Go Back

Picnic Potato Salad

Picnic potato salad with a classic creamy dressing and tender potato cubes, finished with paprika for a classic picnic look. This traditional salad is built with chopped hard-boiled eggs, diced celery and onion, sweet pickle relish, and a mayo-mustard vinegar dressing for a slice-and-serve texture.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
chilling 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Calories: 520
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Russet potatoes
  • 3 lb russet potatoes Peeled and cubed.
Hard-boiled egg layer
  • 5 hard-boiled eggs Chopped.
Vegetables and relish
  • 0.5 cup celery Diced.
  • 0.25 cup onion Finely diced.
  • 0.25 cup sweet pickle relish
Creamy dressing
  • 1.25 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp yellow mustard
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • salt To taste.
  • pepper To taste.
  • paprika For garnish.

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 pot

Method
 

Cook and cool potatoes
  1. Boil the peeled and cubed russet potatoes in a pot of water at 212°F (boiling) for 15–20 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork. Drain the potatoes and spread them on a sheet pan to cool completely, visible steam should stop and the cubes should feel room-temperature.
Build the picnic salad
  1. In a large bowl, combine the cooled potatoes, chopped hard-boiled eggs, diced celery, finely diced onion, and sweet pickle relish. Fold gently until the vegetables and eggs are evenly distributed and every potato cube looks coated.
Make the creamy dressing
  1. Whisk mayonnaise, yellow mustard, white vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper at room temperature until smooth and glossy, with no sugar or seasoning clumps. The dressing should look evenly tinted and pourable.
Combine and chill
  1. Pour the dressing over the potato mixture and fold gently to avoid mashing the potato cubes. Stop when the salad looks uniformly creamy with a light coating on the potatoes.
  2. Refrigerate the salad for at least 3 hours, keeping it covered, until chilled throughout and the flavors meld. The texture should feel cohesive when you stir, not watery.
  3. Right before serving, garnish with paprika over the top in an even dusting. The surface should show a light red-speckled finish.

Notes

For clean picnic-serving texture, cool the potatoes completely before mixing—warm potatoes can make the salad loose and watery. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 4 days (freezer: no, texture suffers after thawing). For a lighter swap, use light mayonnaise to reduce calories while keeping the same classic tang and creamy body.