This is the best classic potato salad to make as a side dish for your next BBQ or summer gathering. It’s made with tender potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, crunchy celery, shredded carrots, radish, green onions, fresh dill, and a creamy and rich dressing.

This is our family’s go-to potato salad. It’s the best (and ONLY) potato salad recipe that I like to eat.

Many of the store-bought potato salads are too vinegary for my liking. And while I love briny dill pickles, I don’t like them in potato salad, so you won’t find them in this recipe.

Instead, I like to add celery and radish for crunch and shredded carrots for a slight sweetness. The fresh dill adds a bright and fresh flavor, and we love to garnish this potato salad with a light dusting of sweet paprika.

I hope you will give this potato salad a try and it’ll become your new favorite dish to serve at potlucks or as a side for burgers or grilled meats.

Table of Contents

Potato salad ingredients

Potatoes: I like to use Yukon gold, yellow potatoes, red potatoes, or new potatoes to make potato salad. These are waxy potatoes which hold their shape when boiled and tossed in the creamy dressing.

I don’t recommend using Russet potatoes because they tend to break down and get mushy during boiling, which isn’t pleasant for potato salad.

Eggs: This is a classic staple in potato salad. It sounds odd, but the eggs add a creamy and rich texture to the salad.

Some people like to mash the eggs and toss them in their potato salad. I like to use an egg slicer to finely chop them.

Celery: This adds a fresh and delicious crunch to the potato salad. It helps to balance the creamy texture of the potatoes and mayo-based dressing.

Carrots: This adds a beautiful pop of color and natural sweetness to the potato salad.

Green onions: This adds a mild and fresh onion flavor to the salad.

Radish: This adds a refreshing crunch and peppery bite to the salad that helps cut through the rich and creamy dressing.

Fresh dill: This adds a bright and slightly tangy flavor to the salad. If you don’t like dill, you can use chives instead.

Mayonnaise: Use your favorite type of mayonnaise. I use mayonnaise made with olive oil.

Sour cream: I like to add a little sour cream or plain Greek yogurt to cut some of the tanginess of using just mayo.

Dijon mustard: I like the flavor of Dijon mustard. You can use yellow mustard if you prefer.

Apple cider vinegar: This adds just enough acid to cut through the richness of the creamy dressing.

Salt and freshly ground black pepper: This helps to enhance all the flavors. I don’t use a lot of salt because some people like to add extra salt after plating their food. You can adjust the amount of salt as needed.

Sweet paprika: This brings a pop of color and adds an extra layer of flavor.

How to make potato salad

Place the potatoes in a large pot of water and cover by 1 inch of cold water.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to a lightly rolling boil over medium heat, season the water with salt, and let simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 8 minutes, or until fork-tender.

Avoid overcooking the potatoes. You want them soft and easy to eat, but not too soft.

Drain in a colander and spread them onto a large baking sheet to cool at room temperature.

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients (mayonnaise, sour cream, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt, and freshly ground black pepper) in a small bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, add the cooled potatoes and remaining salad ingredients (hard-boiled eggs, celery, carrots, green onions, radish, and fresh dill).

Add the dressing and gently mix until all the ingredients are well coated. Taste and adjust the salt if needed. Cover and store in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

Sprinkle the potato salad lightly with paprika before serving if desired.

Tips for making potato salad

Chop the potatoes first. I see some recipes that suggest boiling the entire potato, then peeling and chopping it into smaller pieces.

Cutting the potato BEFORE boiling will help it cook faster. When you cook the potato whole, the outside of the potato tends to get mushy before the center is fully cooked.

I like to peel my potatoes, but you can leave the skin off if you prefer a more rustic-style potato salad.

Avoid overcooking the potatoes. Avoid mushy potato salad by checking your potatoes regularly. Once they are fork-tender – soft enough to be pierced easily with a fork – then they’re done cooking!

Give it time to chill in the fridge. Potato salad tastes best after resting in the fridge for a few hours. This allows the potatoes to absorb the dressing and gives all the flavors a chance to mingle together.

Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. I like to season the water with salt when cooking the potatoes and add a little salt and freshly ground black pepper to the dressing.

I don’t like overly salted food, but you may want to add an extra ¼ teaspoon or ½ teaspoon of salt if you prefer.

You can also adjust the amount of mustard and vinegar based on your personal taste preference.

Make Ahead and Storage Suggestions

Potato salad will last up to 3 or 4 days in the fridge when stored in an airtight container.

It tastes best after chilling in the fridge for a few hours, so it’s the perfect side dish to make ahead of time.

More classic summer salad recipes to try:

Please let me know how you like this potato salad recipe in the comments below! Your feedback and review encourages me to keep creating new and yummy recipes. I hope you love this potato salad as much as I do.