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American Russet Potato Salad

American russet potato salad with creamy mayonnaise dressing and classic picnic-style mix-ins. Russet potatoes are boiled until tender, cooled completely, then folded with chopped hard-boiled eggs for a traditional American potato salad texture.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chilling 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Calories: 650
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Russet potatoes
  • 4 lb russet potatoes Peeled and cubed
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs Chopped
  • 0.5 cup celery Diced
  • 0.25 cup onion Finely diced
  • 0.25 cup sweet pickle relish
  • 1.25 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp yellow mustard
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 salt and pepper To taste
  • 1 paprika For garnish

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Boil and cool the potatoes and eggs
  1. Bring a Dutch oven of salted water to a rolling boil, add the russet potatoes, and boil until tender, 10–15 minutes, until a fork slides in easily (visual cue: potatoes look fully softened).
  2. Drain the potatoes in a colander and let them cool completely at room temperature, 20–30 minutes (visual cue: no steam and cubes feel cool to the touch).
  3. Bring the water back to a boil and hard-boil the hard-boiled eggs until firm, 10–12 minutes (visual cue: yolks are set, not runny).
Chop and combine the potato salad base
  1. Chop the hard-boiled eggs and set aside (visual cue: yolk and whites look evenly chopped).
  2. Combine the cooled russet potatoes, chopped hard-boiled eggs, diced celery, finely diced onion, and sweet pickle relish in a large bowl and mix gently to distribute (visual cue: ingredients are evenly speckled throughout).
Make the creamy dressing and fold
  1. Whisk mayonnaise, yellow mustard, white vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper in a separate bowl until smooth, 1–2 minutes (visual cue: dressing looks creamy and fully blended).
  2. Pour the dressing over the potato mixture and fold gently until all potato surfaces look coated (visual cue: glossy creamy coating clings to the cubes).
Chill and serve
  1. Refrigerate the potato salad at least 2 hours, keeping it covered (visual cue: it thickens slightly and tastes well set).
  2. Before serving, garnish with paprika in an even light dusting (visual cue: visible red speckles on top).

Notes

For the best texture, cool the russet potatoes completely before mixing so the dressing stays creamy instead of thinning. Refrigerate in a covered container up to 3 days; freeze is not recommended for this mayonnaise-based salad. For a lighter option, use reduced-fat mayonnaise without changing the method.