Smashed potato salad that is not lacking in flavor! Perfect BBQ side dish!
I have always been a dill pickle person. And if I am going to eat a plain old pickle, that is the only kind I like. But I found out that in my potato salad, sweet pickles are where it’s at! My grandma and my husbands grandma both add sweet pickle juice to their potato salad. I know this because whenever Nana makes her amazing potato salad I can’t get enough. I asked my mother-in-law how she makes it and she told me she adds some of the sweet pickle juice to the mayo mixture. It adds so much flavor to the salad.
I went ahead and added sliced black olives to the salad because we are huge olive fans around our house. And the smoked paprika adds a nice flavor and dresses up the top of the salad, but is not totally crucial if you don’t have any. And to make it easier, I used an egg slicer to cut up the hard boiled eggs. Such a hand tool to have in the kitchen!
In this recipe, you coarsely smash half of the potatoes but if you prefer all of your potatoes in chunks, you can do this as well.
- 3 pounds yukon gold or russet potatoes, cut into 1" chunks
- salt & pepper
- 2 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup sweet pickle juice (from the jar of pickles you are using in the salad)
- 3 Tablespoons yellow mustard
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 hard-cooked large eggs, chopped
- 3 green onions, sliced thin
- ½ cup chopped sweet pickles (I used baby gherkins)
- ½ cup finely chopped celery (about 2 ribs)
- ¼ cup finely chopped onion
- 1 (14 ounce) can black olives, sliced (optional)
- smoked paprika (optional)
- If using russet potatoes, peal then cut up. If using yukon gold you can leave the skin on, just wash well. (I used russet because that is what I had on hand).
- Place the potato chunks in a large pot and cover with water. Add 1 Tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Then reduce to medium and cook until tender.
- Drain the potatoes in colander. Transfer 3 cups of the potatoes to a large bowl, add 1 tablespoon vinegar and coarsely mash with a potato masher.
- Transfer the remaining potatoes to a baking sheet and drizzle with remaining tablespoon of vinegar and toss gently. Let cool completely.
- In a small bowl, whisk the mayo, water, pickle juice, mustard, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add to the mash potatoes. Fold in the eggs, green onions, pickles, celery, onion and potatoes from the baking sheet.
- Cover and refrigerate until fully chilled (about 2 hours). Season with additional salt & pepper if needed and sprinkle with smoked paprika if desired.
Recipe Source: adapted from Cook’s Country Magazine June/July ’16
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Here is a link to the egg slicer I used to cut up the hard boiled eggs. You can slice and keep them in bigger pieces, or turn and slice again for smaller pieces like I did. Next time I may do half small & half full slices for a different texture.
*If there is a product that I used in the recipe that I recommend, I will link to it on Amazon (or another site). Sometimes this is an affiliate link & I will receive a small commission from your purchase, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Baked in Arizona!*
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