Red Potato Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

When not to use red potatoes? ›

Red potatoes are great for roasting, cooking in soups, or boiling or steaming for potato salad. The waxy nature of the flesh means they'll maintain their shape, but it also means they will get gluey when overworked, so you'll want to choose a different potato for mashing.

How to Boil Potatoes for Potato Salad. Waxy potatoes can be cooked whole or cut, with or without the skin. Starchy potatoes should be cooked whole with the skin on, then peeled and cut after they're cooked. Select medium Russet potatoes, not large ones, to ensure the skin doesn't split while cooking.

To keep your salad from falling apart into mush, it's important to use the best potatoes for potato salad. Skip the russet potatoes and use a waxy variety instead, like Yukon gold, red potatoes or fingerlings. Learn more about which types of potatoes you should use for different recipes.

Rinsing washes off some of the starch from the potatoes so that the potato chunks are more defined and easily coated with the dressing. Rinsing the potatoes in cold water also stops the cooking process so you know exactly what texture your potatoes will be and won't risk over-cooking.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

Red potatoes are an excellent source of flavonoid antioxidants like quercetin, kaempferol-rutinose, catechin, and rutin. Red potatoes contain twice the amount of flavonoids as compared to white potatoes. 6They're also a rich source of several nutrients, including vitamin C and potassium.

You'll never get as much flavor if you wait to season when the potatoes are cool or when you're dressing the salad. The key is seasoning as soon as possible. → Follow this tip: The key to a well-seasoned potato salad is adding salt to the water when the potatoes cook.

For most potato dishes it's important to add the potatoes to cold water and allow the water to come to a boil with the potatoes in the water. The potato starch can react as soon as it comes in contact with hot water, which will promote uneven cooking and mealy potatoes.

If you add them to already boiling water, the outside of the potatoes will cook too quickly and turn mushy before the inner part is fully tender. For evenly cooked potatoes, toss them into a large pot, cover with cold water, and then add salt before bringing them to a boil.

If you'd like to add a little extra color and texture to your salad, leave the skins on. Just be sure to scrub them thoroughly with a vegetable brush before you cook them. Once you've either scrubbed or peeled your potatoes, cut them into bite-size chunks, place them in a large pot, and cover them with water.

What is classic potato salad made of? ›

Key Ingredients in Potato Salad

Mayonnaise: Use mayonnaise and a touch of mustard to bind the potatoes and mix-ins together. Celery: Add some crunch to the potato salad with chopped celery. Hard-boiled eggs: Classic potato salad recipes often include diced hard-boiled eggs.

Cook potatoes until they offer no resistance when pierced: 10–12 minutes for baby potatoes, 15–20 minutes for small potatoes, or 30–40 minutes for large cubed potatoes. Drain potatoes in a colander and let cool 10 minutes.

Why use salt water for soaking potatoes? There's moisture naturally found in potatoes, and moisture is drawn to higher concentrations of salt. (This is a process called osmosis.) So, if you put the potatoes in a salt water bath, that will help draw out some of their moisture, resulting in crispier fries.

How to tell if red potatoes are bad? Red potatoes are bad if they are soft, mushy, smell moldy, and have shriveled or have long sprouts.

To be safe, it is best to not eat the green part of tubers." You do not need to discard green potatoes. Just peel the skins, shoots and any green color; that is where the solanines concentrate. The United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service inspects only meat, poultry and egg products.

Raw potatoes should be firm to the touch with tight skin that's free of large bruises, black spots, or other blemishes. If a potato has become soft or mushy, you should throw it out. Though it's normal for potatoes to smell earthy or nutty, a musty or moldy odor is a hallmark of spoilage.

Are Shriveled Potatoes Safe To Eat? No, shriveled or wrinkled potatoes should not be eaten. "Potatoes that have started to shrivel, wrinkle or soften and develop long sprouts are not safe to eat," says Michael Handal, chef-instructor of Culinary Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE).