Simple potato and egg salad
This simple potato and egg salad is an easy to make side dish. It’s made with potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, celery, chopped white onion, mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar. You can also garnish it with fresh dill or parsley, plus some paprika.
I love potato salads in all forms and preparations, from the timeless Russian potato salad – and by Russian I really mean the Latin American version. My other favorites include our Ecuadorian potato salad with shrimp and the delicious Venezuelan style potato salad with chicken or ensalada de gallina.
This recipe is a simple potato salad that reminds me more of the one my grandmother used to make. It just includes potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, celery, white onion, and a mayonnaise dressing with mustard. You can prepare this simple variation, or use it as a base and add extra vegetables such as peas or peas, carrots, green beans, corn, etc.
For a lighter version, you can replace the mayonnaise (all of it or half) with plain yogurt or sour cream. Another option is to make a lemon and olive oil dressing instead of using mayonnaise (or yogurt/sour cream).
I served it garnished with some fresh chopped dill, but feel free to use other fresh herbs, such as parsley, cilantro, oregano. This potato and egg salad is very versatile, and you can customize it to your liking – or based on the ingredients that you have on hand.
Simple potato and egg salad
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes washed and unpeeled
- 4 hard-boiled eggs save 1 for garnish
- ½ white onion diced
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon of vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
To garnish:
- Chopped dill – you can also use parsley or cilantro
- Paprika powder
- Lettuce leaves
Instructions
- Place the whole unpeeled potatoes in a pot with plenty of water and a little salt. Cook until soft, about 30-40 minutes depending on size. I usually try to poke a knife through the middle to check for doneness.
- Put the potatoes in a bowl of cold water to cool them and then proceed to peel them and cut them into small or medium chunks.
- To cook prepare the hard-boiled eggs, bring water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. Then gently add the eggs – one by one using a spoon so they don’t break. You can add a teaspoon of baking soda – this helps make it easier to peel them. Let the eggs cook in the boiling water for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a bowl with cold water until you are ready to peel them.
- I recommend saving one of the eggs to use as a garnish for the salad. Peel and then dice the rest of the hard-boiled eggs.
- In a medium bowl or platter, add the chopped potatoes, the chopped hard-boiled eggs, the diced white onion, and the chopped celery.
- To prepare the dressing, mix the mayonnaise (or yogurt) with the mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour this dressing on top of the chopped potatoes/eggs and mix well.
- Taste the salad and adjust the amount of salt/pepper to taste. Add the chopped dill and paprika. If you saved one of the hard-boiled eggs, cut it into quarters or slices and use them to decorate the salad. The salad can be served on top of lettuce leaves.
- The salad can be served immediately, or it can be kept in the refrigerator until serving time. Personally, I find that the flavor improves if it is left to rest for a few hours before serving.
Notes
- Green peas
- Corn
- Diced carrots
- Chopped green beans
- Pickles
- Olives
- Pickled jalapenos (for a spicy kick)
- Diced ham or bacon
- Shrimp
- Tuna fish
Step by step preparation photos of this simple potato and egg salad:
Will definitely try this soon.