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Picnic Potato Salad

Picnic salad features a classic creamy potato salad with tender russet potatoes and chopped hard-boiled eggs, dressed in a tangy mayo-mustard mixture. Chill it for 3 hours so the flavors meld for outdoor food and traditional salad vibes.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chilling 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Calories: 380
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Russet potatoes
  • 3 lb russet potatoes
Hard-boiled eggs
  • 5 hard-boiled eggs
Vegetables and relish
  • 0.5 cup celery
  • 0.25 cup onion
  • 0.25 cup sweet pickle relish
Dressing
  • 1.25 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp yellow mustard
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 0.01 salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
  • 1 tsp paprika

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Boil and cool the potatoes
  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add russet potatoes, and boil until tender, about 15–20 minutes with visible bubbling. Drain and spread potatoes on a sheet pan to cool completely, about 10–20 minutes until no steam rises.
Chop and combine
  1. Chop hard-boiled eggs into small pieces and add them to a mixing bowl with the cooled potatoes. Add celery, onion, and sweet pickle relish, then stir until evenly distributed.
Make the creamy dressing
  1. In a bowl, whisk mayonnaise, yellow mustard, white vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper until smooth, about 30–60 seconds. Stop when the dressing looks glossy and uniform with no mustard streaks.
Assemble picnic potato salad
  1. Pour the dressing over the potato mixture and fold gently with a few slow turns to keep the cubes intact. Stop folding once the potatoes look evenly coated with a creamy sheen.
Chill and serve
  1. Refrigerate the salad for at least 3 hours so it thickens slightly and tastes blended. Serve chilled and garnish with paprika right before serving, using a light dusting that shows against the creamy surface.

Notes

Pro tip: cool the potatoes completely before mixing so the dressing stays creamy instead of getting runny. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 4 days; it freezes poorly due to texture changes after thawing. For a lighter option, use light mayonnaise or a Greek-yogurt mayo blend (about 1:1) to reduce richness while keeping the classic tang.