Grandma’s Famous Potato Salad – Best Recipe – Easy

Grandma’s Famous Potato Salad

Every summer growing up, our extended family picnics came with a guarantee: Grandma’s famous potato salad would be there. I call it famous because, in our family, it truly is.

There are a few foods that every descendant of my maternal grandmother not only knows by heart but looks forward to every single time:

• Grandma’s homemade chocolate chip cookies
• Grandma’s Christmas butter cookies
• Grandma’s potato salad

This recipe is so good that when I made it for this video, my wife declared that I am no longer allowed to buy store-bought potato salad. And honestly, most of my family would consider that heresy anyway — but sometimes I’m lazy. As someone born and raised in Idaho, I’ll eat just about anything with potatoes in it. The truth is, though, this potato salad beats anything you’ll find at the grocery store, and it’s not even close.

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A Recipe with No Measurements

My favorite recipe management tool is an app called Paprika. It makes it incredibly easy to edit, organize, and scale recipes — want to double it? Easy. Cut it in half? Also easy. I use it constantly.

The first time I got Grandma’s recipe, though, there was a problem: there were no measurements. It just listed the ingredients with a note that said, “Add as much as you need for each ingredient. If too thick, thin down with canned milk.”

For someone who needs to follow a recipe, I was completely lost.

I reached out to my mom, and it turned out my sister had once sat down with Grandma and written out the recipe while watching her make it. Crisis averted — sort of. Because here’s the thing about my grandma: she always wants to make sure there’s enough food for everyone. So by the time I got the written recipe, it was built to feed a small army. We’re talking 18 hard-boiled eggs and 10 pounds of red potatoes.

Using Paprika, I halved it — and then realized that was still way too much. I eventually scaled it down to one-fourth of the original. A few other details needed figuring out too, like the sugar: the recipe called for “Sugar or one packet of Sweet’N Low,” and since Sweet’N Low is about two tablespoons, a quarter of that comes out to half a tablespoon. A couple of other measurements needed converting from fraction of a cup to teaspoons, and then we were good to go.

The result still makes enough to feed a small family for a meal or two — which feels just about right.

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A Note on the Potatoes

Grandma’s recipe says to peel the skins off the red potatoes. You’re welcome to do that. I personally leave the skins on — for potato salad, mashed potatoes, fries, you name it. I know some people find the texture off-putting in dishes like this, and I completely understand that. For me, it doesn’t take anything away from the taste of experience, and a lot of the fiber, antioxidants, and nutrients in a potato are actually in the skin. Now, we’re also mixing in Miracle Whip, mustard, and a generous amount of salt and pepper, so this isn’t exactly a health food — but it’s my preference. Do what you like.

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Now, on to the recipe!

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