bearisgray

Cut peeled potatoes into bite-sized pieces, barely cover with salted water, and cook until tender. Then drain the water off.

Add dressing to the potatoes while potatoes are still hot - the flavor seems to get absorbed better.

I used to cook the potatoes with their skins on and then peel them and then cut them up. It seems so much easier to do the peeling and cutting up before cooking them now.

Geri B

Hmm, may try it that way next time....parboiling whole potatoes can sometimes be tricky....center may be a bit harder than should be, chunks would cook more evenly....thanks

heres a warning........last year I was peeling my celery..I really hate the strings, used to just pull them of, but dd suggested peeling. So I did, made potato salad...good the first day, left overs the next day were soupy....never happened before....made another small batch, using Hellman mayo...instead of cheaper, thinking that was the culprit...same results...potato salad soup! Then the light went on....did not peel nor string celery....perfect.....even leftovers...so never too old to learn!

tessagin

This is how I do it now. It was so much easier to cool down smaller pieces than it was to wait for the whole potato. And you're right the potatoes get flavored so much better. I often just use a salad dressing instead of mixing the customary mayo and mustard. Honey mustard dressing works great or ranch for a not so sweet potato salad.

GingerK

And I guess if you over cook the potatoes a bit, you've got the makings for mashed! That would be my only worry--that the pieces were too soft or broke apart while mixing. Will have to give it a try tho.

Doggramma

That's what I do for my sicilian potato/green bean/tomato salad with olive oil dressing. I'll have to try it for the mayo kind now too.

Crqltr

Another tip for salad If you put boiled egg in it. Put a couple inches of water in a jar that has a cover, add boiled egg and shake...shells fall right off!

mac

I just tried making potatoes for salad like that and I guess I cooked them too long. I ended up making mashed potatoes. How long did you cook the potatoes? How big did you cut the potatoes? Did you leave them in big chunks?
Help. I think that is a great idea, if I can only perfect the boiling part.
Thanks in advance.

Jingle

I peel potatoes, cut up boil as for mashed potatoes, drain off water. I mash them a bit (I don't like biting into cold chunk of potatoes). I add chopped onion, boiled eggs and dill pickles, add about 1 tsp. dry mustard, tsp of celery seeds, a bit of salt & pepper. Mix all together add real mayonnaise and some dill pickle juice, stir all together. I always have to have a bowl right then, I enjoy it most when it is still a bit warm. If heaven had a taste this would be it.
All my family love this.

bearisgray

I cut them 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks/cubes. I do keep an eye on them so they don't overcook.

Also, some varieties of potatoes hold their shape better than others. I think we traditionally used red potatoes for potato salad because they did not mash/mush up as quickly as the brown skinned ones did.

hoprigmom

That is how I cook the potatoes, peeled and cubed. My husband's family has always had what I call "mashed potato salad". This is how his mother made hers and not the way I grew up using the cold cooked potatoes and cubing them. So i changed my way, and now I make the famous mashed potato salad. Once in a while I get a request to make a bowl of potato salad just like husband's mother made it. You actually almost mash the potatoes with a pastry blender. Cut them up fine when still a tad warm. Then you need to add a bit of dill pickle "juice" to the salad dressing, mustard, seasonings, half and half. I have gotten used to this way. His mother was full-blooded Irish and his father was full-blooded German, so I don't know if this is from the Irish side or the German side. Or maybe it was a combination of ways as three generations lived on the home place.