potato salad great to meal prep
Food,  Life

The Best Potato Salad From Grandmother’s Table

Do you have the best potato salad from your grandmother’s table? The memories I have of those Sunday afternoon dinners on the farm with the spread of home grown vegetables takes me back to summer days when her potato salad graced the large dining room table.

There it sat in that large antique stoneware crock.

My mother passed that crock onto me.

It reminds me of those days when “spreads” were the best in that large farmhouse dining room that held a fireplace that backed the fireplace on the other side in that country kitchen.

Those were two large rooms in that house. I’m sure with good reason since families were larger and gatherings of entire extended family were held there.

A great deal of cooking took place in that farmhouse kitchen with that family owning it for over a hundred years.

Can you imagine?

How many vegetables were cooked and canned? cornbread and biscuits baked? pies and cakes created? or bacon and country ham cooked? Beef and pork and chickens from the farm prepared. Goodness! Great memories! Too many to contain in this one story.

Then there was the popcorn served by Pap on the side porch. Each and every time we visited. Glorious!

Or how many different foods that crock held? If only that crock could whisper all of those stories to me.

There was only a few short years of enjoying all that was created there before grandmother moved from that farm as they aged. But, glorious days are etched in my memory.

Days of swinging on porch swings on the back and side porches. Sitting in rockers on the front porch on Sunday afternoons. Cross breezes flowing through the house with wide foyers and screen doors and high ceilings that made those rooms so cool that snuggling deep into that large feather bed was welcome even in the summer.

But, that crock? It was the holder of that potato salad.

It had deep connections to the potato salad that always filled it during the summer Sunday meals.

Last weekend we had a family picnic in a park close to where I grew up. Sentimentality won and that potato salad went in that crock.

Along with that crock went my grandmother’s quilt laid over a tarp for protection where those littles or bigs could sit on the ground. And sit they did.

It was a Sunday afternoon so fried chicken was on the menu, Aunt Helen’s marinated salad, baked beans, watermelon, veggie tray, deviled eggs, a strawberry tart and chocolate chip cookies were shared by potluck…and that potato salad was requested and sat like royalty in that crock.

I followed my mother and added to my grandmother’s recipe for that potato salad; but, the basics have stayed the same. Boiled red potatoes, cooked with their peelings on; minced onion; chopped boiled eggs; salt and pepper; sweet pickles; celery salt or minced celery; diced pimentos; and mayonnaise (Miracle Whip) were the basic ingredients. She always added mustard, and I have just liked it better without as the years have passed.

Here are a few photos of the process in making…

Red potatoes were always chosen for that potato salad. Cooked whole until they were done and burst open. Then cooled and peeled.
Potatoes cut into bite sized pieces.
Potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper and celery salt or seed.
Eggs boiled and chopped to add. My favorite chopper is just the best for this step. Here’s one that is similar.
Diced sweet onions are added to taste.
My version of Grandmother’s potato salad calls for sweet pickle relish. I am sure that Grandmother used either homemade bread and butter pickles or store bought sweet gherkins. My faster version is sweet pickle relish! Follow with your favorite mayo or Miracle Whip to your desired consistency. If you use Mayo, may I suggest adding in a T or so of sugar for balance?

Grandmother’s version was often stirred warm, which gave it a creamier texture. I’m not quite a fan of that mashed potato consistency now…but, if that’s your desired texture, simply add the other ingredients for the potato salad while those potatoes are still warm. I prefer to let my potatoes cool completely before adding the other ingredients.

Adding diced pimentos to the potato salad is always a must. If you were truly my grandmother, she would sprinkle paprika and sliced boiled eggs across the top for garnish.

Grandmother’s Potato Salad

A version of my grandmother's potato salad
5 from 5 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American

Ingredients
  

  • 5 lbs. red potatoes, whole/not peeled
  • 1/2 C minced onion
  • 1 small jar diced pimentos
  • 4 eggs, boiled/chopped
  • 1/4 C sweet pickle relish
  • 1 t celery salt or seed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 C Miracle Whip dressing or Mayonnaise more or less to taste

Instructions
 

  • Place whole potatoes covered with water in a large dutch oven and bring to a boil. Cook until tender- 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on size of potatoes.
  • Drain and peel while hot. Set aside to cool. I often peel when cool, too, to make it easier.
  • When cooled, cut potatoes into bite sized pieces and place into a large bowl. Sprinkle celery salt or seed over the potatoes and then salt and pepper to taste. If adding celery salt, add the salt at the end when tasting to make sure that it's not been over salted.
  • Add chopped onions, eggs, pimentos, pickle relish and stir.
  • Add mayo or Miracle Whip until it's the consistency that suits you. It may take more or less than the 1 C listed. This is often done by sight to get just the right amount to coat completely. Your preference!
    TIP: my grandmother always used Miracle Whip dressing and that added the flavor that I love. A bit of sweetness and flavor that Mayonnaise alone does not provide. If you use just Mayo, you might add a T or so of sugar just to give it a bit of sweetness. Again, your preference!
  • Stir completely and chill until serving.

Notes

The original recipe had 1 T or so of mustard. Through the years, my family has liked it better when I have left it out. It began with not having mustard and leaving it out once, and when I added it back in, we just didn’t like it as well. Feel free to add it back in if your family loves mustard in their potato salad.
I have randomly added things as the years have passed, from bacon bits, hidden valley ranch dressing, even cheese; but, when a request from a family member occurs, this original recipe is prepared. 
 
Keyword potato salad

I’m sure that you have your favorite potato salad recipe.

Potato salad fan here!

I have lots of favorite recipes. But, then potatoes are simply a favorite that has to be monitored on my WW plan! I have friends who have German potato salad recipes that are always prepared. Some people include ranch dressing as an ingredient. There are those who use only mayonnaise and others who swear by Miracle Whip. There are choices with pickles- sweet or dill? Others who prefer mustard and then mayo only. Then there is the “to add bacon” or “not to add bacon” discussion. Then there are dill fans with dill added. The types of potato salads are endless!

You see what I mean?

To me, I think that the best memories create the best recipes. So, may I suggest to you that you focus on recreating those recipes that bring back fond memories of family gatherings. Even if you add your touches, make sure that you do me a favor…

Write those recipes down!

So many of my friends have mothers and grandmothers who are favorite cooks; and, whoever that great cook was may or may not have written down that recipe. I have lots of recipes that just don’t quite tell the whole story of how something was created.

Has that happened to you?

May I make a suggestion for those of you who still have those family cooks still preparing for family?

  • Spend time preparing favorite family recipes with them!
  • Cook with those famous family cooks.
  • Take video of them preparing recipes.
  • Write down all of the notes of “how” they really prepared each recipe…not just what is written on a card.
  • Take photos of the finished recipes.
  • Publish those in a cookbook for all of your family members. Even if there are multiple family members you are capturing. What a perfect Christmas gift. Filing away that idea for myself.

What a great legacy! An amazing gift to give and receive! A heart gift.

I’m challenging you friends, to enjoy those favorite family recipes. Celebrate those who have created them.

The potato salad. Ready for that summer picnic table. Where there will be feet under that table or on Grandmother’s quilt for food, conversation and sharing life.
Who knows?

Perhaps you have a bowl or a crock or a dish that celebrates that memory with that food?! I’d love to hear all your stories. And, if you follow through with that cookbook, I’d love a copy to celebrate those great recipes and memories with you!

I have added a few affiliate links for products that I have found helpful in preparing this dish. If you click on the links there is no additional cost to you, but as an affiliate, it may help this little blog grow.

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