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Southern Potato Salad

Southern potato salad with rich, creamy Yukon gold potatoes, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and sweet pickle relish. A Southern-style mayo-mustard dressing with celery seed gives a tangy, BBQ-friendly picnic dish.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
chilling 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Southern American
Calories: 760
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Potato salad base
  • 3 lb Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cubed
  • 6 hard-boiled eggs chopped
  • 0.5 cup celery finely diced
  • 0.25 cup onion finely diced
  • 0.25 cup sweet pickle relish
Southern-style dressing
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 0.25 cup yellow mustard
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp celery seed
  • 1 salt to taste
  • 1 pepper to taste
  • 1 paprika for garnish

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Boil and cool the potatoes
  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the Yukon gold potatoes until fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well and spread the potatoes on a sheet pan to cool completely.
Mix the potato salad components
  1. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, celery, onion, and sweet pickle relish. Stir just until evenly distributed.
Make the Southern-style dressing
  1. In a separate bowl, whisk mayonnaise, yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, celery seed, salt, and pepper until smooth. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.
Combine and chill
  1. Pour the dressing over the potato mixture and fold gently to coat without breaking up the potatoes. Ensure all potatoes look evenly covered.
  2. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight to let flavors meld. Cover tightly while chilling.
  3. Before serving, garnish the top with paprika for color. Serve cold or at cool room temperature.

Notes

Pro tip: fully cool the boiled potatoes before mixing so the dressing stays creamy instead of thinning. Refrigerate in a covered container up to 4 days. Freezing isn’t recommended because the texture of the potatoes and mayonnaise dressing can break down. For a lighter option, use a reduced-fat mayonnaise while keeping the rest of the dressing the same.