Best Southern Potato Salad
Traditional and delicious potato salad for all summer parties.
Equipment
- measuring cups and liquid measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- mixing bowl and spoon
- medium saucepan
Ingredients
- 6 - 7 medium red potatoes
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup Miracle Whip
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1½ tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Durkee's
- 4 - 5 strips bacon cooked to almost crisp and crumbled
- 2 hard~boiled eggs diced
- ¼ cup sweet gherkin pickles diced
- 2 tablespoon pimento
- 3 green onions, white and light green parts only ⅛ sliced
- ½ teaspoon celery salt or celery seed
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 6 - 7 dashes Tabasco
- flat~leaf fresh parsley, leaves only chopped, for garnish
- paprika for garnish
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a medium saucepan. Fill the saucepan with water and cover potatoes with 2 inches of cold water. Place on high heat and bring to boil. Lower heat to maintain a simmer. Cook potatoes until easily pierced with a skewer. Drain potatoes and place in a bowl to cool.
- While potatoes are cooking, hard boil your eggs. Set aside to cool. Then dice the eggs.
- While potatoes are cooking, combine dressing ingredients in a medium bowl: mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, mustard, Durkee's, red wine vinegar, sugar, Tabasco, and spices. Fold together until thoroughly combined.
- When the potatoes are cool, fold in half the dressing and thoroughly combine. Then fold in the crumbled bacon, sliced green onion, diced gherkins, chopped eggs, and pimentos. Fold in the remaining dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Place potato salad in a serving bowl. Sprinkle paprika over salad. Garnish with chopped parsley. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours.
- Remove potato salad from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
TIP 1: The best potatoes for potato salad are low-starch potatoes, such as round red potatoes. This is the go-to potato when you want a potato that will holds its shape and has more texture. They also have more flavor than a russet. Their higher density keeps them from absorbing too much dressing.
TIP 2: Don't boil the potatoes. The action of boiling is literally too violent for most foods, including potatoes. Cook at a steady simmer; the surface of the water should bubble evenly.
TIP 3: For the prettiest potatoes, cool them on a wire rack in a single layer, rather than piled on top of one another in a colander. The ones on the bottom can get crushed and break. Also, the potatoes on the bottom can steam and overcook.
TIP 4: You can make the potato salad up to one day ahead.
TIP 5: We like to take the potato salad out of the fridge about 30 minutes before serving. It tastes better if it is closer to room temperature.
TIP 6: Cold temperatures can inhibit flavor, so unless your dish really needs to be served chilled, a little sit-time before serving will increase the flavor of the dish.
TIP 7: If you like, substitute cilantro for the parsley. Cilantro will give the potato salad a more lemony taste.
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