Potato salad is a summertime staple you’ll find at nearly every gathering or barbecue. This recipe doesn’t include the classic boiled eggs and mayonnaise. Instead, it includes tangy sour cream, tasty red potatoes, and grainy mustard. This red potato salad recipe goes great with a plate of ribs or tri-tip and is a potluck or summertime barbecue favorite.
I know eggs are a staple ingredient in classic potato salad. However, when making a summer potato salad, I wanted something lighter and fresher with more distinguishable ingredients.
Ingredient Swap
Classic potato salad typically includes these ingredients:
- Yukon gold potatoes
- Mayonnaise
- Pickle relish
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Herbs and seasoning
I’ve simply swapped the first four staple ingredients for lighter and fresher alternatives in this summer red potato salad recipe. There are several variations of potato salad in the herbs and seasonings, so you might find this one similar to your own recipe but with the heavier ingredients exchanged or omitted.
Red Potatoes vs. Yukon Gold
I start by substituting Yukon gold for red potatoes. Yukons are great for mashing potatoes, but I wanted a firmer potato. Large or baby red potatoes will work.
Sour Cream vs. Mayonnaise
Another ingredient swap you’ll find is sour cream. I love, love, love mayonnaise! It’s great for chicken salad sandwiches, grilled cheeses, and fresh aiolis. But for this potato salad, I wanted lighter, brighter, and tangier. So, I simply replaced the mayonnaise with sour cream.
No Eggs
Hard-boiled eggs taste great in potato salad. But omitting them from this red potato salad recipe just eliminates a few steps. With all the fantastic flavors and textures in this recipe, you won’t even notice.
Fresh Herbs
There’s no doubt that fresh dill is the key to red potato salad. Together with fresh green onions, these two flavors bring this dish alive. Fresh dill offers a burst of freshness when enjoying barbecue meats and heavier dishes on a warm summer afternoon.
How to make red potato salad
You can easily make this dish in advance. In fact, I prefer it made anywhere from four hours to the night before being served. The easiest way to prepare this dish ahead of time is to boil the potatoes the night before.
Of course, you can prepare the entire recipe ahead of time, too. OG fans of Food Network will remember the famous saying from The Neeley’s—you want to let your ingredients sit together for a while before cooking or serving, allowing them to “get to know each other.” This is true for red potato salad, too!
Just slightly undercooking red potatoes will keep them intact without making your potato salad mushy. If you feel like you’ve overcooked them by a few minutes, throw them into an ice bath.
- Drain potatoes immediately in a colander or mesh strainer.
- Fill a large mixing bowl with plenty of ice.
- Place your colander or mesh strainer on top of the ice.
- Run water over the potatoes until they’re submerged.
- Let them rest in the ice water for about 5-10 minutes.
Placing your colander over a large bowl of ice will keep the melting ice from getting stuck in the potatoes. If you put ice in the bowl with potatoes, you have to wait for the ice to melt. That's why I like using this method.
Red Potato Salad Mix-ins
Of course, not everyone loves (or has in their fridge) fresh dill, scallions, brown grain mustard, lemons, sour cream, etc. Try swapping some of the ingredients to your taste by using:
- Plain or Greek yogurt
- Cilantro or parsley
- Dijon mustard
- Pickled red onion
- Dill pickle relish
- Sweet pickle relish
- Chipotle powder
- Green onions
- Creamy dressing
Whether using red potatoes or the baby variety, you’ll need about 5 to 7 minutes of boiling. If you’re using baby red potatoes, cut them in half before adding them to boiling salted water. For regular red potatoes, cut them into 4 to 6 cubes per potato.
Avoid boiling red potatoes whole; this will result in a much longer cooking time. Once you cut them into cubes, or even in half, they’ll cook in a fraction of the time.
Red potatoes taste great with their skins on! Not only do the skins add texture and flavor, but they also provide a nutritional element and add great color to red potato salad. There’s a perk to not peeling red potatoes before cooking them—the time you’ll save!
While you don’t have to make this recipe beforehand, allowing it to sit overnight in the refrigerator will only increase the flavors. In doing so, the potatoes can better absorb the herb flavors and creaminess of the sour cream.
Red Potato Salad
Perfect for summertime BBQs and cookouts, this red potato salad recipe is made without eggs or mayonnaise, but packed with flavor and freshness!
Ingredients
- 4 cups red potatoes, diced
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 2 tbsp whole grain mustard
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ cup celery, diced
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp green onions, chopped
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp fresh dill, chopped
Instructions
- Gently scrub and rinse red potatoes. Cut potatoes into small cubes, about 4 to 6 per potato.
- In a large pot, add diced potatoes and cover with water and 2 teaspoon of salt.
- Bring water to a boil and stir occasionally for 5-7 minutes.
- Using a butter knife, test one of the potatoes by trying to cut it in half. When cooked, immediately drain into a colander or mesh strainer.
- Rinse under cold water until they begin to cool, or submerge into an ice bath.
- Cover the potatoes in an airtight container and refrigerate until your wet ingredients have been prepared.
- In a large bowl, whisk together sour cream, mustard, and lemon juice.
- Add diced celery, ⅓ cup of chopped scallions, and 1 tablespoon chopped dill, reserving the remaining quantities for later.
- Add in potatoes and gently fold together all ingredients.
- Top the potato salad with the remaining 1 tablespoon chopped scallions and 1 teaspoon chopped dill.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve!
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