Potato Salad Recipes

A truly great potato salad doesn't come from a tub. It comes from getting a few key details right. Forget mushy, bland salads—follow these rules for potato perfection.

• Use the Right Potato: This is the most important step. You must use a waxy potato. Varieties like New Potatoes, Charlotte, or Maris Peer hold their shape when cooked and have a firm, creamy bite. Floury potatoes (like Maris Piper or King Edward) will disintegrate and turn to mush.
• Cook Them Correctly: Start your potatoes in cold, salted water, then bring them to a simmer. This ensures they cook evenly from the outside in. Simmer until just tender when pierced with a knife—do not overcook.
• Master Your Dressing Time: This is crucial and depends on your dressing.
• For Vinaigrette Salads: Dress the potatoes while they are still warm. The warm potatoes will absorb the zesty dressing, becoming incredibly flavourful.
• For Mayo Salads: Let the potatoes cool completely. Adding mayonnaise to hot potatoes can cause the dressing to split, become oily, or even (in the worst-case scenario) increase the risk of bacteria.
• Go Beyond the Potato: The best salads have texture and flavour from add-ins. Spring onions, fresh chives, dill, crispy bacon, or finely chopped gherkins or capers all add essential crunch and sharp flavour to cut through the richness.

This is a fantastic, reliable base for a classic potato salad with mayonnaise. It's balanced, tangy, and ready in minutes.

Ingredients: - 150g mayonnaise - 75g Greek yoghurt or soured cream - 1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard - 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or the pickle juice from a jar of gherkins) - 2 spring onions, finely sliced - 2 tbsp fresh chives or dill, finely chopped - Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method: 1. In a large bowl (the one you'll add the potatoes to), mix the mayonnaise, Greek yoghurt, Dijon mustard, and vinegar. 2. Stir in the finely sliced spring onions and fresh herbs. 3. Add a generous pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. 4. This is the most important step! Give it a taste. Does it need more salt? A little more tang from some lemon juice? Adjust it now before you add the potatoes. 5. Gently fold in your completely cooled cooked new potatoes until they are all coated. It's even better if left in the fridge for 30 minutes for the flavours to meld.