Potato and Sausage Salad

Garlicky mustard vinaigrette adds moxie to this side (or main) dish

Cookouts are around the corner. That means potato salad on the picnic table.

But we like it even better on our dining room table. Add in some sausage, and it can even serve as a main course. Bonus: It’s quick and easy enough to make for a weeknight meal.

Tot another one up for taters.

Curried Potato Salad

Add extra savor to a summertime fave

Summer means cook-outs. And cook-outs call for potato salad. QED, no?

But you don’t have to make the same old spud salad next time. Dish up this curry creation instead.

Curry and potatoes are a perfect pair (just look at any Indian restaurant menu for proof). Curry sharpens the potato-y goodness while adding sensational flavor all its own.

So don’t settle for old-school side dishes. Be curr-ageous.

Potato and Green Bean Salad

Vinaigrette dressing makes this perfect for picnics

Potato salad is the ultimate summer side dish. It never misses a cookout, barbecue, or picnic.

Green beans make this potato salad lighter and more colorful – not to mention tastier. And this salad features vinaigrette dressing instead of mayo, so you can serve it at room temperature.

That’s great for cookouts. You can leave this salad on the picnic table while you’re cavorting in the summer sunshine. Because after all that outdoor activity, you’ll want to go back for seconds.

Cauliflower Potato-Style Salad

Traditional flavor and savor without all the calories

Memorial Day is coming up soon here in the US. And that means the start of picnic and cookout season. Potato salad is a staple at these events. It’s easy to make, you can prepare it ahead of time, and most everyone loves it.

At least until they step on the scale the following morning. Because potatoes pack some calories.

So why not replace those potatoes with cauliflower? When steamed or blanched, cauliflower’s texture mimics that of boiled potatoes. Plus it combines well with onions, mayo, and the other ingredients in traditional potato salad. And cauliflower contains only about a third the calories of potatoes.

Best of all, cauliflower “potato” salad tastes really good. Who says there’s no (calorie) free lunch?

Chipotle Sweet-Potato Salad

Spice up your summer cookouts 

Here in the US, Memorial Day is coming up soon—signaling the start of cookout season. And cookouts require potato salad. They just do.

You could make an old favorite with white potatoes, of course. But why not try something different? Sweet potatoes—with their deep, rich flavor—work extremely well in potato salad. Add some chipotle to the mix, and you have a side dish that can stand up to any main course you slap on the grill.

So make extra. Because your guests may walk right past the burgers or barbecue to load up on this.

Horseradish Potato Salad

This tangy, dill-accented side dish is perfect for summer cookouts

Looking for a new take on an old summer favorite (namely, potato salad)?  Well, you’ve come to the right post!  A touch of horseradish can add ping — without overwhelming anyone’s tastebuds (or nasal passages). 

Admittedly, some horseradish sauces can be so strong they bring tears to your eyes.  But you don’t need to use those! The versions you’re likely to find in your local grocery store are far milder.  Perfect, in fact, for adding interest to potato salad.  Include some fresh dill as a flavor note, and sour cream as a base, and you can whip up a dish that will intrigue adults, but won’t be too overpowering for kids.

This dish makes a terrific sidekick for the wild salmon that’s now fresh in US markets.  But it also pairs well with hot dogs, hamburgers, and grilled or barbecued chicken, pork, and beef.  With July 4th coming up soon, it would make an outstanding addition to your cookout repertoire.

If you’ve had Horseradish Potato Salad before, you know how intoxicatingly good it is.  If this dish is new to you, you’re in for a treat.

Mustard Potato Salad

This Southern-Style Recipe Is Perfect for Cookouts and Barbecues

With summer here, it’s cookout time.  In fact, next week brings one of the biggest and best barbecue opportunities of the year:  Fourth of July.

And what would a cookout be without potato salad?  One of the tastiest — certainly the tangiest — is Mustard Potato Salad.  It goes particularly well with long-cooked barbecue or meat that has been grilled over hot coals or an open fire (hamburgers, anyone?). 

Mustard Potato Salad is no more difficult to make than Mayonnaise Potato Salad. And you know how easy that is.

Salade Niçoise

Serve this Summer Classic as a Main Dish or Appetizer

Salade Niçoise was born in the French coastal Mediterranean city of Nice. The original Niçoise salad reportedly was a simple affair of largely uncooked ingredients: lettuce (though some insist the original didn’t include this), black olives, sliced tomatoes, bell pepper, anchovies, and sometimes artichoke hearts. These ingredients were tossed with olive oil (no vinegar), minced garlic, and perhaps some herbs. The dish was served in small hors d’œuvre portions, often with a garnish of sliced hard-boiled eggs.

Over the years, peoples’ tastes evolved, and so did the recipe. In the United States today, Salade Niçoise is usually a substantial composed salad that may also include green beans, potatoes, and canned (or seared fresh) tuna.

In its modern form, Salade Niçoise makes a generous (but not heavy) main course, perfect for hot summer weather. With the addition of some good quality bread and a nice wine, it’s a great company meal.

German Potato Salad with Bacon

Tastes Great Served Hot (or Just Warm)

This German Potato Salad, with its rich bacon and vinegar flavor, is delicious winter or summer.  It pairs as nicely with burgers or barbeque as it does with knockwurst or schnitzel.

If you like bacon (who doesn’t?) and potato salad (don’t we all?), you owe it to yourself to give this recipe a try.

American (Mayonnaise) Potato Salad

Just Like Our Moms Made

For many of us in the United States, classic mayonnaise potato salad is the ultimate summer comfort food.  We associate it with picnics, fried chicken, and barbeque.  Hot dogs and hamburgers, too.  Good times, good memories.

For a lot of us, though, the potato salad of memory has been replaced by deli fare.  Either we (think) we don’t have the time to make the real thing or don’t know how.

If you’d like to recapture the taste of homemade, this post is for you.

French Potato Salad

The Mother of All Potato Salads

One nice thing about potato salad is that it’s, well . . . a salad.  And the classic French version is a very basic salad indeed.

Think of the classic green salad.  The formula is uncomplicated and endlessly adaptable:  Take lettuce, toss with oil and vinegar, season with salt and pepper.  Perhaps add shallots or other aromatics for flavoring (fresh herbs go well).  That’s it.

Now, replace the lettuce with warm sliced potatoes and you have — French Potato Salad.  Simple, easy, and quick to prepare.

What’s more, once you know how to make this classic recipe, you’ll have the foundation for every other type of potato salad out there (mayonnaise, mustard, whatever).  The basic technique is always the same — you just add layers of flavoring and additional ingredients.

Potato Salad Basics

American Potato Salad

Kicking Off Potato Salad Fortnight

We’re well into picnic season, and what’s better for a picnic than potato salad? During the next two weeks — or fortnight, as our British cousins might say — Kitchen Riffs will dedicate itself to discussing potatoes and their salads. We’ll have posts on French Potato Salad, American (Mayonnaise) Potato Salad, and German Potato Salad.

But before we get to any of these recipes, in this post we’ll first discuss some basic facts and techniques that are common to all potato salads.