Creamy Potato Salad

… Creamy Potato Salad … and an “Oops”!

Oh my gosh … Doh! I must begin by apologizing. I cannot believe that I’ve never shared my gluten-free, dairy-free, creamy potato salad recipe with you. When I went looking for it on this site last night, I couldn’t find it. So I kept searching. I went through my entire database. Nope, it wasn’t there. I was shocked! What can I say to you except … Clearly, I’ve dropped the ball!

So it’s time to fix that! It is barbecue season, after all. This is a recipe you must have in your file of delicious, reliable, go-to-again-and-again dishes. It’s the way we’ve made creamy potato salad for years, even before we were free of gluten, dairy, peanut, shellfish, yada, yada, yada. By simply making sure that I source gluten-free and dairy-free mayonnaise, mustard, and pickles, there’s nothing else that differs. Simply meaning … We love it!

So what makes this potato salad so special?

Just treating the potatoes right … boiling them in their skins until just fork tender, then allowing them a proper nap before peeling.

Making sure that the celery is super crisp and fresh. Sourcing good quality, crispy and not-too-sweet pickles – I love using cornishons (though any good quality sweet pickle would work fine too). Brightening with not-too-acidic rice vinegar.

Preparing the salad then chilling it a few hours to an entire day before serving. This allows the flavors in the dressing to marry and create the proper creamy and luscious blanket of yum over the potatoes, onions, celery, and pickles. Yep, that’s all it takes.

I hope you like this potato salad as much as we do. Send me a picture of your torn, tattered, food-stained recipe card with this potato salad recipe on it. I can’t wait to see just how much you love it too!

Gluten-free Dairy-free Creamy Potato Salad

Prep/cooking time: 45-50 minutes

Chill time: a few hours to overnight

Makes: about seven pounds of potato salad – a crowd-size or to satisfy a couple potato-salad fiends

Ingredients:

6 large (about 4 pounds) russet baking potatoes, rinsed and scrubbed

water, enough to cover the potatoes completely in the pot

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups gluten-free, dairy-free mayo

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon celery seeds

1 Tablespoon vinegar – I use Nakamo All-Natural Rice Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard – I use Trader Joe’s

2 teaspoons kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 ½ cups celery, diced

¾-1 cup red onion, finely diced

½ cup sweet pickles, finely diced – I use Maille Cornishons*

¼ cup finely chopped fresh chives, optional for garnish

Directions:

Place whole, rinsed potatoes in a pot large enough to completely cover potatoes. Fill with water.  Add 2 teaspoons salt and cover with lid. Bring to a boil and cook (boiling) until just fork tender, but not soft all the way to the center. Vent the lid to allow steam to escape if the water wants to boil over. The outside of the potatoes will be a bit more cooked than the center. Cooking time will probably be about 20 minutes or so. Potatoes are done when the outer portion of the potato pierces easily and the center feels more resistant. Don’t overcook or salad becomes mushy when mixed. Don’t worry if the skins begin to peel off. Drain cooked potatoes, then return them to empty pan and cover with lid to let rest about 10 minutes. While potatoes are cooking, make the dressing.

Combine mayonnaise, sugar, celery seed, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Wisk well and set aside.

Chop celery, red onion, and pickles. Place in a bowl large enough to hold the finished potato salad. Chop chives and set aside in a separate, small bowl. Add dressing to the celery/onion/pickles bowl. Stir well. Set aside.

Peel hot potatoes by lifting skin and pulling off with fingers, or use a small knife to peel skin off. It should just pull right off. Cut away any dark spots or blemishes in the potatoes. Cut potatoes into cubes and place on plates to allow cubes to cool while cutting remaining potatoes. (This allows the potatoes to cool so you hot potatoes aren’t added to the dressing. The dressing will retain its proper consistency and coat the potatoes more evenly.)

Add cooled, cubed potatoes to the dressing/celery mixture. Toss well to coat all potatoes. Cover bowl with foil and refrigerate until ready to serve, preferably a few hours, but salad can be served immediately.

Garnish with chives just before serving. Store any unused potato salad in a covered container in the refrigerator for a few days.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep salad chilled when not using and never let potato salad sit out in hot weather. Keep in a cooler, or over a bowl of ice, covered, and out of the sun. Food poisoning can occur if mayo-based dressings are exposed to heat too long.

* Maille Cornishons do not contain any gluten-containing ingredients, but they are not processed in a certified gluten-free facility. I contacted the manufacturer directly to inquire and was told the pickles do not include any gluten-containing ingredients but since they are not manufactured in a certified gluten-free facility, they do not claim a gluten-free status on their website. The product page online does state that they are free of fish, shellfish, egg, peanut, soy, and milk. (Here at DF we are VERY reactive to gluten and have never had a problem. Use at your own discretion.)

Safe food is a journey … Thrive!™

Other recipes you might enjoy:

Summertime Egg Salad

Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Orange Balsamic Glaze

Mexican Sweet Corn Cake