A good potato salad is a must-have side dish at any BBQ! My mom’s potato salad is the best—a potato salad with egg that's loaded with ham, cucumbers, olives, onions, and spices.
If I know my mom's planning to make her potato salad, I make sure to bring a tupperware so I can enjoy leftovers for a few days.
What's Inside This Potato Salad?
The base is semi-mashed fluffy and starchy boiled potatoes, to which my mom adds lightly pickled Japanese cucumber and onions, ham, green olives, and large chunks of boiled eggs. She seasons her potato salad with salt pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, olive oil, and Kewpie mayo.
Which Potatoes Should I Use?
The classic question when making potato salad is always whether you should use waxy potatoes or starchy potatoes. The decision comes down to what kind of potato salad you're making. My mom, along with most Japanese moms, uses starchy potatoes. That said, this potato salad will be just as delicious if you used waxy potatoes!
Pro Tips
Use Japanese mayonnaise, like Kewpie, instead of American mayonnaise, like Hellmann's. Japanese mayo uses egg yolks instead of whole eggs and uses rice vinegar instead of distilled vinegar. It's just a tastier mayo overall!
Taste your potato salad as you add seasoning. Want more mayo? Squeeze more into the bowl! Want more black pepper? Crack more pepper! Taste as you go so you don't surprise yourself and more importantly, your guests, with bland or over seasoned potato salad once served.
Potato Salad Recipe with Egg
Ingredients
- 2 lbs potatoes
- 1 Japanese cucumber sliced
- ½ red onion sliced
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt separated
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- ½ cup chopped ham
- ¼ cup chopped green olives
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 6 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 5 boiled eggs
Instructions
- Starting in a pot of cold water, boil the potatoes with the skin on until tender.
- While potatoes are boiling, add the sliced cucumber and sliced onions to a bowl and massage with 1 teaspoon salt and set aside.
- Once the potatoes are cooked through and tender, peel the skin off. Put the potatoes into a large bowl and mash to your liking.
- To the potatoes add olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and mix.
- Rinse the salt off the sliced cucumber and onion and squeeze the water out. Add them to the potatoes along with the ham and olives. Add the mayo and boiled eggs and stir. Taste for seasoning.
Nutrition
More BBQ Side Dishes
If you're looking for more salads, try this peach salad with a homemade honey vinaigrette.
This vegan pasta salad is perfect if you're having a guest over with dietary restrictions. It can easily be made gluten-free, too!
This red curry mac and cheese is another great choice for a side dish to bring to a potluck or BBQ! It's creamy yet spicy and super flavorful.
Need a dessert for your gettogether? Try my moist banana bread or ice box cake!
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