What Are the Best Potatoes for Potato Salad? (2024)

FAQs

What is the best type of potato to use for potato salad? ›

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.

Starchy. Starchy potatoes—such as Idaho, russets, and sweet potatoes—have relatively low moisture. They get soft and fluffy when cooked, so they're the best potatoes for baking, mashing, and frying, as well as for soups and casseroles.

Waxy potatoes have a smoother, waxy texture and hold their shape while cooking. They work well in soups, stews, potato salad and scalloped potatoes. Waxy potatoes stand up to boiling, slicing and roasting where starchy potatoes may fall apart.

Waxy Potatoes

In terms of appearance, their skin is much thinner. Unlike starchy ones, which become soft when cooked, waxy potatoes hold their shape. This makes them good for making soups or stews, potato salads, or casseroles.

This recipe explains how to prepare and cook potatoes so you can then use them in almost any potato salad recipe on the planet. Most traditional recipes stipulate that you should first boil the potatoes whole with their skins on, then peel and slice or dice them when they're cool enough to handle.

Because waxy potatoes are relatively low in starch and high in moisture, their cells stay intact when they're cooked, meaning that slices or cubes hold up when boiled or baked. Waxy potatoes will hold their shape when boiled—and dressed with a ton of cheese and pepper.

They lack the waxy characteristic of red potatoes, which means they're easy to mash without becoming too gummy. Overall, Yukon Golds are a fantastic all-purpose potato that can be baked, fried, mashed, boiled or sautéed.

Red (aka New)

These waxy potatoes are the darlings of the salad set because they look great, keep their shape, and offer a creamy texture. They're low in starch and high in moisture so they're perfect when boiled or roasted.

Russets are ideal for light and fluffy mashed potatoes. They also fry up crisp and golden brown, and are the potato of choice for baking. The delicate flavor and fluffy texture of baked russets goes well with a variety of toppings, from traditional sour cream and chives to spicy and bold Mediterranean or Latin flavors.

What potatoes do chefs use? ›

Round White AKA Chef Potatoes

B is the most common in foodservice.

Waxy potatoes are generally considered the best for classic potato salad because they retain their shape, you don't have to peel them, and they have a smooth texture. People who prefer a creamy potato salad that soaks up dressing like a sponge, though, opt for a starchy potato.

The Vinegar Trick

In his recipe, López-Alt shares his secret for perfectly cooked potatoes every time: Adding vinegar to the water (specifically, 1 tablespoon of vinegar per 1 quart of water) prevents overcooking. This one tip has transformed potato salad for Kristina Razon, the Senior Food Editor at Kitchn.

In general small or cubed potatoes will take about 10 to 15 minutes to boil, while larger, whole potatoes will take between 20 to 25 minutes. To check potatoes for doneness, insert a knife into one.

The bottom line: Potato labels refer to the color of a potatoes' flesh; potatoes labeled “gold” or “yellow” are not Yukon Gold potatoes, but they can be used in place of Yukon Gold potatoes in recipes.

The key is to allow the potatoes to dry and become cold before you make the salad. If you cut hot, boiled potatoes, they tend to crumble. If you wait until they had time to dry (may I suggest laying them out on a plate or casserole dish during this time) and cold, they cut nicer.

Yukon Golds are our choice for Perfectly Roasted Potatoes. Semi-starchy and semi-waxy, they're simultaneously more plush than waxy potatoes and less crumbly than floury ones (which makes sense, since YGs are a cross between a starchy North American white potato and a waxier South American yellow one).