The Best Potato Salad

Is there any dish more universally loved than a good potato salad? It's the star of picnics, barbecues, and family dinners. This recipe offers a classic take on the beloved dish, with a comforting and familiar flavor profile that feels like home. We combine tender potatoes, sweet carrots, hard-boiled eggs, and the zesty crunch of pickled cucumbers, all brought together with a creamy, tangy dressing. It's simple, satisfying, and incredibly easy to prepare, making it the perfect side for a weeknight dinner or a festive gathering.

The best potato salad

Cooking: 15 minutes

Quantity: 4 Servings

Per serving

Calories: 319 kcal

Proteins: 8 g

Fats: 19 g

Carbohydrates: 29 g

Ingredients for the Best Potato Salad

• 4 medium potatoes, boiled in their jackets
• 2 small carrots, boiled
• 1/2 small onion
• 3 chicken eggs, hard-boiled
• 2 pickled cucumbers (pickles)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
• 80 g mayonnaise provansal (a popular tangy mayonnaise in Eastern Europe; you can substitute with your favorite mayo)
• 1 teaspoon mustard (spicy brown or Dijon recommended)
• salt to taste, black pepper, lemon to taste (optional)

How to Make the Best Potato Salad

Dice the potatoes boiled in their jackets into small cubes.

Peel the boiled carrots, dice them, and add to the potatoes.

Finely dice the hard-boiled eggs or grate them on a vegetable grater.

Peel the boiled carrots, dice them, and add them to the potatoes. I usually boil the potatoes and carrots together in their jackets. I place the washed vegetables in a pot, add 1 teaspoon of salt, and pour in 1 liter of water. After it comes to a boil, I cook for about 20 minutes. A knife or toothpick should slide into the cooked potato easily, like into butter. I drain the water from the boiled vegetables and immediately run cold tap water over them. I leave them for a couple of minutes, then drain the water again. After this procedure, the potatoes and carrots are easy to peel; the skin comes off like a glove.

Finely dice the hard-boiled eggs or grate them on a vegetable grater. Add the eggs to the chopped vegetables.

Finely chop the pickled cucumbers. Dice half of a small onion.

Finely chop the pickled cucumbers. Dice half of a small onion. Add the chopped cucumbers and onion to the salad. By the way, in this recipe, instead of just pickled cucumbers, I used cucumber relish. It’s essentially the same pickled cucumbers but in a salad form and already with onion. This pickled mixture saves time and is very tasty; you can use it to make sandwiches, open-faced sandwiches, and salads.

Finely chop the parsley leaves (without stems).

Add the Provansal mayonnaise.

Add a teaspoon of table mustard and season with freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Now, let’s dress the salad. Add the mayonnaise provansal (a popular tangy mayonnaise in Eastern Europe). Season with salt to taste, and if desired, squeeze in a tablespoon of lemon juice.

Add a teaspoon of table mustard and season with freshly ground black pepper to taste. The mustard and pepper will add a piquant, spicy note. You can also add a little finely grated horseradish root.

Let the salad sit for half an hour for the vegetables to absorb the dressing and flavors.

Mix the ingredients well. Let the salad sit for half an hour so the vegetables can absorb the juices and the dressing. The longer the potato salad rests, the tastier it becomes.

Serve the potato salad in a mound, garnished with a parsley leaf.

Serve the potato salad in a mound and garnish with a parsley leaf. This is the best potato salad, and it’s so easy to make for a weeknight dinner.