Mom's Potato Salad
This is the potato salad I grew up on. Russets and a ton of vegetables and some mayo and a bit of mustard. The potatoes are cooked quite a bit and sometimes smoosh in the bowl as you stir since we use russets.
Ingredients
- 5 Lbs Russet Potatoes
- 3-5 Large Carrots - Peeled and Diced
- 3-5 Celery Stalks - Peeled and Diced
- 1 Medium Onion - Diced small
- 1 Red Pepper - Trimmed and Diced
- 1 Green Pepper - Trimmed and Diced
- 1 Cup Mayonnaise - More or Less...
- 1 Tbl Dijon - Just a tad for all those potatoes
- ½ bunch Fresh Parsley - Finely chopped
- Lemon Juice - or plain vinegar
- 4-6 Radishes - Optional trimmed and diced
- 1-3 Hard Boiled Eggs - Optional (I ALWAYS leave them OUT!)
Instructions
- Mom's directions are to clean the potatoes and cover them in water in a LARGE pot. Leave the skins on. If your potatoes are large or very large - cut them in half or quarters. If your potatoes are small - go ahead and leave them whole.
- Add a generous sprinkling of salt - not so much as you would add for boiling pasta - probably about half that much. I'd say 1 - 1 ½ TBL of salt ought to do it...
- Boil gently until a knife tip goes into the potatoes. The potato ought to be tender. You don't want the potato too soft - and ready to be mashed - that is too cooked. Start testing the potatoes for 'done' after about 10 minutes of boiling gently. (Stir around the potatoes while they are boiling.).
- While the potatoes boil - clean and chop all the vegetables and get out the Mayo and the mustard.
- Here's the hardest part. Drain the potatoes and as quickly as you can - take off the skin and rough chop the potatoes and put them into a very large bowl. Work to get all the potatoes into the bowl while still hot. Use a kitchen towel to hold the potatoes and peel with a paring knife.
- Add the mayonnaise and the dijon to the potatoes - and stir while they are still warm. The potatoes will absorb the mayo and your salad will taste better and have better mouth feel if you get the mayo and mustard on them while warm.
- Add in the rest of the vegetables and stir gently. Some of the potatoes will turn mushy - and that is just fine and typically Mom's potato salad has chunks and creamy bits and crunchy bits of veg. That's how it is supposed to be !
- Check out whether or not you think you have used enough mayo. You may need to add a bit more for your / your families liking. See the picture of our finished potato salad. There's definitely mayo in there - but it's not an over abundance.
- Chop the fresh parsley and sprinkle half of it in / on the potatoes and stir.
- Add some S&P to the big bowl and take a taste. If it tastes flat - you may need a squeeze of half a lemon or a couple of Tsp of plain vinegar - or some additional S&P. Don't try to perfect it here. You must try it later - after it sits in the fridge overnight.
- Stir up and taste the potato salad the AM of your event. Fix the S&P or the acid as needed. Be very careful with the lemon or the vinegar - shouldn't need more than maybe half a lemon in the whole bowl or a couple of Tsp in the whole bowl.
Notes
I sure hope you like this recipe and are able to share with your friends. Obviously 5 lbs of potatoes makes a lot. Feel free to use the 1/2 recipe button if you don't have that many people to cook for !
Nutrition
Calories: 221kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 4gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 112mgPotassium: 688mgFiber: 3gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 2680IUVitamin C: 27mgCalcium: 30mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!