The Best Potato Salad Recipes for Get-Togethers

We have everything from a classic mayo-based potato salad to recipes made with Creole mustard or bacon. Make one for your next gathering and be the hit of the party!

By
Sheela Prakash
Sheela Prakash
Sheela Prakash
Food and wine writer, recipe developer, and the author of Mediterranean Every Day. Her work can be found in numerous online and print publications.
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Updated March 30, 2022
Sheela Prakash
Best Potato Salads for Your July 4th BBQ

Simply Recipes

Potato salad is classic summertime fare, and when you’re talking about what dishes to include at your barbecue, it’s hard not to give this side dish a starring role.

There are countless ways to make a great potato salad. At its most basic, the dish is made by boiling potatoes, tossing them with a dressing, and throwing in a handful of other tasty ingredients like herbs, chopped veggies, bacon, and even crumbled hard-boiled eggs. The dressing is most often mayonnaise-based, which gives the dish lots of creamy richness, or mustard- or vinegar-based, which adds tang and makes a lighter and zippier potato salad.

However you make your potato salad, it’s usually one of the first things to go at a summer cookout. We rounded up the absolute best potato salad recipes, with different dressings and add-ins to give you plenty of options for your summer outing. This is summer eating at its best!

  • Classic Potato Salad

    Potato Salad Recipe
    Elise Bauer

    When you’re talking about potato salad for a cookout, it doesn’t get any more classic than this one studded with green onions, celery, parsley, pickles, and bacon. The creamy dressing is made with a combination of sour cream and mayo, plus a touch of mustard, which lends tang and balances out the richness.

  • Dad’s Potato Salad

    Dad's Potato Salad
    Elise Bauer

    What makes this potato salad unique is the addition of pickle juice. A few tablespoons lends briny, bright flavor. It’s also a great way to make use of something you’d otherwise pour down the drain!

  • Mediterranean Potato Salad

    Mediterranean Potato Salad
    Elise Bauer

    This colorful potato salad is inspired by Salad Niçoise. Instead of mayo, it features a mustard vinaigrette and is studded with green beans, roasted red bell peppers, red onion, minced Kalamata olives, parsley, and arugula.

  • German Potato Salad

    Warm German Potato Salad served in a bowl on a cloth mat with a fork
    Coco Morante

    German potato salad is a nice change from mayonnaise-based potato salads because instead of a creamy dressing, it is made with a tart mustard and vinegar-based dressing. It’s lighter but not less satisfying, since crispy bits of bacon are also added to the mix.

    Continue to 5 of 9 below.

  • Instant Pot Potato Salad

    Pressure Cooker Potato Salad
    Coco Morante

    Forget about waiting for a big pot of water to come to a boil and instead use your Instant Pot. Here, the potatoes and eggs are cooked together in the appliance while you prepare the rest of the salad ingredients and a mayonnaise-Dijon dressing.

  • New Potato Salad with Sour Cream and Dill

    New Potato Salad with Sour Cream and Dill
    Elise Bauer

    You only need five ingredients to make this recipe: Small red-skinned new potatoes, sour cream, green onions, fresh dill, and apple cider vinegar. Plus, since the potato skins are naturally quite thin, you don’t even need to peel them. This makes for a quick and easy recipe.

  • Creole Potato Salad

    Creole Potato Salad
    Elise Bauer

    What makes this potato salad stand out is its use of creole mustard in the dressing. This type of mustard hails from New Orleans and is a course, stone-ground mustard that’s seasoned with chiles, molasses, and herbs. It lends a spice and zing to every bite.

  • Mom’s Warm Potato Salad

    warm potato salad
    Elise Bauer

    A simple rice wine olive oil dressing keeps this potato salad light and fresh, while celery adds crunch, and the olives add a salty kick. Toss everything together while the potatoes are still warm so that they absorb as much of the dressing’s flavor as possible.

    Continue to 9 of 9 below.

  • Provencal Potato Salad

    Provencal Potato Salad
    Elise Bauer

    The secret ingredient in the dressing for this French-inspired potato salad is anchovy paste. If you’re weary of anchovies, we encourage you to give this recipe a try! Just a teaspoon of the paste won’t make this potato salad taste fishy. Instead, it lends salty, umami-rich depth.