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Old-Fashioned Potato Salad

Old-fashioned potato salad with creamy mayo dressing, hard-boiled eggs, diced celery, and sweet pickle relish. Cubed russet potatoes are boiled until tender, cooled, then folded with chopped eggs for a classic picnic-style creamy texture.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
chilling 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Calories: 650
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Old-Fashioned Potato Salad
  • 3 lb russet potatoes
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs
  • 0.5 cup celery diced
  • 0.25 cup onion finely diced
  • 0.25 cup sweet pickle relish
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp yellow mustard
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 0.1 salt to taste
  • 0.1 pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp paprika for garnish

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Boil and cool potatoes
  1. Bring a Dutch oven of salted water to a boil, add the potato cubes, and boil until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well so the cubes are dry-looking, not watery.
  2. Let the drained potatoes cool until they are warm to room temperature, about 10 minutes. The surface should look dry rather than steaming wet.
Mix salad components
  1. In a large bowl, combine the cooled potatoes, chopped hard-boiled eggs, diced celery, finely diced onion, and sweet pickle relish. Fold until the yellow egg pieces and relish are evenly distributed.
Make and add dressing
  1. In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper until smooth. Stop when the dressing looks glossy and uniform in color.
  2. Pour the dressing over the potato mixture and fold gently to coat. Mix just until no dry potato pockets remain, keeping the cubes intact.
Chill and serve
  1. Refrigerate the potato salad for at least 2 hours to let the flavors blend and the dressing set. Serve cold, with the top looking slightly thickened.
  2. Sprinkle paprika over the surface right before serving. The garnish should look bright and evenly speckled.

Notes

For the best texture, cool the potatoes before combining so the dressing doesn’t thin out; if you’re short on time, spread potatoes on a tray to cool faster. Store covered in the fridge for 3–4 days; freeze is not recommended because the mayo dressing can separate after thawing. For a lighter option, use light mayonnaise (or half mayo/half Greek yogurt) for a creamy but lower-fat dressing.