This recipe for Old Fashioned Mustard Potato Salad is sure to become your new summer favorite. Tender Russet potatoes are finished in a bacon-studded mustard dressing and finished with red onion, celery, chopped hard boiled eggs and a touch of sweet Hungarian paprika. This simple potato salad recipe is as pretty as it is delicious.
It’s also the very first mustard potato salad I even made. I first developed this recipe for my home use back in the early 90s. Although I’ve taken some liberties with my mother’s mustard potato salad recipe – adding bacon, leaving out the green pepper and tinkering with the dressing – it is fairly similar to the potato salad my mother used to make. I’m going off of memory and nostalgia, but I always thought she made the best potato salad.
If you like a bold, mustard potato salad that’s packed with fresh, crisp veggies and a lot of flavor, give this one a try. I promise it won’t disappoint.
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Old Fashioned Mustard Potato Salad is the Perfect Summer Side
In my mind, nothing signals the end of winter and welcomes warmer weather like the smell of someone grilling. Once spring takes hold of Michigan, it’s like someone flipped a switch in my neighborhood. I swear everyone has something amazing on the fire nonstop from Friday to Sunday. You can’t take a walk around the block without rethinking your dinner options at least a half dozen times.
At our house, after a long day of spring yard work you’ll find us grilling as well. That first meal is usually a simple one – consisting of burgers with my Best 3-Ingredient Olive Sauce, or homemade coney dogs, and this recipe for Old Fashioned Mustard Potato Salad. Add a few ears of corn that have been roasted over hot coals and some fresh fruit for dessert and I am a very happy home cook, indeed. It’s nothing fancy – just really simple and satisfying food.
This mustard potato salad recipe isn’t fancy or trendy. In fact, it’s probably more in line with the kind of homemade potato salad your grandma used to make. Simple and delicious!
Breaking My Own Rules and Using Russet Potatoes in this Recipe
Potatoes fall into three different categories; high-starch, waxy and all-purpose (think medium level starch), and they all work best with different methods of cooking.
- High-starch potatoes, like the russet, have a drier texture that perform well as mashed potatoes. However, you need to be careful not to overwork them or they can become gluey. This is the primary reason I recommend using a hand masher first to break down the potatoes before mixing in the other ingredients. The less you work them, the better the texture.
- Waxy potatoes are younger, have a creamier texture, lower starch content and hold their shape nicely after cooking. These potatoes are best boiled or roasted. One well-known waxy variety is the Fingerling potato, which I use in my Lemon Dill Potato Salad recipe. Although they are hold up great tossed in a salad, they do not perform well when mashed.
- All-purpose potatoes fall somewhere in between. They have both a medium moisture and starch level, which make them a versatile and safe potato for any recipe. Yukon Gold, larger Purple potatoes, and Norland Red are some of the most common ones you’ll see in the grocery store. I like Norland Red when I want a quick mash, but don’t feel like peeling potatoes.
Choosing the right potato for the job is important to the overall success of a dish. If you’re interested in learning more about potato types, the Martha Stewart blog has a good post on this very topic.
A Few Unexpected Ingredients Make this Old Fashioned Potato Salad Pop
When I post a recipe I often have very specific ingredients in mind. Naturally, it stands to reason that the flavor and texture of a finished recipe can vary widely if the ingredients and directions are changed in some way. Such is the case with this potato salad recipe.
Typically, I like to use either baby redskin potatoes or Fingerling potatoes when making a potato salad. I find their slightly creamy texture and delicate skin to be more appealing. However, in this Old Fashioned Mustard Potato Salad recipe, I prefer to use a different potato. I like the Russet. They require a little more prep work in that you have to peel and dice them before cooking, but this method helps ensure they cook quickly and evenly.
In this recipe, some of the Russet potatoes will break down during the mixing process, but this helps contribute to the creamy, hearty texture of the salad. I also call for the addition of bacon and one teaspoon of bacon drippings to the sauce. The smoky flavor of the bacon makes this mustard potato salad absolutely irresistible.
I also like the combination of mayonnaise and sour cream in this recipe. The sour cream adds a little tang to the dressing and lightens up the salad overall.
There’s a lot of flavor and texture in this simple potato salad; crisp red onions, crunchy celery, hard boiled eggs and just the right amount of paprika. The bacon crumbles on top also lend a pop of color, crisp texture and burst of salty flavor.
I hope you give this Old Fashioned Mustard Potato Salad Recipe a try. I know I’m partial, but I really do think it’s one of the best, if not the best mustard potato salad recipe out there, but don’t take my word for it. Make it for yourself and tell me what you think.
The Best Old Fashioned Mustard Potato Salad
Course: SidesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy8
servings30
minutes20
minutesOld Fashioned Mustard Potato Salad is finished in a bacon-studded mustard dressing with red onion, celery and a touch of paprika.
Ingredients
2 lbs. Russet potatoes, cleaned, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes.
1 Tbsp. salt
2 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1/3 cup celery, 1/4 inch dice
1/4 cup red onion, 1/4 inch dice
2 strips thick cut apple wood smoked bacon, cut into 1/4 inch cubes and cooked until crisp
1 tsp. bacon fat reserved
1/3 cup mayonnaise (not salad dressing)
1/3 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1/4 tsp. sweet Hungarian Paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions
- Clean, peel and dice potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes.
- In a 5-quart pot, cover the potatoes with cold water and add 1 Tbsp. salt. Bring water to a gentle boil, reduce to a simmer. Cook the potatoes until a knife can be easily inserted into them – approximately 10 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove from heat, drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Allow to cool. Set aside to drain until dry.
- While the potatoes are draining, cook the cubed bacon over medium heat until crisp. Immediately remove the bacon cubes from the hot grease and allow to drain on a paper towel. Reserve 1 teaspoon of the hot bacon drippings for the dressing.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the celery, onion, eggs, mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, Paprika and 1 teaspoon of the bacon drippings. Add half of the cooked bacon cubes. Reserve the remaining bacon for topping the salad.
- Add the potatoes to the dressing and stir until completely incorporated. As you mix, the dressing will thicken slightly as some of the potatoes and egg yolks begin to break down. The finished texture of the dressing will be similar to a light mashed potato.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Store in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, garnish with the remaining cooked bacon.
