A good potato salad is a must-have side dish at any BBQ! My mom’s potato salad is the best: Japanese style potato salad with a twist! It's low on mayo, dairy-free, gluten-free, and has boiled eggs!
What's inside my mom's 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!
How to make my mom's potato salad
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 salt and set aside to pickle.
Once the potatoes are cooked through and tender, peel the skin off. Put the potatoes into a large bowl and mash to your liking. Keep in mind that the more you mash the potatoes, the more mayonnaise you'll need to achieve a creamy texture. My mom leaves the potatoes fairly chunky, so I've kept that as a way to maintain texture as well as not have to add too much mayo.
To the potatoes add olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and mix. Rinse the salt off the sliced cucumber and onion and squeeze the water out before adding them to the potatoes along with the ham and olives. Add the mayo and boiled eggs and stir. Taste your potato salad and see if it needs any additional seasoning.
Tips for my favorite potato salad
1. 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!
2. Don't be afraid to 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.
I think we all think the potato salad we grew up with, our mom's recipe, is the best. That said, give this one a try for something a little different!
Need another side dish at your BBQ? Try my red curry mac and cheese!
Need a dessert for your BBQ? Why not make my mom's banana bread or some chocolate peanut butter cupcakes!
Mom's Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 lbs / 907g potatoes
- 1 Japanese cucumber, sliced
- ½ red onion, sliced
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt, separated
- freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup / 60g 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.
SAVE TO PINTEREST FOR LATER!!
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