# Potato Salad Opinions
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 26, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191 "2018-04-26T22:22:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/1 "2018-04-26T22:22:21Z")
I made up some potato salad yesterday. The only thing I did different was I was extra careful not to overcook the potatoes like I usually do. I am very happy with the texture of the potatoes and overall taste but disappointed because the water and liquids that are shed by many of the ingredients are not absorbed by the potatoes and settles at the bottom. The mayo base becomes a bit soupy.
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Has anyone ever tried overcooking just a fraction of the potatoes to thicken the base?
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### Author:  [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/2 "2018-04-26T22:46:13Z")
Why not?
For maximum effect, you could overcook _and mash_ some percentage of your potatoes.
Worst case, you get a batch of slightly sub-par potato salad. I’ll help you eat it. 🙂
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### Author:  [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/3 "2018-04-26T23:52:44Z")
I like mine overcooked a bit, and I mash a few of them so that the dressing is thickened. Specifically, I like Japanese potato salad, which is almost more like chunky mashed potatoes with bits of cucumber, cooked carrot, and egg embedded in them. Good stuff.
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### Author:  [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/4 "2018-04-26T23:57:54Z")
When I make potato salad I pull the potatoes out of the boiling water when cooked and let them cool in the open air. That allows them to dry out and improves the texture of the final product. I never have trouble with liquid settling at the bottom.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/5 "2018-04-27T00:24:01Z")
I like mine with chopped dill pickle in it.
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### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/6 "2018-04-27T00:28:42Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> I like mine with chopped dill pickle in it.
I used chop dills, sweet pickle relish and chopped Famous Daves spicy pickles
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### Author:  [@Luke\_who\_s\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luke_who_s_here)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/7 "2018-04-27T05:45:30Z")
My first post here! I make the usual potato salad with some garnishing of carrot and celery, mayo, salt and pepper. But lately I’ve been adding chopped apple to the mix, about one apple for every similar sized tater. Result is somewhat like a potato Waldorf.
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### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/8 "2018-04-27T13:49:13Z")
I boiled air dried and mashed 2 more potatoes. Added them to the mix and it was perfect.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/9 "2018-04-27T13:58:06Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#):
>
> For maximum effect, you could overcook _and mash_ some percentage of your potatoes.
Dad liked to make mashed potato salad.
I like to make Hawaiian-style potato-mac salad with peas in it.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/10 "2018-04-27T14:02:53Z")
Ya also need some deviled eggs chopped up in it. That is heaven.
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### Author:  [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/11 "2018-04-27T14:23:03Z")
I’m off today, thinking of things to do with my Dragon Energy, and now I want to make potato salad. This thread is mouth watering. Never tried the mashed potato thickening base but doesn’t sound bad. The idea about letting the potatoes dry out is always good, too.
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### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/12 "2018-04-27T14:56:49Z")
My basic recipe is chopped celery about 1 stick to two potatoes, 1 egg for each potato, dill, sweet and spicy pickles, substitute pickle relish for sweet pickles. Mustard seed soaked in vinegar overnight. pepper and poultry seasoning mix.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/13 "2018-04-27T15:07:56Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#):
>
> Mustard seed soaked in vinegar overnight.
My mom made the best potato salad. I asked her once for her recipe, but she didn’t use one. ‘My “Big Secret”, Ha Ha, is that I soak the mustard seeds in vinegar.’
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/14 "2018-04-27T15:10:04Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#):
>
> I like mine overcooked a bit, and I mash a few of them so that the dressing is thickened. Specifically, I like Japanese potato salad, which is almost more like chunky mashed potatoes with bits of cucumber, cooked carrot, and egg embedded in them. Good stuff.
This is the best type. So good.
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### Author:  [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/15 "2018-04-27T20:48:44Z")
So many “best types” of potato salad. 🙂
To me, the thing about potato salad is every person who makes it seems to end up putting their own little spin on it. Sure there are a few classic recipes that show different ways of thinking about it, but it’s easy to, you know, extrapolate a little. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/16 "2018-04-27T23:11:00Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#):
>
> So many “best types” of potato salad. 🙂
>
> To me, the thing about potato salad is every person who makes it seems to end up putting their own little spin on it. Sure there are a few classic recipes that show different ways of thinking about it, but it’s easy to, you know, extrapolate a little. 🙂
I do not want to hijack this too much, and I LOVE potato salad. Even for breakfast, weird as that is. However, a properly prepared “German” potato salad, while labor intensive, goes miles beyond the usual USA/North American/Western Hemisphere recipes. Try it one time - and you might not go back to bland. PEACE. Meanwhile, I will bring appetizers and a few bottles of fine wine while helping you in the kitchen. Save the skins for me. That is where the nutrition is. 🆒
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### Author:  [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/17 "2018-04-27T23:24:20Z")
ETA: message was directed to HoneyBadgerDC, but this is a public board and no problem - except that I forgot to pick up potatoes while shopping and now I am craving. Darn it.
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/18 "2018-04-28T02:14:44Z")
One of the few Latvian recipes I make on occasion is Rassols salad. It’s a potato, beet, and herring salad in a sour cream dressing. It’s a bright pink salad because of the beets, so people at a potluck tend to mistake it for a dessert. You can either warn people ahead of time, or wait and watch their faces. “Surprise! It’s herring!”
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### Author:  [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/19 "2018-04-28T06:03:13Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#):
>
> I do not want to hijack this too much, and I LOVE potato salad. Even for breakfast, weird as that is. However, a properly prepared “German” potato salad, while labor intensive, goes miles beyond the usual USA/North American/Western Hemisphere recipes. Try it one time - and you might not go back to bland. PEACE. Meanwhile, I will bring appetizers and a few bottles of fine wine while helping you in the kitchen. Save the skins for me. That is where the nutrition is. 🆒
I’ve never learned to make German potato salad, but knowing it’s definitely not the same thing and definitely good, someday I’ll have to try.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-opinions/813191/20 "2018-04-28T13:50:25Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#):
>
> I’ve never learned to make German potato salad, but knowing it’s definitely not the same thing and definitely good, someday I’ll have to try.
[German potato salad](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/german-potato-salad-recipe-1938990)
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