Grandma's Old-Fashioned Potato Salad - So Yummy and Creamy

This old-fashioned red hot and blue potato salad recipe is made with red potatoes, onions, celery, hard boiled eggs, and mayonnaise.

It's the best of all the potato salad recipes I have ever had and while I've always just referred to it as Grandma's recipe, apparently, it's also known as Red Hot and Blue Potato Salad. Who knew that Grandma was ahead of her time?!

My Classic Potato Salad Inspiration

The inspiration for this perfect side dish and summer barbecue favorite is my Grandma Gardner, who was my mom's mom.

She was a tiny little woman who I rarely saw eat but boy could she cook and I was always so happy when she did.

I was a waif of a child (that's me being dramatic but I was skinny) and then, Grandma Gardner moved in with us and I was no longer skinny, but I digress.

For any warm-weather function we had, Grandma was always called upon to make her old-fashioned homemade potato salad.

Her delicious salad always got raves and seconds were in order.

It was even better the next day after all the flavors mingled and the salad had a chance to thoroughly chill.

Grandma's was, in my opinion, the BEST potato salad and now, I consider it the perfect side dish for every Fourth of July celebration, Memorial Day picnic, and summer BBQ I host.

📋 Ingredients

• Red potatoes
• Hard boiled eggs - You check out my tips for perfect hard cooked eggs here
• Celery
• Onion
• Mayonnaise
• Salt and a little bit of black pepper to taste

🔪 Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. The full recipe and instructions as well as nutritional information can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.

1. Boil or steam the potatoes with the skins on until soft but not too soft.  
2. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water off and allow them to cool in the pot.
3. At this point, you can either leave the skins on or peel the potatoes.
4. Peel and slice hard boiled (hard cooked) and add to large bowl with the potatoes.
5. Add the celery and onion and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Add mayonnaise to the potato mixture and stir gently, incorporating all of the ingredients.
7. Garnish with fresh parsley or sliced green onion tops.
8. Chill overnight or for several hours before serving. This is always better the next day after the flavors have had a chance to mingle.

📖 Variations

• Smoked paprika is a wonderful addition and can be sprinkled on top before serving and would make this recipe a wonderful side dish to these Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs made with Dr. Pepper
• 1 teaspoon celery seed can be added if you want a bolder celery taste
• Make an extra hard boiled egg to slice and garnish the top of the bowl. Sprinkle with fresh or dried parsley or sliced green onion tops if desired.

My kids always get excited when I make this creamy potato salad recipe.  

As I was taking the pictures for this post, I turned my back for a minute and when I turned back around there was a hand coming across the table and grabbing a forkful.

I caught him in the act! Even my youngest son who does NOT like mayonnaise at all gets excited when I make this.

Do you have a favorite recipe that was handed down to you? I would LOVE to hear about it!

💭 Top Tip

♨️ If you have an Instant Pot the high pressure can be used to steam the potatoes rather than boiling them.

Instructions

1. Add cold water and chopped potatoes to the bottom of the instant pot placing on trivet.
2. Secure the instant pot lid and turn the valve to sealing.
3. Select high pressure/manual and set timer to 4 minutes.
4. When the timer beeps, use the quick release method to release the pressure.

Food safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

📖 Recipe