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Mom’s potato salad recipe is the very best classic potato salad recipe I’ve ever had. It is the perfect family barbecue side dish recipe, that I know everyone will eat up. I never have leftovers when I bring it to a cookout. It’s truly great for any type of family gathering, including summer picnics every single time.
It is truly a Six Sisters favorite family recipe. Each of us love to make this perfect potato salad. It is the perfect take on the traditional potato salad.
This homemade potato salad is a little tangy with the pickles and mustard in the recipe, so be prepared for the little kick of flavor. It’s not too much flavor though – it’s just the right amount for this classic flavor recipe. You can use either dill or sweet pickles in this recipe, I’ve had both and it turns out either way.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make our mom’s easy potato salad, you need the following ingredients:
- Potatoes (Yukon gold potatoes or russet potatoes will work)
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Dill or sweet pickles
- Celery stalks
- Mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)
- Yellow mustard
- Sugar
- White vinegar
- Salt
- Pepper
- Salad surprise seasoning (optional)
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
- 2 Stock Pot (10 qt)
- Mixing Bowl (Large)
- Mixing Bowl
- Strainer (Plastic)
- Cutting Board
- Chef Knife
- Spatula
How to Make Mom’s Easy Potato Salad
- For this recipe you will need to boil two pots of water.
- For the first pot, you will place potatoes in and boil them for about 30 minutes or until a fork can easily pierce the potato with little force. (Fork tender)
- When the potatoes are done cooking, drain the water from the potatoes and place them in the fridge to help them cool down. After they are cooled, peel and cube the potatoes.
- In the second pot of water you will need to boil your eggs.
- Once the water is boiling, let it boil for about 10 minutes. Then turn the heat off and drain the water and place the eggs in an ice bath for 10 minutes.
- After the eggs have cooled down, peel and dice the eggs.
- Once the potatoes and eggs are done, grab a large mixing bowl and place the potatoes, diced celery, pickles, and eggs in the bowl and gently mix it all together. PRO TIP:If you want you can leave an egg out to slice and put on the top for presentation. Or you can just add it all into the salad since the egg on top is not necessary, but rather for presentation purposes.
- Now, in a small mixing bowl add the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, and white vinegar.
- Mix everything together until it is well combined.
- Then, pour the mayo mixture over top of the potatoes and eggs mixture, stirring everything together until they are well combined.
- Once that is done, simply add in some salt and pepper to your liking.
- When everything is mixed together and the salad is too dry, add a little more mayonnaise until you get the texture that you like.
- Then, just sprinkle a little bit of the salad supreme seasoning on top and slice up the extra egg (if you left one out) and place that on top as well.
- Now pop it in the fridge and let it cool until you are ready to serve it.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store leftover Potato Salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- In this recipe, we normally use russet potatoes, but that is not the only kind you can use. In fact, you can use almost any kind of potato. The only potatoes we say to stay clear of for sure is the sweet potato.
- Other than that, use what you have at home. Our favorites to use are the russet or red potatoes for this recipe.
Enjoy More Delicious Side Salad Recipes
Want to add more veggies to your meals? Browse our comprehensive list of salad recipes.
- Cucumber Dill Salad
- Deviled Egg Potato Salad
- Loaded Egg Salad
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Red Potato Salad
Mom’s Easy Potato Salad
Our mom’s easy potato salad is a classic recipe filled with delicious and tender potatoes, mixed with eggs and pickles.
Serving servings
Ingredients
- 8 potatoes, cooked
- 8 eggs, hard boiled
- ¾ cup dill or sweet pickles, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 cup mayonnaise, (you could also use Miracle Whip)
- 3 Tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Salad Supreme Seasoning, optional to sprinkle on top
Equipment
Instructions
- Bring two pots of water to a boil. In one pot boil your potatoes for about 30-40 minutes, or until fork can easily pierce through the potato, but not too soft that they just fall apart. Drain water off of potatoes and let them cool (I usually put the potatoes in the fridge to cool). In the second pot of water you will need to boil your eggs. Once the water is boiling, let it boil for about 10 minutes. Then turn the heat off and drain the water and place the eggs in an ice bath for 10 minutes.
- Once your potatoes are cool, peel and dice. Place diced potatoes, diced celery, and pickles in a large bowl. Dice the eggs and add them to the bowl (sometimes I will set aside 1 egg and slice it to put on top of the potato salad for presentation – totally not necessary, it's just what my mom always did).
- In a separate small bowl, mix your mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, vinegar all together. Pour your sauce over the potato mixture in the big bowl and gently fold together. Add salt and pepper to taste. If it is dry, you can add more mayo to get it the texture you like. Top with Salad Supreme seasoning. As mentioned before, you can also save 1 hard boiled egg to slice and add it to the top.
Notes
Be careful not to have your potatoes too soft or they will not hold up in the salad well.
Tips to make this salad even better:
This recipe doesn’t call for onions, but onions chopped really small make this recipe taste delicious!
You can make this potato salad with sweet or dill pickles. Both ways taste delicious!
You can make this potato salad with sweet or dill pickles. Both ways taste delicious!
Nutrition
Calories: 305 kcal · Carbohydrates: 42 g · Protein: 10 g · Fat: 11 g · Saturated Fat: 2 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 168 mg · Sodium: 466 mg · Potassium: 989 mg · Fiber: 5 g · Sugar: 5 g · Vitamin A: 294 IU · Vitamin C: 42 mg · Calcium: 61 mg · Iron: 3 mg
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Wow,that’s new, really good idea with the eggs and potato mix! We must try that in the weekend. Thanks again for lovely inspiration and sharing and say Thanks to your mum also! Have a happy Day!
I throw the eggs into the potatoes and boil them both at the same time. Have you ever tried that method?
This is how I make potato salad, it is how my mom made it!
No! I’ve always wanted to try it but I wasn’t sure if it would work! I’m going to try it next time!!!
– Kristen
This looks good. I was wondering if you peel the potatoes or leave the skins on them?
Very nice, please link it up with me today at Wow Us Wednesday.
Sounds tasty!
I’ve done both but my favorite is peeled! 🙂
Thanks for responding. I’ll try this one soon!
I just made this! I only had 4 eggs in the fridge (tomorrow’s grocery day…) but it is still great! I also added a tad more pickle juice after tasting, instead of adding just salt. Super yummy! =) I left the skins on the potatoes for those extra vitamins too!
Yum! I could go for some right now! W/ Lemonade:)
Yum! I’ve been looking for a potato salad recipe.
This is similar to my Mom’s. I have raised my kids on this. Most people who see or eat my Mom’s potato salad say something like this…”hhhmmm, there is mustard in this POTATO salad”! It cracks me up every time. It tickles me that you make your Mom’s potato salad and I make my Mom’s and that they both use(d) MUSTARD in their POTATO salad. 😛
This looks yummy!!I can’t wait to try it. What kind of potatoes do you use?
Made this last night and it was so delicious! It was actually the first time I’ve ever made potato salad. I don’t know why it took 30 years 😉
I am making this today…. wish me luck… Welcome summer!
I have tried all kinds of potato salad recipes. After the first day the salad dressing begins to get watery.
What am I doing wrong?
We have had the same issue. Maybe it’s the moisture in the potatoes mixed with the dressing. Sometimes stirring it up helps when you eat it the second day. Usually we eat it all the first day and don’t have any leftovers! 🙂
The potatoes will be done sooner so remove them beforehand.
Very similar to what I remember my Moms’ s recipe being like. She cannot remember how she made it, her memory going. So happy to find a recipe with similar ingredients that I remember. Cannot wait to serve it to my family.What kind of potatoes do you use for this recipe? Thanks!
We used russet potatoes. We love potato salad with baby reds too!
Sounds so yummy! How many portions does this make? Think about making this for Christmas (everybody is bringing something)
There’s a video but no recipe for the Instant Pot? Is all I have to do is put everything in my Instant Pot and cook it for 6 minutes? Please advise.
If you watch the video, the only step that is different is that you are cooking the eggs and potatoes at the same time for 6 minutes. Once the eggs and potatoes are cooked (and cooled) – peal and dice your eggs, you add everything else. Hope this helps.
How many servings does this make?
This makes enough for about 8-10 servings.
The potatoes cook quicker if peel and cook the eggs while cooking the potatoes but not as long as potatoes and put the eggs in cold water this should make them easy to peel
There is a link to the recipe just below the video, click the arrow…
I’ve always done it that way but am going to try in my instant pot!
I just finished making Grandma’s Potato Salad. For potatoes all I had was russets. They and eggs cooked beautifully in IP.
Forgot to purchase your salad topping, but at least I have paprika. My husband took taste test (very picky), said it needed no extra anything. Both of us looking forward tonight’s dinner.
Thank you so much in helping to educate me on cooking with my IP. I purchased both the DUO80 and DUO Plus80. Having time of my life cooking trying out new recipes.
Hi Kathleen, you just made our whole week with your sweet comment. You will love your instant pot. We have lots of Instant Pot videos on our You Tube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMcBPW_r_ww_oiATl2UuF8w
OMG, thank you for sharing this. Just made it for me and my hubby, added his homemade picked red onions, its epic! Also your freezer meals are helping us theu quarantine because we just don’t feel entirely comfy going out to eat often.
I use my IP instead of boiling potatoes and it saves so much time. 5 minutes on high in the steamer basket and they come out perfect for potato salad.
I am very picky about my potato salad. This is the first time that I have seen a recipe even close to what I make. Thank you! I will tell you one thing that I do that my family loves. I use pickle juice instead of the vinegar! It ‘s hilarious when you look in my refrigerator and see bottles of just pickle juice!
Really boil cubed potatoes for 40 minutes? That would be mush.
Thanks so much for catching that. The potatoes are cooked whole. You could cook them cubed (which would be a much shorter cooking time), but we cook them whole until fork tender which is about 30-40 minutes. The jackets will start to split open. Then cool the potatoes. They you can peel them and cube them.
That sounds delicious! We will have to try that! Do you use Sweet or Dill pickle juice?
Delicious!!! I could’ve eTen the whole thing in one sitting!!!
So glad you liked the Potato Salad!
Taste exactly like my mom‘s potato salad, which is the highest compliment I can give! I do have one question though. I can’t find salad surprise seasoning anywhere in my searches; could this be salad supreme seasoning? Thank you!
This is my mom’s recipe except she heated the sauce on the stove till a little warm. This makes it creamy and easy to mix. Big hit always.