We love this easy red potato salad recipe, with its creamy dressing, red potatoes, and lots of fresh herbs. Trust me, you’ll want to make it again and again.
Potato salad is one of my favorite side dishes. It’s easy to make, tastes better when made ahead of time, and everyone loves it. We have a few potato salad recipes on Inspired Taste, such as our original creamy potato salad or this mayonnaise-free lemon herb potato salad.
This red potato salad recipe is a mash-up of the two salads I mentioned above. The dressing is rich and creamy, like our original salad, but we bump up the herbs with a generous handful of parsley, dill, and chives. It’s incredible!
Key Ingredients
- Red Potatoes: I love using smaller red potatoes since I can cook them whole. Chopping them does help them cook a bit quicker, but potatoes that have been cooked whole taste better and are fluffier in the middle. I do not peel my potatoes for this red potato salad.
- Vinegar: My trick for the best red potato salad is to scatter vinegar over the cooked potatoes while they are still warm. It’s incredible how much of a difference in flavor the vinegar makes. I use red wine vinegar for this salad, but apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, and even dill pickle juice work well. I use pickle juice in the video!
- Celery and Pickles: Both add a fresh crunch. I love dill pickles, so we always add them, but you can leave them out or use bread and butter pickles instead.
- Fresh Herbs: I use a lot of fresh herbs in this salad and love it! I use parsley, dill, and chives.
- Creamy Dressing: Have you heard the statement, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? Well, that’s how we feel about our favorite potato salad dressing. We use this dressing in our original potato salad recipe and love it so much that we don’t see a reason to change it. Our readers love it, too! You’ll need 3 ingredients: mayonnaise, sour cream, and mustard.
How to Make Red Potato Salad
Cook your potatoes in a big pot of water and add a good amount of salt. The water should taste salty. Salting your water is essential since it seasons the potatoes. Without it, they will taste bland, even after tossing them in your dressing.
Then, when the potatoes are cooked and cool enough to handle, scatter a couple of tablespoons of vinegar over them.
To put the salad together, make your dressing. Remember, it’s only three ingredients! The mayonnaise adds richness and flavor (try homemade mayo), the sour cream lightens up the heaviness of the mayo and adds some tanginess, and the mustard adds more tanginess and a little color. (I use yellow mustard.)
Then, toss your potatoes with the celery, pickles, and fresh herbs. I gently toss everything together, being careful not to mash the potatoes too much in the salad. It’s delicious right away, but if you have the time, pop it into the fridge overnight. This salad gets better over time!
What to Serve with Red Potato Salad
I’m such a fan of this creamy red potato salad and love that it takes full advantage of fresh summer herbs! Thanks to the red skins, it’s beautiful on a serving table. It’s perfect for all of your summer gatherings and cookouts. I love it next to grilled steak, grilled chicken, burgers, and hot dogs.
It’s also perfect with other sides like our Italian pasta salad, this orzo salad, or my favorite broccoli salad!
Creamy Red Potato Salad
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PREP
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TOTAL
Small potatoes are best for this red potato salad. This way, the potatoes maintain their natural moisture and sweetness. We prefer the texture when cooked whole, but you can chop the potatoes if you’re in a pinch for time or if your potatoes are large.
If you don’t have red potatoes, use other waxy potatoes, such as Yukon potatoes, white or creamer potatoes, and fingerling potatoes. These are quick-cooking, and since they are already small, there’s no need to chop them before cooking them. Russet or baking potatoes will also work, but the salad’s texture will be less creamy.
Makes 6 servings
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
2 pounds (907g) small red potatoes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or dill pickle juice
1/2 cup (120g) sour cream
1/4 cup (58g) mayonnaise, try homemade mayonnaise
1 tablespoon yellow mustard, substitute Dijon or whole grain mustard
2 celery stalks, finely chopped, about 1/3 cup
1 to 2 medium dill pickles, finely chopped, about 1/3 cup
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Directions
1Add the potatoes to a large pot and cover with 1 ½ inches of water. Season with salt (use one teaspoon for every quart of water).
2Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer (boiling the potatoes can cause them to hit one another and break apart). Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork.
3Meanwhile, set up an ice bath. Add cold water to a medium bowl filled with ice. Drain the potatoes and then place them into the ice bath.
4When cool enough to handle, chop the potatoes into bite-size chunks and add them to a large bowl. Scatter the vinegar over the potatoes and lightly season with salt.
5Stir the mayonnaise, sour cream, and mustard in a bowl.
6Add the mayonnaise mixture, celery, pickles, and herbs to the potatoes. Gently stir to combine, being careful not to mash the potatoes too much.
7Season with salt and pepper to taste. If you have the time, refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving (it’s tastes better).
Adam and Joanne’s Tips
- Storing: Make potato salad up to 3 days in advance. Keep covered in the refrigerator.
- Sour cream: Substitute 1/2 cup crème fraîche for the sour cream.
- Dried herbs: You can use dried herbs for this salad. We recommend adding one to two tablespoons. I especially love dill and chives.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
Nutrition Per Serving
Serving Size
1/6 of the recipe (6 servings total)
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Calories
216
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Total Fat
10.9g
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Saturated Fat
3.1g
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Cholesterol
15.2mg
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Sodium
627.3mg
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Carbohydrate
26.1g
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Dietary Fiber
3.1g
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Total Sugars
3.1g
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Protein
3.8g
We’re Adam and Joanne, a couple passionate about cooking and sharing delicious, reliable recipes since 2009. Our goal? To inspire you to get in the kitchen and confidently cook fresh and flavorful meals.More About Us
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