Our all-time favorite Potato Salad Recipe – it’s simple, flavorful and filled with chunks of potatoes, eggs and olives! It’s the perfect addition to any BBQ or picnic and is so creamy and tasty, it will wow everyone who tries it.
This potato salad is a popular side dish during the summer months with all the BBQ’s and get togethers we attend. Broccoli salad and cheesecake fruit salad are some other summer salads that are a hit at parties!
a famous family recipe
We LOVE potato salad, and the recipe we love best is one my mom came up with years ago. It’s creamy, delicious and easy to make. Over the years, I’ve learned to make it myself, and any time I bring it to an event people ask for this side dish recipe.
For so long, my mom had made it from memory, so we made her sit down and measure everything out so we could get it all written out. I’m glad we did this because we can now all make it and enjoy it whenever we want.
What makes it so special? We love how creamy and flavorful it is. The mixture of mayonnaise, mustard and the secret ingredient (pickle juice), along with the chunks of potatoes, eggs, olives and pickles makes it so delicious.
How to Make Potato Salad
This potato salad is very simple to throw together. It does take time to boil the eggs and potatoes, but they are easy steps that require little work. Once you have those taken care, the rest of the steps are easy.
Boiling the potatoes: I boil the potatoes whole. This is why it takes the russet potatoes about 40 minutes to cook. Smaller potatoes may need less time. You can tell if your potatoes are cooked when you can easily push a fork through the center.
POTATOES. Let potatoes cool. Peel off skins and cube your potatoes. It’s okay if they are soft or fall apart. Place in a large bowl.
CHOP. Cube eggs and add to bowl. Cut olives and desired amount of pickles (we used 3) into small pieces as well and add to your bowl.
MIX. Add your mayonnaise and mustard and mix well (add more or less mayonnaise depending on what you like). Add salt and pepper and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Potato salad without mayo: If you’re not a fan of mayo, you can sub it out for sour cream or greek yogurt, although it will have a slightly different flavor.
NOTE: We like to make this the day before and let it refrigerate for 18 – 24 hours, but this step is not required.
recipe TIPS & FAQ
Best potatoes for potato salad? Different types of potatoes create different texture. If you want them to stay firm and hold shape, use waxy potatoes like yukon gold or red potatoes.
If you want the potatoes to slightly mash when you mix, use starchy potatoes like russets (which is what we typically use).
Variations: I love the simple classic ingredients in this potato salad. Thankfully, the flavors pair well with other ingredients and you can add in some of your favorite mix ins such as:
- Onions
- Sprinkle dill on top
- Add paprika
- Sweet pickles
- Chopped celery
- Bacon bits
- Dijon mustard
Can potato salad be made ahead? How to store? Yes! In fact, I encourage making it ahead. I think it’s even better a day after it’s made once the flavors have time to combine.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge until it’s time to serve. Afterwards, you can keep it refrigerated for up to one week.
Making for a crowd
I’ve found that about ½-1 potato per person (depending on how large your potatoes are) is a pretty good estimate for servings. This recipe uses 10-12 potatoes, and usually serves 12-15 people.
- 12 People – 1 batch
- 24-25 people – 2 batches
- 36-40 people – 3 batches
- 50 people – 4 batches
If you’re a fan of Potato Salad, you will definitely want to give this a try. It is perfect any time of year, but is especially wonderful any time you BBQ. Best of all, it saves really well and is a great leftover (if there are any leftovers that is – ha!)
Sometimes, there’s just nothing better than delicious meat (like pulled pork or steak) with sides like baked beans and coleslaw for a family BBQ! It’s all just too good! We really hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family does. 😉
For more Salad recipes, check out:
- Pasta Salad
- Easy Coleslaw
- Caprese Pesto Pasta Salad
- Summer Corn Salad
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Broccoli Salad
- Berry Cheesecake Salad
Potato Salad Recipe
Our all-time favorite Potato Salad - it's simple, flavorful and filled with chunks of potatoes, eggs and olives! It's the perfect addition to any BBQ or picnic and is so creamy and tasty, it will wow everyone who tries it.
Ingredients
- 10-12 potatoes we use a 5 lb bag
- 6-7 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 small can black olives
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup pickle juice
- baby dill pickles diced
- 1 tbsp mustard
- salt & pepper to toaste
Instructions
Place your potatoes in a pot and bring to a rolling boil. Boil potatoes for 40-45 minutes or until tender (a knife should easily pierce a potato).
While potatoes are cooking, boil your eggs. Peel them and set aside.
Let potatoes cool. Peel off skins and cube your potatoes. It's okay if they are soft or fall apart. Place in a large bowl.
Cube eggs and add to bowl. Cut olives and desired amount of pickles (we used 3) into small pieces as well and add to your bowl.
Add your mayonnaise and mustard and mix well (add more or less mayonnaise depending on what you like). Add salt and pepper and mix well.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. (We like to make this the day before and let it refrigerate for 18 - 24 hours).
Recipe Video
*NOTE: For a great tutorial on how to boil eggs go HERE.
This looks good! Perfect for summer BBQ’s!
It is perfect for BBQ and is easier to make than you think. 😉
Are you sure Lorin and I aren’t related? I swear we love the same exact things. Maybe our moms just cooked the same way! Potato salad is my favorite and the recipe my Mom (and I) make is like this. YUM!!
I love potato salad and will be making some for Easter Sunday. I never thought to put pickle juice into instead of using pickles! I love that idea and will have to try it out this weekend!
Looks Amazing!
I love potato salad, this looks yummy.
Let me know if you ever try the recipe. It’s super easy and my favorite potato salad ever. 🙂
Are the times listed to boil the potatoes right? 40-45 minutes? That seems a bit excessive. Must’ve been a typo, right?
Because there a lot of potatoes, that is right. It takes a while for them to get soft:) Hope you give this recipe a try..it’s our absolute favorite!
Yum this potato looks so good! I will have to try it! Thanks for sharing!
Let me know if you do – would love to know what you think. Have a great weekend. 🙂
YUM!!! Pinned! I’d love for you to share this at my Saturday Dishes Link Party this weekend! It’s a themed link up & this week’s theme is Memorial Day & Grilling! Feel free to share other posts that fit the theme as well if you have them! (: http://lifeisfantasmic.blogspot.com/
How many does this recipe serve?
We usually can get 10-15 servings from this, but I’ve never actually counted. :/
This is amazing! So different from what I have made in the past and so much better. My husband ate a couple servings before it even made it to the table. Yum!!
Oh, I LOVE hearing that! Sounds like your hubby and mine would get along just great – my husband is OBSESSED with this recipe!!
Gong to try this next week. My sister uses sweet pickles in her salad. Have you ever made with sweet
instead of dill?
Made this potato salad this week. Substituted sweet pickles and juice for the dill. It was outstanding. Everybody loved it.
Glad that it was a hit!! We love dill so we’ve yet to try it with the sweet pickles. 😉
patato salad is very testy. This recepie making in my home.
I hope you liked it!! Thanks for stopping by!
Potato salads are delicious if it’s made healthy…
Store bought mayonnaise uses high refined and processed vegetable oils like sunflower or canola oil. Instead,try making your own mayonnaise using extra virgin oil and cage-free organic egg yolks.
We should all stay away from processed foods and eat healthy!!????
Raquel
Thanks so much!
This is very similar to the way I make it! I use green olives and olive juice in mine! And everyone here loves it’s! I love potatoe salad! And yours looks wonderful might have to whip up a batch this weekend!
That sounds great! I’ll have to try that! Let me know what you think, if you give this a try 🙂 Thanks!
I made this recipe and loved it. So simple to make. My family likes it too, even the ones who don’t like mayo based and vinegar based foods. This recipe is a keeper. I will make it again!!!
I am so glad it’s a keeper!!! It’s our favorite to use. Thank you for letting me know!
This Potatoe salad looks delicious..One question do you diced the olives or leave them in circles..Thank-you
I like to add sliced olives, but really they can be chopped or sliced or even whole, if you like. It is just a preference 🙂
Thank-you so much..????????
ENJOY!!
I may have doubled the amount of pickles, and used larger ones (I love pickles!) – this recipe was so delicious and super easy to make. Thanks for sharing!
Glad to share 🙂 I am glad you liked it!!
I don’t like pickles so I left them out. I did use the pickle juice though and this recipe was a hit with the family. Perfect addition to our BBQ dinner!
I made this for a bbq & everyone loved it! My hubby especially loved it! He is requesting it again this week!
Hands down greatest potato salad recipe out there! My husbands family always brings the store bought kind to our family gatherings :/ I think I’ll be volunteering from now own, to bring the potato salad! Really great recipe!
Best potato salad hands down! It’s the only one I’ve ever used. Don’t even bother trying other recipes.
this potato salad is the perfect side dish for any meal! my family loves it!
This looks good!
Thank you!! It tastes super good, too 😉
The perfect Summer recipe!
This Potato Salad Recipe is a keeper! Definitely will be using it a lot this summer!
Thanks for including seRving size. I have a Hard time Figuring out POTATO:person ratioS. This will be super helpful in making your recipe. Love the idea of adding pickles & pickle juice! Can’t wait to try it.
You are welcome! I am glad it was helpful! Thank you for letting me know!
My grandmother was raised in Hawaii. She makes this potato salad but instead of mustard and pickles, she puts in a can of grated spam. I couldn’t believe that someone actually knew how to make my Grammie’s potato salad!
There’s an option! Thanks for letting me know!
We made this potato salad this week! We loved it! So easy and so delicious.
Do you use sweet pickle juice or the dill pickle juice? You did not stAte what kind specIfically. Thank you.
I just use dill pickle juice, but I bet the other would work great, too!