I add ranch dressing to mine. a bit of onion too. Celery if you have any handy.

I make potato salad that is sort of based on my mother's and my sister's, with a little bacon added.

I add chopped celery, boiled eggs, Claussen dills, sliced stuffed green olives, chopped purple or green onions, and dress with mayo mixed with a little mustard and thinned with a little pickle juice. I also add a good handful of cooked bacon. You can buy bacon in little pouches on the salad dressing aisle, if you don't want to take the time to fry your own. It works fine. Just don't use fake bacon bits.

I sometimes add chopped bell pepper. I give it a good sprinkle of Tony Chachere's creole seasoning...which is a seasoned salt. It isn't spicy but gives a good taste. It is something that I use on just about everything I cook.

I use onion also. No pickles. Enough mustard to make it good and yellow. Real Mayo. Eggs, and potatoes. I like mine really gurpy/moist, and set overnight to blend the flavors.
Leslie

I like ours just like you say you make it...

None of us in our family will eat it any otherway.

patti

Thanks....I love green olives, maybe I'll add those too! I think the bacon sounds great in it too....going to try that also. I use the real bacon pieces on my salads and they are much better than the fake stuff, I agree. I think I'll make 2 smaller ones...one without all the "stuff" and one with. I'm always afraid it'll sit there because some people hate something I put in it! Once it's sits out and has people all around it DH won't eat it...so it'll be a waste! One reason he hates potlucks lol!

Marilyn, I love Tony's too - we use it on everything. I especially like it on fish.

My favorite potato salad is the one my grandma used to make - German Potato Salad. Here is her recipe:

red potatoes - 4 - 5 pounds - washed and cubed (do not peel)
3/4 pound of bacon cut in small pieces
medium to large sweet onion chopped
ap flour - about 4-5 tsps
3/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Cook potatoes until tender. In a heavy kettle cook bacon until crisp. Drain - reserve about 5-6 TBSP drippings. Set bacon aside. In same pot, saute onion in drippings until tender. Stire in flour until blended. Gradually stir in sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened, just a couple of minutes.

Remove from heat. Slowly whisk in the cream. Set aside. Drain potatoes and add the onion mixture and bacon. Stir gently to coat. Best served warm!

This will make about a dozen servings. Very yummy!!!

~Betsy

I can't eat potatoes in any form, but back when I could......

When we lived in NYC I loved the potato salad from a local deli. The woman there said it's important to use California potatoes. She would use no other for her potato salad.

So that's my helpful contribution to this thread. :-)

That German Potato Salad would be a good variation.

Here's one of my favorite cold potato salads. It's with red skinned potatoes and you keep the skin on... so no peeling (now you know why it's one of my favorites)!

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Skinned Potato Salad

I put in celery, eggs (lots), dill pickle relish, onion, celery seed, salt and pepper. Then I make a dressing of mayo, some mustard and a dab of sugar.

I'm going to try Betsy's German potato salad. I love it, but I've never made it.

I use a potato/boiled egg ratio of almost one egg to each potato, depending on potato size. I add diced celery and green onions, and sliced green olives to the potato and egg mixture. I think mayo alone is a bit bland and I have never cared for Miracle Whip, but have discovered that if I use about equal amounts of mayo and Miracle Whip (probably a little more mayo than MW), it is just about right. Gives it more flavor than plain mayo without reeking of the MW taste. Then I sprinkle the top with paprika and some more sliced green olives.

Another version is called twice-baked potato salad. It has diced green onions, bacon bits, cheddar cheese, sour cream and mayo. My son who doesn't like potato salad, loves this.

I use redskin potatoes with skin left on, red onion, green onion, celery, hardcooked eggs and crumbled cooked bacon. I mix up a dressing of hellmann's mayo with country dijon mustard (ratio of 4 to 1) some fresh chopped dill (the herb not the pickle), salt & pepper and add a splash of cider vinegar if any is needed to "loosen" the dressing. Then fold the dressing into the veggies.

You all will think I'm crazy, but my Aunt used to make the best potato salad. It seemed like the usual, potatoes, mayo, diced eggs, diced onion, celery and pickles, mustard, celery seed, but there was another little taste that I coule never identify that made it wonderful. I finally asked her what it was and she said she always added teeny tiny bits of cucumber. It was so good.

Here it's customary to put green peas in potato salad.

OH MY GOSH!! YA'll are making me crave PS!! I'm gonna cheat and pick up some "Amish" PS at Wally World later today!! I don't know what they do to it...but it is wonderful!!

I LOVE cooked dressing, something similar to tannatonks. Its so smooth and tasty! I used to always just dump and pour the typical potato salad but since I've learned to simmer the dressing that's the only way for me.

I make mine the usual way (with eggs, onions, and mayonnaise,) but I toss the diced, cooked potatoes with Italian dressing while they are still hot.

Sometimes I mix the mayonnaise with a little sour cream.

I am going to use the red potatoes...love them, and I just bought alot of them. I love the idea that I don't have to peel them too! :O) Lot's of good variations here....I am copying and saving them all We are having a few family reunions and wedding get togethers this summer....I'll try them out then!

I use:
Cooked Potatoes
boiled eggs
Diced onions and celery
Cooked green peas
Some grated carrot
Mayo with salt & pepper to taste
crumbled bleu cheese
Bacon bits (not fakos)

Thanks a lot, now I have a yearning for potato salad and I always equate it with warm weather and we have a winter storm brewing for these parts. Guess I'll have to put making some off for a while. Darn! Dottie

I have used baked potatos also and cut them up and immediatly mix with light miracle whip along with some type of Italian dressing, let set for awhile, then add whatever you feel like.

I guess about the only thing different I do is to put both sweet and dill pickles in it. DH loves dill and I love sweet pickles and this suits us both.

Does anyone make potato salad that doesn't have eggs but does have dill? I used to get it at a deli and it was soooo good. I'd love to make some like it. Not sure what all it had in it--maybe green onion and either pimento or red pepper????

CALICO POTATO SALAD

1 1/2 lb red potatoes -- cubed
1 cup celery -- sliced
4 stalks of green onions -- chopped
1/4 cup red onion  sliced
1 Cucumber Thinly - sliced skin on
1-2 egg -- hard-boiled/chopped
1 jar of Pimentos
2 tbsp fresh dill- chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise (more if desired)
2 tbsp mustard to taste
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp cider vinegar (to 1 tbsp)
1 tsp fresh parsley -- chopped
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp celery seed

Add potatoes to a stockpot, cover with water and boil until tender. Drain and place in a serving bowl with next 5 ingredients; set aside. Blend together remaining ingredients, and toss with potatoes. I usually save the egg yoke to crumble over the top w/Parsley and Sprinkle Paprika over top before Serving. I put all the Cucumber Slices around the sides of the bowl so that they show. I serve it in a clear glass bowl, because it is so pretty and colorful. Peeps think your a Pro! LOL!

IÂve been making this for 40 years. I change it everytime. But, this is the original. Sometimes I add sliced Red Radishs in place of Cucumber. I'm pretty sure I got it from a 1968 Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Gayle

Dotmom,
I've been waiting for you to post this! I always hated potato salad until I tried Dotmom's bacon & bleu cheese kind. It is SOOOOO good! We can eat it by the ton in our house, I swear. Or so it seems :)

Thanks for the nice words, dirt_yfingernails. Just reading this post makes me want to make some soon. You are a wonderful DIL. love you, Dottie

Sometimes, I start mine with left over mashed potatoes, if not I use just chunks (grew up eating it made from mashed)

Mashed potatoes, and add some chunked potatoes
Mayo thinned with pickle juice and a bit of ranch dressing
relish or chopped pickles,
onion or scallions chopped
celery (chopped fine)
shredded carrot,
(depending on the meal sometimes chop up some black olives)
green pepper, (other colors depending on cost)
small amount of chopped garlic (from a jar is easiest)

seasoned salt, pepper, white or ceyenne pepper (just a dash)
a little sage, thyme, oregano, basil

since our family is divided on the mustard or not, I will sometimes just put some on the side, those that want it can add it.