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My Grandma’s Potato Salad Recipe with eggs, potatoes, celery and mayonnaise is a classic side dish and a family favorite for generations that tastes simply like home. Enjoy this delicious side salad at your next summer BBQ, picnic or holiday gathering.
Old Fashioned Potato Salad Recipe
My family honestly thinks my grandma’s recipe for potato salad is the BEST potato salad recipe on the planet. But every family has a favorite potato salad, right? This easy recipe is also a favorite summer side dish in my family — my son and husband would happily eat potato salad every day if they could!
This homemade potato salad recipe has been in my family forever. Grandma made it, my mom made it, and now my kids and I make it! It’s a very simple potato salad with few ingredients — no onions, no mustard and no pickles. Some people may call it plain, but we absolutely love it just the way it is!
Our old fashioned potato salad is the perfect side dish for summer cookouts and potlucks. The mild flavor pairs well with any main dish, especially burgers and ribs, steak, as well as our Easter ham. Serve this summer side salad along with grilled corn on the cob and baked beans for a delicious meal!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
You only need a few basic ingredients for this classic side salad. If you don’t have these pantry staples at home, you can find them in your grocery store. Full amounts are in the printable recipe card below.
- Red potatoes
- Celery stalks — diced or thinly sliced for flavor and crunch
- Hard-boiled eggs — peeled and chopped. You can add sliced eggs for decoration on top if desired.
- Salt and Pepper — to taste
- Mayonnaise — I usually use Best Foods, but any brand of mayo works. Miracle Whip will change the flavor.
Best Potatoes for Potato Salad
Mom and grandma always said red potatoes or waxy potatoes are the best potatoes for potato salad since they hold their shape well after cooking. White potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes will work, as well. Russet potatoes aren’t the best choice since their fluffier flesh is better for baking. However, I know people who love russets in salad, so it really is a personal preference.
How to Make Grandma’s Potato Salad
First, scrub the potatoes well under cold running water. Then, peel and slice them in bite size pieces. I have cooked potatoes with skins on and skins off, and both ways will work. However, I now peel the potatoes as I feel they cook more evenly and look neater this way — just like Grandma used to. It’s fine if you leave a little bit of skin on — Skins add flavor and nutrients.
Fill a large pot with cold water, place the potatoes in the pot, add salt, and bring to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to simmer, and cook potatoes until just fork tender. This takes about 10 minutes cooking time depending on how large the potatoes are. Be sure not to over cook potatoes. You should be able to easily poke a fork or the tip of a knife through the middle of the potato, but it shouldn’t fall apart.
When the potatoes are fully cooked, drain them right away into a colander in the sink. You don’t have to run them under cold water, but this will help stop the cooking and prevent them from becoming mushy.
Add the mayonnaise to a large bowl, and stir in the salt and pepper. It should be nice and creamy after stirring. Then, add the rest of the ingredients, and stir with the creamy dressing until everything is well blended. Add additional mayo if needed until you get the texture you like. I usually add more mayo right before serving since the potatoes absorb the dressing.
For best flavor, refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You can also make this a day ahead of time as it tastes even better the next day! This is one of those old fashioned recipes that was never written down. Mom and Grandma always eyeballed the ingredients until it tasted good to them!
Serving Suggestions
To serve potato salad, we like to add sliced hard boiled eggs on top of the potato salad and a sprinkle of paprika, plus fresh parsley. And that’s it.
Substitutions and Variations
I like to keep this classic recipe simple with just mayonnaise, but it is also a good basic recipe that you can easily adjust to your liking. Add a little yellow mustard, or white vinegar for extra tang. Instead of regular salt, I sometimes add celery salt for more flavor.
If you want to make this recipe even easier, try my Instant Pot potato salad. The basic ingredients are the same, but you cook the eggs and potatoes in the pressure cooker at the same time!
Storage
Store leftover potato salad in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap. It’ll last in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Do not leave potato salad out for more than 2 hours for safety. Potato salad will not freeze well. Enjoy your leftovers straight out of the fridge with hamburgers, ribs, hot dogs, or alone as a snack!
Recipe Tips
Always place potatoes in cold water and bring to a boil. This ensures they cook evenly.
Cook potatoes until just fork tender to avoid a mushy or soggy salad.
Taste before serving to adjust seasoning. We like our salad extra creamy, but you can start with 1 cup mayo and add more if needed. You can also add milk to thin the dressing if needed.
Grandma’s Potato Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 small red potatoes or 5 medium. Peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 medium celery ribs diced
- 5 hard-boiled eggs peeled and chopped
- 2 cups mayonnaise I use Best Foods
- 2 teaspoons sea salt (divided) or more, to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper or more, to taste
- ⅛ paprika optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes under running water, peel, and cut into bite-size pieces
- Place potatoes in large pot of cold water, and bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt to water
- Reduce heat to simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Start testing around 5 minutes so that they don't over cook
- Drain potatoes into a colander in the sink, and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process, if desired. Potatoes should still be warm
- Add mayonnaise to large mixing bowl, and stir in remaining teaspoon salt and pepper until creamy
- Add remaining ingredients, and stir until well blended
- Cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you enjoy this easy potato salad as much as we do! For more easy recipes, subscribe to the newsletter and follow me on social media!
I made this as a side dish for Easter and thought it was very flavorful! Will definitely make this again for our Memorial Day picnic!
The wife and kids loved this when I made it for Easter yesterday! Normally I make the ham for the holiday but I hurt my wrist and can’t do any heavy lifting, so I made the sides, and this one was loved by all. Reminds me of Memaw’s growing up.
God bless!
Thank you so much, Ben. Hope your wrist gets better soon!
This is the best ever! Clean and simple! I don’t know why that other person is such a hater? Maybe she really doesn’t like her “family” recipe or potatoes at all if you have to add so much other stuff to make it edible! Another great recipe Dee!
Thank you so much for the compliment, Brad. 🙂
The first time I made this I followed the recipe to the T, like your supposed to and it was the most flavorless, bland, straight mayo mess I’ve ever had. Nobody would touch it and it cost me to waste about 20 dollars worth of groceries Have any of you ever eaten potato salad?? The main and only flavor is not supposed to just be mayo. No acid? No flavor balancing? Its a mouth full of slimey fats and nothing to contrast it. I’m so baffled. The second run, I went back and used my grandmas recipe so I added minced gherkin pickles, minced bell pepper, white and/or red onion and pimentos, then I made a dressing using mayo, ACV, sugar and mustard, then sprinkled paprika and chives over the top for color and nice presentation. It was incredible and I had zero leftovers. I’m not sure what this is, but it’s not potato salad, it’s mayo salad and it’s gross. Even if you used the very best mayo available, Kew-Pie or Dukes, they can’t save this.
Hmm. Did you even add the potatoes, celery and eggs, or did you just use mayo? Like the post says, this is my grandmother’s recipe, and it has been a much-loved recipe in the family for years with great results. Readers love it, too. I’m wondering if you already have a favorite potato salad recipe, why would you even try this one, which clearly is much different from the one you have? I personally would never use those extra ingredients in potato salad, but, as the post states, you can add extras to suit your own tastes and thin out the dressing if needed.