A basic and traditional southern potato salad - simply potatoes, onion, celery, eggs, just a bit of mustard, some pickle and mayonnaise.

Southern Style Potato Salad

Potato salad reminds me so much of my Mama. This recipe is basically the same as hers - simple, basic, southern potato salad. Nothin' fancy or highfalutin' - just potatoes, eggs, onion, celery, a little bit of mustard, some sweet pickle relish, salt & pepper. Oh, and mayo, of course!

Now I know a lot of people in the south like to use Miracle Whip salad dressing in their potato salad - but that is one condiment that never graced the doors of our house when I was growin' up. I don't know why for sure, except that Mama said that Miracle Whip wasn't mayonnaise and that was that, but I do know that I bought it once when I was older just to see what all the hype was about, and it was far too sweet for me. Can you imagine? Me? Saying that? But it's true. Not a thing wrong with Miracle Whip - personally I just don't want my mayo sweet!

No, Mama was a Kraft Real Mayonnaise woman and though I also love Kraft, Blue Plate and Hellman's, I'm more of a Duke's mayo gal these days and I'm pretty sure that Mama would approve. Sometimes I use the lighter versions these days, but never fat free. I mean, mayonnaise is a fat. Why on earth would you use a fat free version? What is fat free mayo anyways? I don't get it. Kind of like that fat free half and half. Half and half is half milk, half cream. How could that be fat free and still be half and half?

When Mama would make her potato salad, I could smell it across the house. She'd mix it all together, give it a taste, smooth out the top all nice and flat, cover the bowl with some plastic wrap so tight that you could bounce a coin off the top of it, and stick it in the fridge to cool in time for dinner.

None of this is why potato salad reminds me of my Mama though. It's because every time she made it, and I mean every single time, I would sneak in the kitchen as soon as she finished makin' it, snatch it quick outta that fridge, grab a big ole serving spoon out of the drawer, sneak out a huge scoop of it all hot and creamy still, grab another clean utensil of some sort, and smooth over that top again, so as to cover up the evidence.

Than I'd run off to the other room with that big spoon and slowly savor that potato salad, because you see, while I liked it chilled just fine, I liked it best when it was warm and freshly made. Every once in awhile Mama would catch me like she had eyes in the back of her head or somethin' and she'd holler out my first and middle name like southern Mama's do when you're in trouble, and come and search me out. But, then she'd just smile at me that way that Mamas do, because she knew that was just one of my many little quirks.

{And ssssh... don't tell Mama, but I like to sprinkle just a little bit of paprika on top, just cuz it puts some nice color in with all that white.}

Be sure to check out my Cajun Potato Salad. It's a different but delicious potato salad I think you'll love. I also have a Cold Baked Potato Salad that I'm sure you're gonna love too. Made from baked potatoes that are sliced into rounds and tossed with a ranch dressing ... oh my goodness it is yummy too!

If you think this sounds yummy, I'd sure ♥ it if you'd click to pin it, tweet it, stumble it, or share it on Facebook to help spread the word - thanks!

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Recipe: Southern Style Potato Salad

©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

Prep time: 10 min |Cook time: 20 min |

Yield: About 6 to 8 servings

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Ingredients

• 7 medium sized russet potatoes
• 1/2 cup of onion, minced
• 1 large stalk (rib) of celery, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 10 turns of the pepper grinder, or to taste
• 3 boiled eggs, chopped
• 1 cup of real mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon of yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon of chopped sweet pickle or pickle relish
• Paprika to garnish, if desired

Instructions

Rinse and scrub potatoes and place whole in a large pot of salted water; bring to a boil. Boil until tender but still firm, about 15-20 minutes. Test by piercing with a sharp knife.

Remove the potatoes from the hot water and set aside until cool enough to handle, but still warm. Peel and cut into chunks (or cubes if you prefer) and place into a large serving bowl.

Add the onion, celery, salt, pepper and eggs; toss. In a separate small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard and sweet pickle, and spoon over the potatoes; toss again until all the potatoes are coated. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Sprinkle top lightly with paprika, if desired.

Cook’s Notes: Mama always used Kraft, but I like Dukes, Blue Plate and Hellman's too. Any good real mayonnaise will work, even olive oil and lower fat products. Don't use a salad dressing like Miracle Whip unless you prefer a sweeter potato salad. Substitute dill pickles if you prefer.

Variation: Slice and cook 3 slices of bacon until crisp. Add bacon with the drippings to the cooked and drained potatoes and proceed with the recipe. More potato salads can be found here.

Potato Salad for a Crowd: For approximately 30 servings you'll need about 10 pounds of potatoes, about a dozen boiled eggs, one quart of mayonnaise, 1 to 1-1/2 cups of chopped onion, about 3 ribs of celery, 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chopped pickles, use mustard and seasonings to taste.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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©Deep South Dish

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Cajun Potato Salad
Cold Baked Potato Salad
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Posted by Mary on May 19, 2009

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