This recipe for Jack’s Potato Salad is one of the reasons we started blogging. We originally started A Family Feast as a fun way to share our most-requested recipes with family and friends – and Jack’s potato salad is one of those recipes that we get asked for anytime Jack makes it! It’s so good…in fact, I’ve often told Jack that we should go into business selling this potato salad!
Jack’s potato salad is a mixture of tender-cooked new red potatoes and hard-boiled eggs that are combined with a wonderful dressing made with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, onion, white and cider vinegar, sugar and other seasonings. It’s the perfect marriage of flavors – creaminess from the mayonnaise, a little bit of zestiness from the mustard and vinegar, and a touch of sweetness from the sugar.
At our barbeques, you’ll most often find me with just a big plateful of Jack’s fabulous potato salad to eat and a big, satisfied smile on my face!
There are two secrets to this perfect potato salad. The first is to oil the hot potatoes as you cut them. This seals out the liquid and stops them from getting too soggy. The second secret is to mix the mayonnaise mixture separate from the potatoes and add it to the hot oiled potatoes. Next, the warm mixture is quickly chilled on a flat pan so that it cools faster, then it’s transferred to a bowl once chilled.
You can actually adjust the ingredients you put in the potato salad (eggs or no eggs, onion or no onion, etc.) based on your own tastes and preferences. Just be sure to follow Jack’s general technique to ensure that the potatoes stay perfectly moist and tender without getting too mushy.
Enjoy!
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PinIngredients
- 5 pounds new red potatoes, skin left on
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 6 room-temperature uncooked eggs
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar, divided
- 1 ½ tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 cup finely minced sweet onion
- 2 teaspoons celery salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3 cups mayonnaise (we recommend Hellmann’s or homemade)
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup canola oil
Instructions
- Place washed unpeeled potatoes in a large pot and cover with water to about 6 inches above potatoes. Add one tablespoon salt and bring to a boil. Reduce to a medium boil and boil for 30 to 40 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes. Prick with a fork to tell when they are done.
- While potatoes are cooking, bring a medium pot of water to a boil, add the 1 ½ tablespoons of white vinegar, and gently add the whole eggs in with a slotted spoon being careful not to crack the shells. Boil rapidly for five minutes. Turn off heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 15 minutes.
- Drain the eggs and shake the pan back and forth to crack the shells. Under running water remove the shells. Roughly chop the eggs in large pieces and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix the other 1 ½ tablespoons of white vinegar, cider vinegar, onions, celery salt, pepper, poppy seeds, sugar, mustard and mayonnaise. Set aside and refrigerate.
- Mix both oils together in a measuring cup or other small container.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, leave them in the hot water and remove one at a time with a slotted spoon to your cutting board. Cut potatoes into chunks and place in large bowl.
- Once you are a quarter of the way through cutting the hot potatoes, pour one quarter of the mixed oil over the cut potatoes and gently combine. Continue with cutting and oiling until all of the oil and potatoes are in the large bowl.
- Add the mayonnaise mixture to the hot oiled potatoes and gently mix. Add the cooked eggs and gently mix.
- Now pour the entire contents out onto a sheet pan spreading evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled to below 40 degrees. Once cool enough remove potato salad to your serving container and enjoy.
- If serving this outside, try to keep shaded and, as an added precaution, place a bowl of ice (larger than the bowl you are using) under the bowl of potato salad to keep it chilled while serving. Place leftovers in the refrigerator as soon as you have finished serving.
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My picnics {and entire summer} are now complete! I have a beautiful potato salad recipe! Thank you, Martha!!!
Thanks Carol!
This is without a doubt the best potato salad we have ever had….
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it Rick!! Thanks for writing to us today!
Ok, in the top picture there are two bottles of Corona in the background. I thought sure they were going to play a role in the recipe. Guess they just played a role in the picnic!
Thanks for the recipe, this looks like a keeper.
LOL – Sorry to get your hopes up Gail! 🙂 Hope you aren’t too disappointed that the recipe doesn’t include Corona…but it does go great with all sorts of picnic and BBQ foods including our potato salad!
Amazing!!
Thanks Stephanie!!
Sounds so good! Definitely want to make this!
Thanks Ashley!
Oh, my! This made my stomach grumble!! Looks fantastic!
Would love it if you’d share this at my Sunday Funday Linky Party!
Hope to see you there!
*Susan
Thanks Susan!
This looks amazing Martha!!
Thanks Julie!
Made it today for our 4th of July meal. Turned out great!
So glad you enjoyed it Ani! Thanks for letting us know! Happy 4th!
Just made this and it was the best potato salad i have ever made! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! It is delicious!
Thanks Julie! We are so glad you enjoyed the recipe! (It’s one of my favorites…). Thanks for writing to us!
After all these years I have finally made an awesome potato salad! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Michelle! Thanks for writing to us!
This recipe has the favor that I have been looking for in a potato salad. Thanks for sharing!
We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe Carolyn! Thanks for writing to us!
I’ve made a lot of different recipes for potato salad but this one has to be the best one with that wonderful dressing. Thank you!
You are very welcome Belinda and we’re glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for writing to us today!
I made this for dinner last night and it is the best potato salad that I have ever made! It is good warm too. Thanks for sharing. I will definitely make my potato salad this way from now on. I think it might be good to add some green olives.
Thanks Marcia! We’re glad that you enjoyed the recipe as much as we do – and, yes, I totally agree – this is delicious warm too! We always sneak a few bites right after we mix it up! Thanks for taking the time to write to us today and let us know how it is with adding the olives!
My daughter and I went to Kroger today and I have been craving potato salad for 3 weeks but I didn’t want to make it. We sampled Jack’s PS and I was shocked. At first I thought it was close to mine but when I got home and tasted it again it was exactly like my grandmother’s. I doctored it up with my seasonings and my son thought I made it. My mother tasted it and said it tasted like my grandmother’s as well. Now I know why mine is not exactly like hers. Thanks for sharing the tips. L
Thanks LaShawnda! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This recipe sounds great, I am making it this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Hope you enjoy it Chris!
This is by far the best Potato Salad we ever had…..we loved it!
Thank you again for posting it.
Thanks Chris! (We agree!) 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to write to us!!
Wow, this is by far the best potato salad I have ever had! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Thanks Lisa! We’re glad you enjoyed it!
I made this for a family picnic. My sister usually makes her famous potato salad, but she let me do it this time. It was the hit of the picnic. Everybody just raved about it. I will definitely make this again. It really helped to follow the instructions, exactly. Thanks!
Thanks Kathy! (Hope your sister enjoyed it too!) 🙂
I really want to try this recipe but I don’t want to make so much. I am terrible with math and unsure how to divide up the ingredients. Any suggestions on how to make this for just two people? Thanks!
Hi Suzanne – My apologies for the delay in responding. For 2 servings, the process would be the same but the ingredients list can be cut back as follows: 3/4 pound new red potatoes, 1/3 teaspoon salt, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar, 1 ounce minced sweet onion, 1/4 teaspoon celery salt, 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, 1/8 teaspoon poppy seeds, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1/8 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons canola oil. I hope that helps – you may want to do further adjustments to the quantities to suit your tastes as needed.
Thank you Martha. That helps a great deal. I am going to make it tonight. It sounds wonderful!
New reader here following link to Best Apple Cake, in the oven right now, and one of my favorite dishes is potato salad. I basically use Julia Child’s American potato salad which I love. But this is on the menu very soon but my only question is do the potato’s absorb all 2/3 cup oil or the excess just get mixed into the salad with the mayo?
Hi Margi – yes – the oil mostly coats the potatoes. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Love love love this potato salad. I added a little sweet pickle juice. Fantastic!
Thanks Sherry!
I like to add some crispy bacon crumbled on top of this dish. I have also been known to use half sour cream and half mayo.
Sounds like a great variation Dorothy!
This sounds delish! Will definitely use it next time we have a bring-and-share at church. Any reason you can’t chop the potatoes before cooking to save time?
Hi Rachel – The pre-cut potatoes will absorb more water during the cooking process and you’ll end up with a mushier potato salad. We prefer (and recommend) cooking the potatoes whole but you can cut them in advance if you prefer.
Excellent! Best potato salad I’ve ever had!
Thanks Sherrie! We’re glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I just went onto Pinterest to start looking for a potato salad recipe, I didn’t even have to start a search! This one was right on the top of my screen… Looking forward to making it for a special Father’s Day dinner this weekend!
We hope you all enjoy the potato salad recipe Lynea!
Can this be made a day or 2 ahead, or is it best eaten the day it is made? Thank you!
Hi Dee – It can definitely be made a day (or even 2) ahead.
I made 1/4 of the amount of Jack’s Potato Salad today as a “trial run” before a college pot luck coming up in two days: WOWWEE WOW WOW! Winner!!!! I didn’t have Canola oil, so I just used evoo; FANTASTIC~! Thank you for sharing, Martha. I found this recipe on Pinterest and now I am following your site. 🙂
Dana
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Dana! 🙂 We’re glad you found us!
“I don’t know Jack, but he makes a terrific red potato salad”.
Dana
Thank you so much for the recipe. this was a big hit at my daughters birthday and i had a lot of requests for the recipe. There is no doubt in my mind this is a keeper.
You’re very welcome Jessi! So glad you all enjoyed the recipe as much as we do!
Possibly the best potato salad ever!
Thanks Nancy! 🙂 So glad you enjoyed the potato salad as much as we do!
I’ve made this a bunch of times, and I keep coming back because it is by far the best potato salad recipe I’ve ever found. My mom has declared it the best she’s ever eaten. I’m not sure exactly what makes it so good, but it’s nice to know that I will never have to search for a potato salad recipe again.
Wow Rebecca – thank you so much! I shared your comment with Jack and he was so pleased – you made his day! Thanks for taking the time to write to us and we’re so glad you are enjoying the recipe as much as we do!
Is this recipe gluten free?
Hello NK – This recipe can be made gluten free as long as you select ingredients with no gluten or gluten cross contamination during the manufacturing process. Definitely read the labels as you select your vinegars, dijon mustard, etc.
I couldn’t stop reading youre recipes.Iwant try them all.Ive already chosen some that I would love to make for my family.Thank you for sharing.Looking forward to seeing more of you’re recipes.Thank you.
Thank you so much Betty! We hope you enjoy the recipes!
Yum! sounds delish. You could also shred a bbq chicken and add to it to make a main meals..
Great idea Kerry!
Only a teaspoon of mustard? Seems like you wouldn’t be able to taste it.
We hope you’ll give the recipe a try Lisa! And feel free to add more mustard if you’d like.
Love it
Thanks Suzanne!
Sorry, I did not like this recipe. The dressing taste like miracle whip by the time you are done with it. I do not care for miracle whip and therefore I thought it was a waste of 5lbs of potatoes and all other ingredients. If you want a dressing that taste like this save yourself some money and go out and buy miracle whip instead of mayonnaise with all the added ingredients.
I take back my original post. When I first made this and tasted it, I was not fond of it. However, once it sat over night it took on different flavors and it then tasted very good. I guess it is something you have to let sit over night.
Hi Heather – My apologies for the delay in responding to both of your emails – we just turned from a family vacation last night. We appreciate receiving reader feedback (even if it isn’t the most positive!) – food and recipes are very subjective and (as long as a comment isn’t overly offensive) everyone is welcome to share their opinions because it helps other readers decided if this recipe is right for them. Anyway – I’m glad you were happy with the potato salad in the end and it didn’t go to waste. Thank you for writing back.
Couldn’t you just chill the potatoes and boiled eggs before mixing everything so that you don’t have to spread the whole thing out on a baking sheet in the fridge?
Hi, this is Jack. You could do as you suggest and I have tried it that way however it just doesn’t come out as good. Having the mixture warm, and then chilled already mixed, really makes a difference in the final consistency and overall texture and taste. Chilling the potatoes first and mixing after, to me, tastes like cooked potatoes with a mayonnaise dressing on them. Thanks for asking.