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Mason-Dixon Recipes #959697 added August 23, 2025 at 6:54pm
Restrictions: None
Potato Salad
At the station, he asks me if I have any aliases. And I was just being smart and said, "Yeah, they call me ... Tater Salad." Seventeen years later, I'm handcuffed to a bench with blood comin' out my nose, this cop comes up to me and says, "Are you Ron 'Tater Salad' White?" You caught me! You caught the Tater!
— Ron White, American IComedian
All through history, potato salad recipes have been a good way to use leftover cooked potatoes. Potatoes had been in Europe since the 1500s when the Spanish brought them back from South America. There were different recipes for this vegetable as well as different preparation techniques according to local culinary practices.
An early potato salad recipe, dating back to 1597, calls for potatoes to be boiled in water or wine, or simmered with prunes, and then dressed with vinegar, oil and salt. Modern potato salad was once made with French dressing but later recipes, from the 1940s and onwards, usually recommended mayonnaise.
INGREDIENTS
Approx. 21/2 lb. Yukon Gold or Red potatoes*
1 hard-boiled egg, diced (optional)
2 ribs celery, diced (approx. 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup leeks, diced
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar **
4 tsp sugar **
1/4 tsp parsley flakes
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/8 tsp dried cilantro
1/4 tsp salt
— pepper to taste
* Selection of the kind of potato is important. Russet potatoes make a mushier potato salad. Yukon potatoes retain their structure. And red potatoes not only retain their structure but can also be made with skin on.
Also, try to select the same size potatoes when boiling them, so they will cook evenly.
** The addition of vinegar makes a creamier potato salad. But to cut the taste of vinegar, add sugar.
DIRECTIONS
Boil potatoes on high for 30-40 minutes, depending on their size, until fork tender. Remove from heat and scoop potatoes out of hot water and place in an ice water bath to halt cooking.
When potatoes have cooled, peel and cube. To mayonnaise, add: mustard, followed by vinegar, and then sugar—mixing ingredients after adding each one until the dressing is creamy. In a separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients and then add to dressing. Mix thoroughly. Add dressing to potatoes and toss. Finally, add diced celery and leeks. The leeks add a softer onion flavor than onions themselves.
Serves 3 people or 1 person fo 3 days. Potato salad will last 3-5 days in the refrigerator.
For a nice alternative, try the Old Fashioned Cooked Dressing that was used before mayonnaise (found in this cookbook).
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