How do you make potato salad?

What’s the best way to make this classic side dish?

As a partner to barbecued meat, potato salad is on a par with corn on the cob, coleslaw and cold beer. In other words, it’s awesome.

But what key ingredients are needed to make it at its very best?

Various potato varieties

There are so many varieties of potato out there that you could experiment for weeks trying to find your favourite for use in potato salad.

Not all of them work – you wouldn’t get good results with Maris Pipers, for example. Really we’re talking about either salad potatoes or new potatoes. You’re looking for waxy new potatoes like Jersey Royals, Charlotte or Pink Fir Apple, while suitable salad potato varieties include Nicola, Maris Bard and Rocket.

Dressing your salad

Potato salad needs a dressing that isn’t too thick or the whole dish becomes too heavy. While many people stick with mayonnaise and white wine vinegar, some like to add a dollop of crème fraiche or yoghurt.

Others like to replace the splash of vinegar with diced pickles, capers, or even lemon juice.

Do you add mustard to your dressing? Chives, dill or parsley – or all three? Thinly sliced onion? Let us know in the Comments at the bottom of the page.

Other ingredients

It could be said that potato salad is beautiful because of its simplicity, and beyond the potatoes and dressing there's nothing else you need to add to it.

However, it’s certainly possible to add other vegetables into the mix, as Kirsty Hale does in this beetroot and potato salad, while Ren Behan calls for eggs in her Polish potato salad recipe.

Sliced spring onions can make a nice fresh addition, and if you’re not a vegetarian there’s a case to be made for chopped chorizo or other European sausages.

Or why not try seasoned or smoked sausage teamed with diced pickles for a salty and tangy flavour combination?

One last question: is it best to serve potato salad cold, or at room temperature?

What’s the best potato for potato salad? And if you have a magic ingredient or method for the perfect potato salad, please spill the beans in the Comments below.

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