This creamy potato salad with egg is how I used to make potato salad when I lived in South Africa, and it always got rave reviews. It’s such a simple recipe, you only need 4 main ingredients for the basic recipe but you can customise it with other ingredients to your own taste.
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Easy potato salad
Sometimes the easiest recipes are the best. Just simple ingredients that you mix together that work so well!
This easy potato salad is one of those recipes. You only need 4 main ingredients – potatoes, eggs, onions and mayonnaise – and you can be tucking into a dish of this deliciously creamy potato salad in no time.
Of course, you do need a little seasoning in the form of salt, and perhaps a sprinkling of paprika over the top for a touch of colour, but that is it really – nothing else needed.
The potatoes are creamy, with a firm texture, complemented by the pieces of hard-boiled egg that are mixed through. And the small pieces of onion give a satisfying crunch as you bite into them, but they are cut so finely that they don’t overpower the overall flavour, which is that of egg and potato.
Variations
This is the basic recipe – and probably the version I make the most often, but you can add lots of different ingredients to make this potato salad your own:
- fry up some bacon pieces until crispy and mix those through;
- mix a handful of grated cheese with the potatoes, with perhaps more grated cheese sprinkled on top;
- grate an extra hard-boiled egg over the top of the salad before sprinkling with paprika;
- add extra crunch by mixing some finely chopped celery in with the onions;
- if you don’t like the taste of onions, just leave them out (then you only need 3 ingredients to make this dish 🙂 ).
- you could also swap out the onions for finely chopped chives.
The choices are endless – you are limited only by your imagination. Once you’ve made the basic potato salad, you can modify it to your heart’s content. This recipe for potato salad with egg is like having lots of recipes in one!
Here’s the basic recipe. I’d love to hear how you customise it!
What you will need
Equipment
To boil the eggs and potatoes you will need a saucepan.
For cutting up the potatoes, eggs and onions you will need a sharp knife and a chopping board.
And for mixing it all together and serving you will need a large mixing bowl. I like these mixing bowls with lids because you can mix the potato salad up and then cover it with a lid while it stands in the refrigerator and the bowl is pretty enough to be used as a serving dish at the table.
Ingredients
The ingredients as given in the recipe will make enough potato salad to cater for 4 to 6 people as a side dish. To make a larger bowl of potato salad simply use more ingredients. Be careful about doubling up on the salt though – you don’t want to make the dish too salty.
**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this potato salad with egg on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
Potatoes – the one thing I will say about the potatoes is that they need to be waxy potatoes, i.e. the ones that hold their shape when they are boiled and have a nice creamy ‘bite’ to them. You don’t want to be using a potato that you would typically use for mash. For this recipe I used red potatoes (or Roosters), but you could use Charlottes, Jersey Royals, salad potatoes (sold as that in the UK supermarkets) or even Maris Pipers.
Onions – you can use either red or white onions, but they should be very finely chopped – no bigger than a pea!
Eggs – the eggs should be hard-boiled so that you can cut them up easily. I normally just stick the eggs in with the potatoes when I boil the potatoes (saves on energy 🙂 ).
Mayonnaise – use your favourite store-bought mayonnaise, or make your own using one of these easy recipes:
- One-minute mayonnaise – if you have a stick-blender this recipe can be whipped up in seconds.
- How to make mayonnaise – a more traditional mayonnaise recipe that calls for the oil to be drizzled slowly into the eggs in a blender.
Salt and pepper – for seasoning.
Paprika – not pictured and optional – for sprinkling on top of the potato salad.
What to do
Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks.
Peel the onion and cut it into a fine dice no larger than a pea. Well, that is my recommendation. If you enjoy larger pieces of raw onion then cut them to the size that you enjoy. This will be your version of the salad after all!
Place the potatoes in a pan of lightly salted water along with the eggs and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 to 12 minutes until you can pierce the potato with a fork. Remove from the heat and fill the pan with cold water to stop the potatoes from cooking further.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them into bite-sized pieces and place them in a serving dish. Peel and chop the eggs and add the eggs and chopped onions to the potatoes.
Stir in the mayonnaise, taste for seasoning and add salt and ground black pepper to your own taste. Optionally sprinkle with a little ground paprika. Cover the dish and place it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Note – I have allowed one cup of mayonnaise in the recipe. The actual amount will depend on your own taste. If you like a lot of mayonnaise you may need to add extra. Also, if the potatoes that you use are quite floury you may need extra mayonnaise to compensate.
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Potato salad with egg FAQ
Purely to save on energy. If you prefer cooking your eggs separately, by all means, do so. Just make sure that they are hard-boiled.
No, this dish is not suitable for freezing as the mayonnaise will split once defrosted. However, you can store this dish in a covered container in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days.
Yes, you can certainly boil the potatoes with the skin on and remove it once the potatoes have cooled. If you are using new or baby potatoes for the salad (which have very thin skins) you may prefer to leave the potatoes unpeeled.
Yes, this is recommended to prevent contamination of the potato salad. If you plan to serve the potato salad at room temperature you can let it stand on the counter for an hour or so before serving. If you choose to do this, I would be inclined to discard any leftovers rather than putting them back into the refrigerator.
Potato salad should always be kept chilled. It will be fine if you serve it chilled from the refrigerator and then return the dish immediately to the refrigerator for another meal.
Ask any South African this question and you will get the obvious answer ‘a barbeque‘. I like to serve my potato salad with cold meat such as these air-fryer chicken drumsticks or slices of oven-baked gammon. Potato salad also goes well with fish or seafood and I often serve it with garlic butter prawns.
No, you can leave the eggs out. Then it would just be a plain potato salad, not a potato salad with egg 🙂
Save for later
If you would like to make this potato and egg salad yourself, why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click on the image below.
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Other recipes
I normally serve potato salad not only with cold meat, but also with other salads to form a complete balanced meal. Here are some other salads you may like to try:
- Egg and asparagus salad – boiled eggs and freshly steamed asparagus in a tangy mayonnaise dressing.
- Quick and easy garlic mushrooms – garlic mushrooms are never out of place when you’re serving cold meat and salad 🙂
- Spicy beetroot salad – this is my quick and easy beetroot salad, using fresh beetroot and a simple homemade dressing.
- Curried green bean salad – the spiciness of this salad pairs perfectly with the creaminess of the potato egg salad.
- German meat salad – who says salads have to be made only with vegetables? Certainly not the Germans!
- Tomato and onion pasta salad – this substantial salad can be served as a side dish or eaten on its own as a light lunch or supper dish.
The recipe
Potato salad with egg
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Ingredients
- 4 – 5 medium potatoes
- 1 medium onion
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup / 240 ml mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon paprika optional
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks.4 – 5 medium potatoes
- Peel the onion and cut it into a fine dice no larger than a pea.1 medium onion
- Place the potatoes in a pan of lightly salted water along with the eggs and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 to 12 minutes until you can pierce the potato with a fork. Remove from the heat and fill the pan with cold water to stop the potatoes from cooking further. Once the potatoes have cooled you can drain the water away.3 large eggs
- When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them into bite-sized pieces and place them in a serving dish. Peel and chop the eggs and add the eggs and chopped onions to the potatoes.
- Stir in the mayonnaise, taste for seasoning and add salt and ground black pepper to your own taste. Optionally sprinkle with a little ground paprika. Cover the dish and place it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.1 cup / 240 ml mayonnaise, Salt and black pepper, ½ teaspoon paprika
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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This Potato Salad is like my Mother used the make ist , but we also use Gerkins ! That’s how we make it in Germany , we all love it !
Ooh yes, love gherkins in this salad too!
This is exactly how I make it, but I do add a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley on top. Delicious!! Love your recipes especially the South African ones.
Thanks for your kind words. So pleased you like my recipes!