Some common mistakes to avoid when making potato salad are using the wrong potatoes, starting in boiling water, forgetting to salt the water, dressing the potato salad at the wrong temperature and leaving excess moisture.
When making potato salad, you should use potatoes like Red Bliss Potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes, which are waxy potatoes that hold their shape.
Avoid using starchy potatoes like Russets when making potato salad as they fall apart.
Also start the potatoes in cold water that is salted for even cooking as starting your potatoes in boiling water cooks the outside of the potatoes before the inside of the potato is done.
And make sure you salt the water when boiling, to flavor the potatoes from the inside and use 1 to 2 tablespoons of salt per pot of water.
If you're using a mayonnaise based dressing for your potato salad, you should allow the potatoes to cool for at least 30 minutes, as hot potatoes will melt the mayonnaise and make the potato salad oily.
Although you should dress warm potatoes if using an oil and vinegar base as they absorb the flavors much better.
And if you rinse or steam the potatoes for your potato salad, let the potatoes drain completely for 10 minutes.
Trapped water will pool at the bottom of the bowl and water down your dressing for your potato salad.
A great 1 ingredient upgrade for potato salad is pickle juice.
Adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of pickle juice from a jar of dill pickles or other pickles into the dressing for potato salad or even added to the potato salad itself can brighten up the heavy and creamy ingredients with a bold, savory tang without adding any extra fat.
Other good ingredients to add to potato salad to upgrade the potato salad are evaporated milk, Creole mustard, celery leaves and even Chinese Hot Mustard.
Evaporated milk can add ultimate creaminess to your potato salad, simply mix a splash of evaporated milk into the mayonnaise dressing and it will emulsify beautifully and will not curdle when it's mixed with the tangy acids.
If you want a flavorful punch and texture, you can replace the regular mustard with a stone ground Creole mustard like Zatarain's.
You can also chop up delicate celery leaves from the center of a celery stalk and toss them in the potato salad as they act as a fresh herb, adding a huge punch of savory celery flavor without the extra crunch.
And you can also swap out the standard yellow mustard for the Chinese hot mustard to give the potato salad a great horseradish like kick.
The potatoes that are best for potato salad are Yukon Gold potatoes and red potatoes.
Both Yukon Gold potatoes and red potatoes have a waxy texture that hold their shape perfectly when they are boiled and prevents the potato salad from turning to mush.
You should avoid using starchy Russet potatoes in potato salad as they often break down and fall apart.
Potato salad is healthy for you when eaten in moderation.
Although the traditional versions of potato salad are made with heavy mayonnaise and are calorie dense and high in fat, which an be unhealthy when eaten in excess.
You can however transform the potato salad into a highly nutritious, protein rich and gut friendly food by swapping a few ingredients and additions.
The potatoes in potato salad are naturally rich in potassium, fiber and vitamin C.
And when the potatoes are cooked and cooled the starches in the potatoes convert to resistant starch, which is a prebiotic fiber that aids digestion and regulates blood sugar.
And the traditional recipes for potato salad also sue large amounts of standard mayonnaise, which can contain 300 to 300 calories and heavy saturated fats per cup.
To make your potato salad healthier, change out the dressing and swap out half or even all of the mayonnaise in the potato salad for plain Greek yogurt or vinaigrette to boost protein and cut down on saturated fat.
Add in vegetables like diced celery, bell peppers or radishes to add some crunch and increase the vitamins of the potato salad, which make it healthier.
And add in some lean protein, by chopping up some hard boiled eggs to make the potato salad more filling and increase the protein content.
You can also add these additional ingredients to the regular potato salad or even make homemade potato salad which can be much healthier.
With homemade potato salad you control the ingredients and can make it as healthy and delicious as you want to make it.
Store bought potato salad can be healthy in moderation, when eaten as part of a healthy and balanced diet, but if you want the healthiest potato salad, the homemade version of potato salad is always the best.