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Creamy Potato Salad – an easy crowd pleaser perfect for BBQ’s and potlucks, and always a family favorite!

This recipe is for anybody that needs a good, solid, perfect-every-time Creamy Potato Salad recipe in your back pocket.

I use large baking potatoes for this recipe and boil them whole.

Sprinkle with a little hot paprika, chill and enjoy.
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Traditional Creamy Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 5 or 6 large baking potatoes, do not peel
- 1 cup diced celery
- ½ cup finely diced onion
- ¼ cup sweet pickle relish or substitute sweet pickles and add 2 teaspoons vinegar
- 1 ½ cups mayonnaise, or more if needed
- 2 teaspoons celery seed
- 2 teaspoons prepared mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 hard boiled eggs, yolks and egg whites separated
- Paprika for garnish
Instructions
- Scrub potatoes under clean running water. Leaving potatoes whole with skin on, cover with water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and boil gently, turning potatoes occasionally, until fork tender. Drain and allow to cool slightly. Remove skin and chop into bite sized pieces.
- Boil eggs and place yolks in a large mixing bowl. Chop eggs whites and set aside. Smash the yolks with a fork and add mayonnaise and mustard. Mix well. Add all other ingredients except potatoes and mix until well blended. Taste to check seasonings. Add potatoes and fold together gently. Sprinkle with paprika and chill overnight. Serve!
Kailey says
This is the best potato salad I’ve ever had! I’m so glad I found this recipe. Thank you.
Tricia Buice says
Thank you Kailey! We feel the same way 🙂
Jessica N Owens says
My great grandma made the best potato salad. She gave me her recipe many years ago, but it was lost until tonight when my 7 year old daughter found my old recipe notebook!
I’ve tried many times to replicate her salad without the original recipe (they were good, but they missed that something special). I realized tonight that blending the yolk with the dressing is what makes it!
Cheers to keeping old school styles of cooking relevant 🙂
Tricia Buice says
Thanks Jessica!
Jackie A. says
Thanks Tricia – this recipe looks super and I like the look of the creamy consistency. My Mom always used dill pickles and their juice and it’s the only thing I’d do differently. I learned the hard way, at gatherings, to ask if sweet relish or sweet pickles had been used before taking a big bite – I love great potato salad even better than a bowl of my favorite flavor ice cream! The sweet makes me shake like a baby given a lemon slice to chew on. LOL Another thing, my children, grandchildren and I have a bad reaction to the FD&C yellow that is in the relish brand you show and in most relishes and even dill pickles. We get mean and cranky, not always so easy finding brands that don’t have it.
Tricia Buice says
Thanks for the great information Jackie! I just love the sweet relish myself but I bet this would be great with your changes!
Littlemisst says
i made this with red potatoes and didn’t remove the skin. Turned out perfectly. Also added a little something special by using olive oil mayo. Just for the extra flavor.
Tricia Buice says
Thanks for letting me know! This is a classic, simple, delicious basic recipe – glad you made some great changes 🙂 Have a happy Memorial Day!
Glenda says
I see a carton of yogurt in the picture but, don’t see it listed in the recipe. Which is correct?
Tricia Buice says
Hi Glenda – under the photo with the ingredients I wrote that I was experimenting by adding a little Greek Yogurt … ” You may have also noticed the plain Greek Yogurt in the photo. I substituted some yogurt in place of a little mayonnaise just to see how it turned out. I don’t think it made a big difference but you can experiment yourself.” Just looking for ways to limit the mayonnaise but it is not in my original recipe and not necessary. If you are a Greek Yogurt fan you can give it a try because it didn’t make a big difference as noted in the post. Thanks so much for reading and for the comment. I hope you will come back again. Sorry to be so late in responding – I’ve been off-the grid, so to speak, helping our daughter move into their house. Happy New Year to you and your family!
Beth Green says
Using the same basic ingredients you do, Tricia, I add one more thing…<br /><br />I chop the potatoes while they're hot and pour about a 2/3 cupful (or less) of French dressing over them. After stirring well, I allow them to cool the rest of the way before adding the other ingredients. Learned this tasty trick from a friend in Gloucester, Virginia!
Sarah @ The Smart Kitchen says
Can I just have a few big spoonfuls of pickle relish?<br /><br />I know. I'm weird.<br /><br />But did you know that relish + hummus is actually AMAZING?<br /><br />Strange. True.