best Southern Potato Salad

by:
October  4, 2022
3.8
4 Ratings
  • Serves 6-8
Author Notes

This is an adaption of my mother's potato salad recipe. To be honest, I don't know that I really ever measure everything out, but when I decided to write it down, I did measure it out. I suppose this is one of those eternal arguments, like sugar in corn bread--mustard or not? Mustard, of course. The other key is to mix everything together while the potatoes are still warm. —susan259

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Ingredients
  • 6 cups potatoes, I like red skinned
  • 1 cup mayonnaise (or more, to taste)--use Hellmans or Best Foods
  • 1 cup chopped white or yellow onion--I like 1014 or Vidalia
  • 1/4-1/3 cups yellow mustard
  • 3 tablespoons white vinegar (ESSENTIAL!)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 hardboiled eggs-chop the whites and mash the yolks
  • 2 cups chopped celery
  • 1/2 tablespoon sweet relish
  • dried dill (to taste)
Directions
  1. Wash and cook potatoes till just soft. I like them with the skins on, but peel them if you must. Don't overcook or you'll have potato mush.
  2. Drain water and place pan and potatoes back on heat and cook a few minutes longer, shaking pan, to remove excess water.
  3. Let potatoes cool enough so you can handle them. Cut them into bite-sized cubes.
  4. Mix warm potatoes and rest of ingredients till well coated and well distributed. Refrigerate till cold.
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2 Reviews

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susan259 May 25, 2010
I've been known to chop my own sweet pickles as well. I'll have to try the celery seed, I like to add it to my coleslaw, never thought about it here...dill is my addition and perhaps not really Southern. My mother sometimes used a spoonful of Durkee's Famous Sauce (http://www.durkee.com/homeuse/spices-famous-sauce) for part of the mayonnaise, not sure it is widely available. I think something magic happens when the warm potatoes meet all these ingredients and mesh together, even get smashed a little...
friendlyoaks May 24, 2010
My mother had Southern roots, and you have captured her potato salad! Absolutely never measured! The yellow mustard and the vinegar were mandatory. She sometimes substituted celery seed for the celery (and even used both upon occasion). Instead of the sweet relish, she cut up sweet pickles into a very small dice. And dill was far too sophisticated an ingredient for her. The only significant difference between her way and yours is that she would often cook the potatoes to the point that stirring the ingredients resulted in smashed-potato salad. And we liked it a lot.