# Potato Salad. What's your secret ingredient?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 5, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426 "2011-06-05T19:50:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/1 "2011-06-05T19:50:12Z")
Just as the title says, really.
We’re having a cold plate supper this evening, including homemade potato salad.
Which got me to wondering, what’s the unexpected ingredient in yours?
Sometimes I add a little pickle juice to mine, and sometimes, very finely shredded snow peas, not too many though.
How about you?
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### Author:  [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/2 "2011-06-05T19:54:01Z")
Any/all of the following: hard-boiled egg, onion, celery.
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### Author:  [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/3 "2011-06-05T20:15:56Z")
Lemon and pepper seasoning instead of just pepper. My potato salad is a simple affair, with just potatoes, mayo, celery, hard-boiled egg, salt, and the aforementioned seasoning (and perhaps a bit of dill or green onion if I have it).
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/4 "2011-06-05T20:23:32Z")
Contortionists.
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### Author:  [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/5 "2011-06-05T20:30:22Z")
Mine is actually a salad.
Lettuce, mashed potatoes, chives and a creamy vinegar dressing, not too sweet. Mmm.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/6 "2011-06-05T21:09:02Z")
I don’t know how “secret” it is, but I like lots of fresh garlic (grated fine) in potato salad. Mom put dry hot mustard in hers.
I grew up with potato salad using mayo. Went to a barbecue shortly after moving to Seattle where the potato salad was tossed with a vinegar dressing, no mayo. I didn’t like it.
On preview, no offense **Flutterby**. I think a creamy dressing would be better than what I had.
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### Author:  [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/7 "2011-06-05T21:13:09Z")
Potatoes.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/8 "2011-06-05T21:20:46Z")
Nothing secretive about it, but I use blue cheese. I make an unconventional potato salad in general - more savory than tangy, and more like dressed potatoes than a chunky mash.
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### Author:  [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/9 "2011-06-05T21:25:43Z")
My favorite potato salad recipe uses a half mayo & half sour cream dressing; could be reworked to use yogurt. Plus scallions, celery seeds & sliced radishes. I also like a recipe from The New York Times Cookbook–in a sort of oil & vinegar dressing with tarragon.
Although I like egg salad & regard deviled eggs as a delicacy, boiled eggs in potato or tuna salad make my blood run cold.
(The mercury hit 101 in Houston today; time to think of recipes that can be cooked in the cool of the day & refrigerated.)
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### Author:  [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/10 "2011-06-05T21:29:22Z")
Dill and sour cream. It’s not really a secret though. If you can’t tell there’s dill in the potato salad, you’re blind and have no taste buds.
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### Author:  [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/11 "2011-06-05T21:41:38Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
>
> My favorite potato salad recipe uses a half mayo & half sour cream dressing; could be reworked to use yogurt. Plus scallions, celery seeds & sliced radishes. I also like a recipe from The New York Times Cookbook–in a sort of oil & vinegar dressing with tarragon.
>
> Although I like egg salad & regard deviled eggs as a delicacy, boiled eggs in potato or tuna salad make my blood run cold.
>
> (The mercury hit 101 in Houston today; time to think of recipes that can be cooked in the cool of the day & refrigerated.)
I agree egg in tuna salad (or chix for that matter) is too much, in potato or pasta saled? YUMMM!
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### Author:  [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/12 "2011-06-05T22:11:28Z")
My mom puts finely diced pieces of dill pickle in hers. She also mashes the potatoes, so it’s less like potato salad and more like mashed potatoes with mayo in them. There’s onion and celery in there too, along with celery seed and paprika and probably some other stuff I’m forgetting. NOM.
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### Author:  [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/13 "2011-06-05T22:11:32Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
>
> My favorite potato salad recipe uses a half mayo & half sour cream dressing; could be reworked to use yogurt. Plus scallions, celery seeds & sliced radishes.
I like the idea of celery seeds–to me, raw celery makes the whole thing taste entirely of celery, but the seeds would add a hint of that flavor.
My recipe uses mayo and sour cream too, also a squirt of mustard and hard cooked eggs. I grate the onion so its flavor is there without anyone biting into a chunk of it. I dress and toss the potatoes while they are still warm so they really soak up the dressing.
My aunt used to make a special Fourth of July potato salad with fresh peas added. Man, I loved that stuff! Think I will give it a whirl myself this Independence Day.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/14 "2011-06-05T22:37:38Z")
BACON!
Okay, maybe that’s not so unexpected, but it’s goooooood. The unexpected, probably couldn’t name it ingredient, is just a bit of apple cider vinegar, along with the mayo, celery seed and other stuff.
I use scallions instead of regular onions, and about half seasoning salt with half regular salt, but otherwise [this](http://www.food.com/recipe/creamy-potato-salad-20155)is my recipe.
I hate potato salad. I love \*this \*potato salad.
I’m looking to reduce the fat content though. I hate low-fat mayo, so I’ll try half yogurt instead, next time I make it.
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### Author:  [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/15 "2011-06-05T22:48:34Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> Nothing secretive about it, but I use blue cheese. I make an unconventional potato salad in general - more savory than tangy, and more like dressed potatoes than a chunky mash.
Good idea, because normally the potato salad at any given picnic is otherwise the epitome of bland filler. For some reason most people seem to think potatoes and flavor don’t go together.
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### Author:  [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/16 "2011-06-05T23:08:46Z")
Capers.
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### Author:  [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/17 "2011-06-05T23:12:30Z")
Cayenne. I like to blow my guests right out of their Adirondack chairs.
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### Author:  [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/18 "2011-06-05T23:12:55Z")
I use dijon mustard and it gives it a nice kick.
I also serve it warm (i.e. just when the eggs and potatoes are done cooking) which most people seem to enjoy - i’ve never had leftovers which is sort of a drag because I would like to try it cold. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/19 "2011-06-05T23:15:21Z")
Several years ago I made a family cookbook. Here’s my entry for my potato salad, which I think is freakin’ amazing but which I make very rarely since my wife doesn’t like blue cheese or olives:
> [@](#):
>
> Potato Salad, under North Carolina Statute has to have no flavor in it stronger than mayonnaise. This salad, by virtue of having half a dozen stronger flavors, can get you ten to twenty.
>
> Note that all measurements here are approximations; definitely do it by eye, rather than by measuring cup.
>
> 5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes. (Don’t substitute some bland white taters, either—it won’t be nearly as tasty)
> 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
> 2/3 cup olive oil
> Pinches or spoonfuls of herbs, including parsley, basil, and a little bit of thyme.
> 3 or more cloves garlic, crushed
> ¼ cup mayonnaise
> 2 stalks celery, chopped
> ½ cup pitted good olives, chopped
> ½ a medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
> 4 oz bleu cheese (rocquefort or stilton or whatever), crumbled
> salt and pepper to taste
>
> Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces, and boil until tender but not dissolving. Drain.
> Meanwhile, mix the vinegar, oil, herbs, garlic, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper together into a dressing.
> Add the celery, olives, onions, and crumbled cheese to the dressing, until you have a nasty-looking slurry.
> Pour this slurry over the potatoes and mix it in well. Eat your first bowl of it while it’s hot, and then eat a bowl later after it’s refrigerated, and decide which you like better.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potato-salad-whats-your-secret-ingredient/584426/20 "2011-06-05T23:44:19Z")
Olive oil and a bit of cider vinegar for tang, HBEs and chopped dill pickles, celery, onion, garlic, mayo. Smoked paprika on top.
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