The Ultimate Jewish Potato Salad

If I am being honest, I have struggled in the past with making a good potato salad. It seems simple enough — boiled potatoes, mayo, some spices. But there is a bit of an art and science to making potato salad to ensure it isn’t too mushy or soggy or drenched or bland. And since potato salad is such a classic side dish for summer cookouts and parties, I felt determined to master this seemingly simple dish.

So after a few years of making mediocre potato salad, here are some of the things I have learned:

• Don’t over-cook your potatoes — cook them until they are fork tender. And make sure you chop them into even-sized pieces so they cook evenly, no matter if you like larger pieces of potato or smaller.
• Use a starchier potato, like red skinned potatoes, for a better potato salad.
• Rinse your potatoes in cold water after they cook. Then drain ALL the water, and put the potatoes back in the pot on the stove for 1-2 minutes over low flame to evaporate any excess water.

The recipe below fuses a quality formula for potato salad with some really delicious Ashkenazi flavors including caraway seeds, fresh dill and spicy horseradish. But feel free to trade the Jewish flavors for more traditional American add-ins likes scallion, red onion, celery or hard-boiled eggs.

Note: Your potato salad needs to chill in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, or ideally overnight, so the flavors will marry.

3 comments

• zank frappa May 10, 2024

  Five and a half)
  chop your cooked potatoes into those bite sized pieces. you weren’t thinking of trying to do that before you boiled them a bissel?

  
  
  
  
  
  

  Reply
• Michelle Gatz May 10, 2024

  Best potato salad I’ve ever had.

  
  
  
  
  
  

  Reply
• Ruth Klar August 21, 2024

  Are you all too young to know how to make the real
  Brooklyn, NY Deli potato salad?? Im 96 and I make the original real Jewish potato salad that they served at Katz’s Deli. Now THAT’S Jewish potato salad!!!!!!!!!!!. How about a recipe for potato knishes
  thank you

  Reply

Ashkenazi

Pronounced: AHSH-ken-AH-zee, Origin: Hebrew, Jews of Central and Eastern European origin.

Support My Jewish Learning

Help us keep Jewish knowledge accessible to millions of people around the world.

Your donation to My Jewish Learning fuels endless journeys of Jewish discovery. With your help, My Jewish Learning can continue to provide nonstop opportunities for learning, connection and growth.

Donate