Southern Style Mustard Potato Salad
Southern style mustard potato salad is the perfect side dish! Boiled potatoes are mixed with crunchy celery, cooked eggs, and a creamy mustard dressing in this classic southern recipe.
There isn’t much that is better than a lovely side of mustard potato salad on a summer day. Or when you are trying to make a budget dish during ‘what we shall not name’. I noticed we’ve had an increase on traffic for potato salads and it gave me the idea that yeah, potatoes are a fantastic staple ingredient that we have on hand.
Born in the midwest we aren’t born and bred southern but that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy our takes on when we’ve experienced heavenly southern cuisine in the past. The closest I’ve come to true southern cuisine is with my skillet bacon cornbread recipe. Even that isn’t completely authentic, because I added cheddar cheese to the recipe. Seriously, how could I not add cheese?
We remember the honey ham, corn muffins, collard greens, and delicious southern style mustard potato salad that tasted just like this one does.
How do I know this? Well, to be honest, I don’t know that it’s an identical carbon copy. But I do know that it’s pretty darn close, because I tweaked the ingredients over and over. I kept at it, until I was able to take a bite, close my eyes, and be transported in my mind to that little southern cafe.
The great thing about many potato salad recipes is that they’re versatile. It’s easy to adapt and tweak ingredients to suit personal tastes, dietary restrictions or whatever you may have in the pantry right now.
Southern Mustard Potato Salad Cooking Tips
- It’s important to taste and season as you go, but remember that the longer the potato salad sits in the fridge, the more intensified and developed the flavors will become.
- Make sure you use crisp and crunchy celery. It makes this dish such a delight with crisp celery.
What will I need to make this mustard potato salad?
Fortunately you’ll need very few ingredients and many of the ingredients you can either pull from your pantry, fridge or order online have delivered to you!
Russet Potatoes is what we used and what our recipe calls for but potato of any variety really can work. If you don’t have russet potatoes you can use other varieties if that is what you have on hand.
You’ll also need: eggs, celery, onion, pickle relish, mustard, mayonnaise some seasoning.
How to store potatoes?
I think there is a common misconception that potatoes have gone ‘bad’ once they begin growing little growths out of them. AKA eyes.
Potatoes growing eyes out of them is not a bad thing. Just means they are in a warm environment and are trying to grow more potatoes. So simply pop the eyes off and place them in a cool dark place. They should last about 2-3months in a proper cool environment with little eye growth and even if they have a bit you can simply pop them off and use like normal.
For the better good of your southern style mustard potato salad, please make sure that you’re using crisp celery!
How can I grow my own potatoes?
Another fun project to do with the kids (since we’ve got so much time these days) I thought I’d share how you can actually grow your own potatoes from old potatoes you have laying around that are getting a bit soft and mushy. Don’t throw them away!
After you’ve got your fill of potatoes simply slice a potato with the eyes (eyes are the growths that come out of your potatoes when they are sprouting and look like an alien) and plant in the dirt or large planter – plant with the eyes up towards the sky.
Cover with about 1 inch of soil and water. When the plant starts growing up, cover with more soil.. continue this process until top of the soil of the plant bin is at it’s max and then let them grow.. once the plant begins to die back by the end of the summer start digging in the big and you’ll have a bunch of potatoes!
Growing Home Celery: You can also re-grow celery by placing the bottom of the celery in about 1 inch of water and water fill it back up when it goes low. Place on your window sill for some sun and it’ll begin growing back too.
This use to be my project every summer many years back as a kid.. might be time to bring it back don’t you think? We’ve got more southern mustard potato salad to eat. 😉
Storage and Can you Freeze Mustard Potato Salad
Storing: If properly store in an airtight container potatoes salad will last in the fridge up to 3 to 5 days. I honestly prefer potato salad the next day. It’s a lot like chili where the flavors are just enhanced.
Serving: It’s also really important to mention that with potato salad being a staple at summer cookouts that you do not want to leave a potato salad out at room temperature for more than two hours so be aware of that when you are serving this during cookouts.
Freezing: You CAN freeze this potato salad but BEWARE that the consistency of the salad will not be the same. It will be 100% more soggy and mushy. Not to say that the flavors won’t still be really good but that the texture and consistency might be off putting to some.
This southern mustard potato salad is the perfect dish to whip up right now. Don’t you think?
Between being able to grow your own potatoes and re-grow the celery we are sustainably able to enjoy some potato salad without stepping a foot in the grocery store and saving money. WINNNNERRR 😉
Other recipes you may enjoy:
Southern Style Mustard Potato Salad Recipe
RECIPE VIDEO
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes peeled and cubed (4-5 potatoes)
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- 5 large eggs hard-boiled, peeled and smashed lightly with a fork
- 2 stalks celery finely diced
- 1 small Vidalia onion finely minced
- ½ cup dill pickle relish plus 2 Tablespoons juice
- 2.5 Tablespoons yellow mustard (or creole style for extra kick)
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ teaspoon salt (more or less to suit your taste)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper (more or less to suit your taste)
- Hungarian paprika for garnish
Instructions
- Add 4 quarts of water to a 6-quart pot and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add potatoes and salt and
- cook until potatoes are just starting to fall apart, about 10 minutes..
- Drain potatoes well in a colander and return them to hot pan for a minute to dry out excess water.
- Place the potatoes, eggs, celery, onion, pickle relish and juice into a large mixing bowl.
- Add half of the mustard and mayonnaise and stir well to combine.
- Add enough of remaining mixture to give the potato salad a creamy consistency, but not too wet.
- Add salt and pepper, adjusting to taste if needed.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. The longer it sits, the more the flavors will meld together.
- Just before serving, sprinkle with paprika.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
I love this Southern-style potato salad. Mine is similar but I want to try your recipe next!
Love that you added mustard! It gives it a twist to the normal potato salad
This way is the normal way to me.
I didn’t know people even made it without yellow mustard, eggs and relish (or pickles) until my early 20’s and someone brought some store bought potato salad that had no mustard in it. My folks are from SC/NC/GA so this way with mustard/eggs/relish is my “normal”.
Isn’t it interesting how certain recipes like potato salad vary so much from one region of the country to another? I have a German heritage and I grew up in Wisconsin, so the only potato salad I ate until I moved out of the house was warm, German potato salad. I absolutely hated it and was so happy when I was introduced to what I now call “the one and only potato salad”. If it’s not mustard potato salad with eggs, I want no part of it. 😉
WARM potato salad?! **clutches imaginary pearls**.
Interesting…my mouth is trying to figure that taste out lol.
Haha, exactly!
Hi. I make my mustard potato salad version almost the same except no pickle relish. I think the pickle ruins it. Reminds me of what you would buy at the grocery store.
Hi Mark 🙂
Honestly, I think people are either pickle relish lovers or haters. There’s no gray area. Personally, I love the little extra tang that it brings to my potato salad.
I am a relish hater EXCEPT for when it’s in potato salad lol.
This yellow mustard potato salad with the mustard/eggs/relish (or blended dill pickles) is what I was raised on.
This was the first time I’ve ever made potato salad and I’m so glad I used your recipe! Everyone loved it, flavor were outstanding and it was so easy to make.
This recipe is fantastic!! Thank you!
Deb, thank you so much for stopping by to let me know! Comments like this truly make my day. I’m very happy to hear that the potato salad was a hit.
I’m from southern Louisiana. This recipe is very close to how I make mine except I like mine smooth not chunkie. Alot of folks eat it smooth here. Taste better. This recipe hits it close however! Keep on trucking!
Thank you, Brandy! I had someone from Georgia tell me the same thing about smooth potato salad versus chunky. I’ll have to try it your way some time!
Made potato salad for the 1st time using this recipe. Trying to tweak it because it has too much of the dill pickle taste to it. Any idea on what to add more of to help?
Hi Lauri – If the dill pickle taste is too strong, I would suggest one of two things: Either add another potato or one more hard boiled egg to the potato salad, or add just a tiny bit of sugar to neutralize the dill flavor. Because everyone’s tastes are a little bit different, it’s difficult for me to suggest how much to add. I would start with 1/2 teaspoon and add more if you need to.
I hope this helps!
I decided to use this recipe during this month Ramadan for when it came to breaking my fast, honestly it’s the best potato salad I have ever made!!! Now my little brother loves it and always asks for me to make it again and again!
Thank you so much for this amazing and tasty recipe!
Iyeesha, I am so happy to hear that you and your little brother enjoy my potato salad recipe. It warms my heart when my readers come back to let me know what they think of my recipes, so thank you for doing that!
This is a good potato salad. I want to offer a few hints. Boil the potatoes whole with peel on. When fork tender take them out of the water to partially cool. Then the peel scrapes right off without losing any of the potato.
Boil the eggs with 1 tablespoon of baking soda. This makes peeling the eggs a breeze.
Great tips, Melanie. Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the potato salad. 🙂
Best potato salad ever!!! I left out the celery. Loved it!! Thank you!!
I’m thrilled that you enjoyed my potato salad recipe, Regina. Thank you so much for coming back to let me know. 🙂
I have been trying to make potato salad for the last year using russet potatoes for my restaurant. I have been making potato salad for over 40 years and it’s very similar to yours and have gotten rave review until the past year. I have been making 5-10lbs every week and everyone has loved it. I’ve been boiling the potatoes the same way as always but lately there’s water in the middle which makes it very runny. What am I doing wrong? I know that I been doing the same thing for years. I start with cold water covering the potatoes and bring to a boil and cook for several minutes.
Joni, personally, I like using thin skinned potatoes like Yukon Gold when I make potato salad. They have firmer flesh and they don’t have as much starch in them as russets do. That being said, another tip to remove moisture from the potatoes is this: After boiling, drain the water, then put them back into the hot pan that you used to boil them in. Keep them in there for a minute or so, to let some of the excess moisture from the potatoes release. I hope that helps!
You had me at: your mother is from Tampa, so was my mother. This recipe is reminiscent of hers, and now I’ll have to make some in er honor. Thank you for posting!
Aww. Southern “grown” moms are awesome, Vicki! I hope you love the southern style potato salad recipe as much as I do!
Hello, Becca. I Haven’t tried your recipe yet since I just saw it. But it sounds alot like ours except my family doesn’t usually use celery. Sometimes we put in green bell pepper tho not very often. The yellow might work ok but the red would change the flavor too much, I think, tho I haven’t tried either red nor yellow. And we dont use dill relish very often. Maybe because we just don’t buy it. But we do use dill pickles and pickle juice. Yours sounds delicious tho. And Definitely if it’s made the day before it’s even better. And most of the time we do mash our potatoes w a potato masher so they are smoother. And I think they do pick up more of the flavors that way. I’ll have to try your recipe soon. Thanks and Happy cooking to you!
I grew up eating similar recipe. We didn’t use celery, used sweet relish instead of dill, and added fried bacon pieces. I have never tried dill relish but I might give it a try.
I love the idea of adding fried bacon pieces to the potato salad, Theresa. I will definitely try that!
Love this recipe, very close to the one my dad always made. I just don’t add onions, I use pickle spears and cut them up myself, a little more pickle juice, and my secret ingredient is Italian dressing, I’ve never measured it but I use a squirt, maybe like 4tbsp, and if I feel the need I’ll add more. Try it if you really want to give your potato salad an extra tangy delicious taste, it truly brings together all the flavors.
Hey Alex! Oh my goodness, I would never have thought to add Italian dressing to potato salad, but I bet it adds a wonderful zippy flavor! Thank you so much for your comment and rating of my recipe. 🙂
Man, this is a great recipe, Bec. I also cannot leave a recipe alone so I added Roasted Red Peppers and Tomatoes as well as substituting Duck Eggs and I used half of the regular Mustard and half Spicy Mustard. I’m making it next month for my Mother’s 97th Birthday-her family’s all from the Eau Claire area, she’ll love it!
Robbie, I absolutely love it when my readers can take a recipe of mine and make it their own with a few tweaks! I hope your mother has a fantastic birthday!
Ahh, Southern Uncovered sounds like a really fun how. You’ve piqued my interest. Also I absolutely love extra mustard in potato salad and I’m going for the one with a kick.
This is a fantastic recipe! I’m from the south and know my potato salad and this recipe reminds me of the ones I enjoyed back home. I’m so happy to have a written version that I can refer to often. Thank you for a delicious recipe!
Thank you so much, Joanie. I’m glad you found a southern style potato salad recipe to love!
Looks like a good recipe, but there must be a mistake, 1.5 pounds of potatoes to 5 eggs? What is that? 2 or 3 potatoes?
Hi Janis! There’s actually a LOT of hard boiled egg in this mustard potato salad, but you don’t need to add that many if you don’t want to. I actually updated the recipe to reflect 2 pounds of potatoes. I use 4-5 medium sized russets. I hope you make and enjoy the potato salad. I’d love for you to come back and rate the recipe if you do make it!
I’m so happy to hear that you love the potato salad, Whitney! I never thought about it being a combo of egg salad and potato salad, but you’re right, it sure is!
I like to top it with slices of egg …. my mouth is watering lol.
You obviously have great taste in potato salad recipes! Hard boiled eggs are perfection on Southern style potato salad!
This recipe turned out amazing. It tasted exactly like the homemade potato salad my mom and her mom used to make back in the day. This style is historically perfect and classic!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the potato salad, Jessica! Thank you for your comment and for rating the recipe. Happy holidays!
This is the best southern potato salad I’ve ever eaten and I AM from the south!
You nailed it.
I made this today and my family and i love better then store Potato salad
I’m so happy to hear this, Eugene! Thank you so much for your comment and for rating the recipe. ?
Hello Bec, Looks fabulous. One thing I grew up with in my mom’s potato salad was radishs! They give it a nice color and extra crunch! I always use them in mine!
Thank you, Jessica! I’ve never had radishes in potato salad, but that sounds like a delicious addition!
I’ve been craving mustard potato salad for a few weeks now but since I’m about the only one in our house of five (soon to be six 🙂 ) I don’t buy it all that much. Thank you for letting me get my fix without going to the store! The only thing I tweeked was I added 1/3 on the onion instead of the whole since onions bite me. Thanks again for a great recipe!!!
Aww. I’m so glad that you enjoyed the potato salad. And congratulations on your bundle of love… I’m sure that he or she is thanking you from inside for cutting back on the onion. 😉
Today is the 4th of July and with my usual procrastination, I was lacking a side dish for a bbq tonight. This wasn’t the first potato salad recipe that popped up, but the “Southern” definitely caught my eye. I just whipped up a batch and it’s in the fridge ready to go. Simply delicious, creamy, and is sure to be a hit! Thanks for saving me today!
Callie, I wish I could give you a big hug right now. Your thoughtful comment couldn’t have come at a better time. I am so happy to know that you enjoy the potato salad and I hope your 4th of July guests felt the same way! Thank you for the review and for rating the recipe.
Been really craving homemade potato salad but no recipe I seen said I’m the the one till I seen yours potato’s are on the store so are the eggs, then gonna whip it up for later and will let you know how me and baby to be like it but I’m sure we will love it!
Aww, this is such a sweet comment. Thank you so much!
I love this recipe! Is there any way to increase the ingredients to serve 200 people? I need to know asap! Thanks!
Hi Kimberly,
To make the recipe so that it serves 200 people, you’ll need to multiply each ingredient by 33.3.
33.3 is the number of servings you want (200) divided by the number of servings the recipe is. Written for (6).
So far example, if the recipe calls for 4 pounds of potatoes to serve 6 people, you’ll multiply 4 times 33.3 and the answer is how many pounds of potatoes you’ll need.
Hope this helps!
Warm potato salad is what i always requested from my mom. I’m from Texas with German heritage in my blood. Its phenomenal. Russets are usually too delicate for me. I use more mustard, less mayo but am proud to see the addition of pickle juice! I have an aversion to boiled eggs though. If you haven’t heard of German warm potato salad, you gotta get on that!
The next time you make you potato salad skip the paprika and give it a Sprinkle of nutmeg instead much better flavor
I also use nutmeg on deviled eggs
My mother is from Georgia and i grew up eating potato salad made like this recipe. My mom always put a can of sweet corn in there. It gives it a great crunch. It’s always a hit.
Ooo I like it.
Would it be wise to boil potatoes the night before and let them sit in fridge overnight,so that they are already cold before mixing?
If you have the time I don’t see why that would be a problem!
Very Nice Basics but adjust to your liking.
I tried the recipe for a memorial day cookout and told everyone to let me know what they thought. The consensus was that it was good but too runny. There is too much mayo in the recipe. I’d use about 1/4th cup of mayo and then slowly spoon in the other 1/4th cup to your liking. Keep in mind that the relish comes in liquid also.
I like seasoning, so I put a little seasoning salt instead of table salt.
I liked the recipe over all great job.
I made this recipe last weekend with fried chicken! It was a huge hit with my family! My hubby is hard to please with potato salad, and he really liked it! ?Thanks so much- this is a keeper for us!
does anyone know of anything i could use in place of mayo? i want to make it for my family but my dad hates mayo!!!
You could try sour cream instead of mayo, but the salad will be tangier and not quite as luxurious (mayo has more fat than sour cream). In my experience, people who say they “hate” a certain food just haven’t had it in the right preparation. Try making it with the mayo, and if your dad doesn’t like it, he doesn’t have to eat it—but I bet he does eat it!
I have family members who use salad dressing such as Miracle Whip. It tastes sweeter to me. I use Hellmann’s Mayo myself but you might give it a try, it tastes fine with Miracle Whip.
I made this and I live how easy and few ingredients were needed. As usual I forgot the celery so I added red and green bell peppers instead. The taste was ok, but next time I will have to tweak it. I will probably put less mustard and I like mine with a little sweeter taste so I will use sweet relish. But very simple and easy to read recipe.
Love this recipe. It’s been my go to for put lucks for a couple years now. I always have everything on hand (minus the celery which I leave out because I don’t like the crunch).
I like to dice up dill pickles instead of using relish. I also like Dijon mustard instead of yellow.
Having grown up in Louisiana, THIS IS IT!! Thanks so much for writing it down~