This creamy and flavorful Texas potato salad recipe takes just a few extra simple ingredients and transforms them into a truly epic side dish.
This Texas potato salad is anything but your average side dish. It combines the perfect balance of zesty mustard with creamy mayo and sweet relish to make an irresistible Southern-style potato salad.
Discover tips and tricks for making the ultimate Texas potato salad with just a handful of ingredients, and have it on the table in no time!
What is Texas Potato Salad?
If there’s one thing that Texas is known for, it’s barbecue. That said, you can’t have a good cook-off without some equally flavorful side dishes. This Texas potato salad recipe takes your average potato salad and ramps it up a couple of notches with the addition of just a few simple ingredients.
For starters, both mustard and mayonnaise are used – as opposed to just mayo – which makes for a vibrantly colored and tangy potato salad. Then, dill pickle relish and diced hardboiled eggs are added to give it a sweet but hearty finish.
Once you’ve had potato salad Texas BBQ style, you’ll never go back.
How to Make Texas Potato Salad
This Texas potato salad recipe couldn’t be more simple. Even if you’ve never made it before, you’ll have no problem making this creamy southern-style potato salad. Find our full recipe at the bottom of this article, but our simple recipe breaks down into the following steps:
- Cook Potatoes: Add washed and cubed potatoes to a large pot of water, bring to a boil, then cook until fork tender but not mushy. Set aside in the fridge to cool.
- Make the Mayonnaise Mixture: Combine the mayo, both mustards, salt, pepper, and relish.
- Combine: Transfer the mayo mix to the cooled potatoes, and toss gently to combine.
- Add the Eggs: Dice the eggs and gently fold them into the potato salad.
- Serve: After refrigerating for an hour, serve cold and enjoy!
Ingredients
This recipe for Texas potato salad uses only the most common ingredients. In fact, you probably have most, if not all, of the ingredients you’ll need on hand already.
Here’s exactly what you’ll need to make this Texas potato salad:
- Potatoes: Preferably Yukon gold or red potatoes since they are waxy and will hold their shape. Russet potatoes will work if you’re in a pinch, but the potato salad will have a different texture.
- Mayonnaise: Adds creaminess and tangy flavor. Use any mayo you prefer, including vegan mayo, for a vegan potato salad.
- Mustard: Both yellow and Dijon mustard are used to impart layers of flavor, though Dijon can be omitted or swapped for any other mustard of your choice.
- Relish: Sweet dill pickle relish to add sweetness and tangy flavor. Can be swapped for chopped dill pickles.
- Eggs: Hardboiled, peeled, and diced. Can be omitted if allergic.
Best Potatoes for Boiling
There’s a perfect potato for just about every method of cooking you can think of. That said, when it comes to boiling potatoes, you can’t go wrong with either Yukon gold or red potatoes.
That’s because those types of potatoes are waxy and will maintain their shape better after they’ve been cooked. Since potato salad is all about texture, you’ll want to use potatoes that will hold up after being cooked and tossed with other ingredients.
Russet potatoes are more starchy and tend to fall apart easily, which makes for good mashed potatoes, but they will likely turn out gritty in potato salad.
Leftovers
This recipe for Texas potato salad makes about eight servings, though you could easily make a double – or triple – batch of this recipe with little to no added prep time. And, if you’re lucky, you might even end up with some leftovers.
Speaking of leftovers, you can store leftover Texas potato salad in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge. Stored this way, it should last up to 3-4 days.
Unfortunately, it is not a good idea to freeze cold potato salad, as it will turn gritty and lose its texture as it defrosts.
Quick Tips
- When boiling potatoes, it is best to add them to cold water and then bring the water to a boil, as opposed to adding the potatoes to boiling water. This will help guarantee they cook evenly and don’t get mushy.
- Keep in mind that the smaller the potato cubes, the faster they will cook, so cut them into uniform pieces and check them throughout the boiling process.
- This is a great make-ahead recipe that you can build the night before. Just make sure to give the potatoes a good stir right before serving.
Texas Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 lbs potatoes preferably Yukon gold or red potatoes, washed and cut into 1” cubes
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- ½ cup chopped dill pickles
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 4 eggs hardboiled and peeled, optional
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with the potatoes and enough water to cover them by 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil, then cover and cook on medium-high for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender but not mushy.
- Strain the cooked potatoes and transfer them to a large bowl. Set aside in the fridge to cool for 20 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooling, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the mayonnaise, yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, relish, and salt and pepper.
- When the potatoes have cooled, transfer the mayo mixture to the bowl of potatoes and stir gently to combine.
- Dice the hard-boiled eggs and add them to the bowl of potato salad, tossing to combine.
- Cover and let sit in the fridge for an hour before serving.
Notes
- Not got fresh dill pickles? Simply swap them for dill pickle relish in a 1:1 ratio
- The eggs can be easily omitted if you or your guests are allergic