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Southern Potato Salad

Southern potato salad with rich, creamy dressing and lots of chopped egg, pickles, celery, and onion. Boiled Yukon gold potatoes are mixed gently and chilled until the flavors meld for a classic picnic and BBQ side.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
chilling 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Southern American
Calories: 450
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Yukon gold potatoes
  • 3 lb Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cubed
hard-boiled eggs
  • 6 hard-boiled eggs chopped
celery
  • 1 cup celery finely diced
onion
  • 0.25 cup onion finely diced
sweet pickle relish
  • 0.25 cup sweet pickle relish
mayonnaise
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
yellow mustard
  • 0.25 cup yellow mustard
apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
sugar
  • 2 tbsp sugar
celery seed
  • 1 tsp celery seed
salt
  • 0.1 tsp salt to taste
black pepper
  • 0.05 tsp black pepper to taste
paprika
  • 1 tsp paprika for garnish

Equipment

  • 1 large pot

Method
 

Cook and cool the potatoes
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the Yukon gold potatoes, and cook until fork-tender, about 15 minutes (boiling). Drain well and let cool until just warm to the touch.
Mix the salad base
  1. In a large bowl, combine the cooled potatoes, chopped hard-boiled eggs, finely diced celery, finely diced onion, and sweet pickle relish, stirring to distribute evenly.
Make the Southern-style dressing
  1. In a separate bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, celery seed, salt, and black pepper until smooth and creamy.
  2. Pour the dressing over the potato mixture and fold gently until every potato is coated, keeping visible egg pieces.
Chill and serve
  1. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight so the salad thickens slightly and the flavors set (chilling).
  2. Just before serving, sprinkle paprika over the top so the bowl shows a light dusting of color.

Notes

Pro tip: cool the boiled potatoes completely before dressing so the salad stays creamy instead of watery. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 4 days; freezing is not recommended due to mayonnaise texture changes. For a lighter option, use light mayonnaise (or half light mayo, half Greek yogurt) to reduce calories while keeping the creamy coating.