An easy American style classic Potato Salad Recipe that tastes delicious and is too good. This salad is made with a creamy mayonnaise dressing with mildly sweet, tangy and pungent notes. It also features pickled olives for a tangy taste.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: American, World

Ingredients

  • 4 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
  • 500 to 550 grams potatoes (or 3 to 4 large potatoes or 3 cups diced potatoes)
  • 6 tablespoons mayonnaise (- vegetarian or vegan)
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard (or add as required)
  • ½ teaspoon sugar (or add as required)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice (- sub with ½ to 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar)
  • ¼ cup onions (- finely chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons celery (- finely chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon parsley (- finely chopped)
  • 5 to 6 green olives (or black olives - pitted, sliced or chopped)
  • ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika (or red chilli powder or cayenne pepper - add as required)
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder (or add as required)
  • salt (as required)
  • 1 teaspoon parsley (- finely chopped)
  • 1 to 2 pinches sweet paprika (or red chilli powder or cayenne pepper - optional)

Method

Boiling potatoes

  1. Take the water in a saucepan or a pot.
  2. Add salt, sugar and vinegar. Stir and keep the pan aside.
  3. Rinse potatoes in running water very well. Brush off the mud if any from the potatoes skin and rinse them thoroughly. Then peel and dice in 1-inch cubes.
  4. As soon as you dice the potatoes add them in the water in the pan.
  5. Cover the pan with its lid. Heat on a medium flame.
  6. Simmer and cook potatoes covered with the lid.
  7. Potatoes will take about 12 to 15 minutes to cook.
  8. Cook potatoes till they are fork-tender - meaning a fork or a knife should pass easily without any resistance.
  9. Strain the potatoes in a colander or strainer. Drain the water well.

Making mayonnaise dressing

  1. While the potatoes are cooking, you can peel, rinse and finely chop 1 small onion, half a stick of celery, parsley leaves and 5 to 6 pitted green olives.
  2. In a bowl take mayonnaise (vegetarian or vegan), dijon mustard, lemon juice.
  3. Next add finely chopped onions, finely chopped celery, finely chopped parsley and chopped olives. You can even add one minced garlic clove (small to medium-sized).
  4. Season with ¼ teaspoon sugar and ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika. You can even add smoked paprika, cayenne pepper or red chilli powder instead of sweet paprika.
  5. Mix very well. Check the taste of the dressing and add more dijon mustard or lemon juice or sugar if needed.

Making potato salad

  1. Add the cooked potatoes. The potatoes can be warm when you add them.
  2. Mix and gently toss the potatoes with the dressing.
  3. Sprinkle ground black pepper and salt as required. Check the taste and add salt. After taste testing, you can add more pepper if required.
  4. Mix gently again.
  5. Serve Potato Salad. Serve garnished with some chopped parsley and sprinkled with 1 to 2 pinches of sweet paprika. If not serving immediately then refrigerate and serve later. It keeps well for 1 day in the fridge.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.