My mom was the potato salad lady. She was the one to bring it to every extended family event growing up and made it at home for summer holidays. She didn’t make it often because when she did she made A LOT (like 10# of just potatoes...then add in the other stuff) Because of this I never had any other form of potato salad for most of my childhood. The first time I had store-bought went a little something like this.
And then as I got a little older I started having it at friends houses and other gatherings. Again, even if it wasn’t bad it wasn’t quite “right” and I didn’t know why. When people told me what was in it, it was all the same ingredients as my mom so I wasn’t understanding the huge flavor disconnect.
Potatoes:✔
Mayo:✔
Mustard:✔
Eggs:✔
Onion:✔
Celery:✔
Then, one day I was finally in the presence of someone else making potato salad. I had NO IDEA that when other people put the hard boiled eggs in theirs that it was literally just chopped up hard boiled eggs....NOW I got it. What we do is separate the yolks from the egg whites and mash the yolks with the mayo and the mustard just how you would when making deviled eggs. In fact, as I scoured the internet I realized that the few recipes that did this called it "Deviled Egg Potato Salad." You might not think it makes a difference but it really, REALLY does! Instead of your potato salad feeling like straight up mayo it's a thick, rich sauce. It's a game changer that you need to try if you don't already make it this way.
See, my mom always followed my nana's recipe. Actually, it has always just been a method until now. There’s never been an official written recipe with quantities until I came in generations later and saved the day 😉 (takes a bow) We also like to add black olives to ours. If you really hate them I guess you can skip it, but we have always put it in ours. We don't chop them fine. Instead, we either buy the small olives and keep them whole or just halve them.
Give this potato salad a try! I have had several people comment on it being the best they've ever had when I bring it to potlucks.
Nana's Potato Salad
5lbs. Potatoes, peeled
2 cups Celery, small diced
2 cups Onion, fine diced
12 Hard boiled eggs
2 cups Mayo
1/2 cup Mustard
1 Tb. Kosher salt
Pepper to taste
1 can Black olives
1. Place potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until soft enough to pierce with a knife all the way through but not mushy. Boiling your potatoes whole rather than in cubes gives it better texture and keeps from getting watery.
2. Allow the potatoes to cool completely and then cut into bit size chunks.
3. Separate the yolks from the egg whites. Chop the egg whites.
4. Mash the yolks in a bowl with a fork and then stir in the mayo, mustard, salt,and pepper. The mixture will be salty to taste, but it is the amount of salt needed to season the dish as a whole, Mixing it into the wet mixture will help is disperse more evenly throughout the salad.
5. Add the mayo/egg mixture to the potatoes along with the onion, celery,egg whites, and olives. Fold gently to coat the potatoes.
6. Chill before serving.
