Mashed Potato Salad
Y’all, let me tell you, this Mashed Potato Salad is like a big ol’ hug from the fridge. It takes everything you love about classic potato salad and makes it even easier by starting with frozen hash browns. Yep, no peeling and chopping raw potatoes until your arm falls off. Just boil, mash a lil,’ and mix in all that creamy, tangy goodness.
If you’re a fan of creamy comfort, you’ve gotta check out my Loaded Baked Potato Salad, The Best German Potato Salad, and Creamy Cucumbers Salad!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Mashed Potato Salad
- Ready In: 260 minutes
- Serves: 8
- Main Ingredients: 32-ounce package cubed frozen hash browns, boiled eggs, chopped, diced onion, chopped sweet pickles, mayonnaise, sweet pickle juice, heaping teaspoon yellow mustard, salt
- Why You'll Love It: Mashed Potato Salad is a creamy, comforting twist on classic potato salad. Made with cubed hash browns, sweet pickles, mayo, mustard, and boiled eggs, it’s the perfect make-ahead side dish for potlucks, BBQs, or Sunday suppers.
It’s got the eggs for richness, mustard for a punch, mayo for that creamy texture, and sweet pickles because… well, sweet pickles belong in potato salad if you ask me. This is the kind of dish that shows up at family reunions, church picnics, and backyard cookouts, and somehow, the bowl always comes back scraped clean.
Before You Get Started
- Don’t over-mash the potatoes. Lumps make this salad extra good.
- Chill time is key! This needs a good few hours in the fridge to let the flavors come together.
- Keep it sweet. Sweet pickles really do make the difference, but dill lovers can swap if they like.
Recipe Ingredients
- Pepper
- Cubed frozen hash browns
- Boiled eggs, chopped
- Diced onion
- Chopped sweet pickles (or sweet pickle relish)
- Mayonnaise
- Sweet pickle juice
- Yellow mustard (or Dijon mustard for extra tang)
- Salt
How to Make Mashed Potato Salad
1. Cook the Potatoes
Place hash browns in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain well.
2. Mash
Transfer potatoes to a large bowl and mash lightly with a potato masher. Leave it lumpy. This ain’t mashed potatoes, it’s potato salad!
3. Make the Pickle Relish
In a blender or small food chopper, pulse the chopped onion and sweet pickles until very finely minced.
4. Mix it All Together
Add mayonnaise, pickle juice, mustard, minced pickles and onions, salt, and pepper to the potatoes. Stir until combined, then gently fold in the chopped eggs.
5. Chill
Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. Enjoy!
Storage
Store leftover potato salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
- Potato swap: I’m just using hashbrowns to make life easier, but you can use regular potatoes instead. Just chop them into small cubes before following the instructions. I recommend Yukon Gold potatoes.
- Add celery: Many mashed potato salad recipes include 1/2 cup of diced celery, so feel free to chop that up when you finely dice the onion and sweet pickles.
- Use leftover potatoes: This is a great recipe to use if you have leftover roast potatoes or leftover mashed potatoes.
- Onion swap: Feel free to swap the yellow onion for sweet onion, red onion, or green onion.
- Other substitutions you can make? Swap yellow mustard for Dijon mustard, add a tablespoon of vinegar for extra tang, and swap half of the mayonnaise for 1/2 cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt instead. You can also use Miracle Whip for a sweeter, zingier salad dressing flavor.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes! In fact, it’s better the next day after all those flavors have had a chance to mingle.
Do you have to put eggs in a potato salad?
The short answer is no. I don’t believe Thomas’ mashed potato salad had eggs in it but personally, I just love boiled eggs in potato salad. If you love them, be sure to add them in. If you don’t, feel free to leave them out. For me, they just make it extra special.
Can I use dill pickles instead of sweet pickles?
So, since posting this recipe, I’ve heard from A LOT of people that… a) feel confident Thomas’s used dill pickle instead of sweet pickle or b) can’t bear the thought of sweet pickle in a potato salad and prefer dill. So I just wanted to pop in and reiterate that this is my version of the recipe and as a person who really, really loves sweet pickles, that is what I naturally used. You, of course, are welcome to substitute dill if that is what you prefer. There is a good chance that is what Thomas’s used since they served dill pickle spears with some of their entrees. Just go with whatever cranks yer tractor.
What do you serve with mashed potato salad?
This is a great side dish to pair with so many different main meals. Here are some recommendations:
- Butter Roasted Chicken
- North Alabama-Style Pulled Chicken
- French Dip Sandwiches Recipe (With a Twist)
- Baked Ham With Easy Brown Sugar Glaze
- Slow-Roasted Beef Brisket in the Oven
How do you make Amish potato salad?
Add diced celery and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar to this recipe and you have Amish potato salad.
Ingredients
- 1 32-ounce package cubed frozen hash browns
- 4 boiled eggs, chopped
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup chopped sweet pickles
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup sweet pickle juice
- 1 heaping teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Place hash browns in a large pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, allow to cook for ten minutes or until tender.1 32-ounce package cubed frozen hash browns
- Drain potatoes and place them in a large bowl. Mash all of this up a bit with a potato masher, but leave them lumpy.
- Place chopped sweet pickles and chopped onion into a blender, chopper, or small smoothie blender and pulse a few times until very fine, almost like a relish.1/2 cup diced onion, 1/2 cup chopped sweet pickles
- Place mayonnaise, pickle juice, mustard, finely minced pickles and onions, salt, and pepper in the bowl with the potatoes. Stir until well mixed, then stir in the chopped eggs just until incorporated.4 boiled eggs, chopped, 1 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup sweet pickle juice, 1 heaping teaspoon yellow mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- Cover and refrigerate for several hours or until cold. Enjoy!
I have tried to duplicate the recipe for years and finally came up with one that matches the taste pretty closely. But, what I liked most about their potato salad was the taste of dill, not sweet pickles. So, give it a try with dill pickles and juice and see what you think. I also like to add fresh dill to the salad. But thank you for the hash brown potato hint. That hint will definitely cut the prep time in half! Thank you so much for all of your delicious recipes and friendly blogs!
I will have to try that, thank you so much for sharing Mary!!!
Thank you for posting this recipe! This is how I have made potato salad, but just peeled and cubed my potatoes. I need to look for the Duke’s mayo.
I hope you can find it Joanne!!!
We always eat dlvieed eggs. The first time I made them I thought my mom put seasoned salt on them so I sprinkled it on the eggs and my mom asked what I did to them because they had a zip to them, so I told her and we had a good laugh when she told me she puts paprika on them!! Every now and then I use season salt when I want a zip, but mostly we use paprika. I like to garnish mine is chopped green onion and a slice of olive. It would be interesting to see how everyone makes them. Mom never made them till she moved here to the states, so I don’t think they were common in Germany they might now, but not when she first married my dad. He was the one who taught her how to make them.
Now funny! I will have to try seasoned salt…I think the eggs could use some zip.
put the seasoned salt in the yellow so it softens and spreads the flavor…I never thought to garnish with olive slices…hmmm
A friend introduced me to JFG mayo which I order from amazon. It’s the best I’ve eaten. It’s not a “heavy” mayo which is what I appreciate. I don’t actually like mayo. If you see it, suggest you try it since you said you are not that fond of mayo.
sweet pickles – really? I’ve never detected a sweet in it. I use finely chopped green olives in my Thomas salad. A friend told me they used dill. I also add white sauce and Liquid Smoke. Oh, I loved that stuff even more than the BBQ!!
Sweet pickles, really ! 🙂 Sure do miss it! I love liquid smoke.
I’ve missed Thomas Pit BBQ landmark, it looks so naked there….. :'( Thanks for posting their famous potato salad recipe…….:-)
Oh my goodness, it does look bare doesn’t it!
This is the way my mother has always made potato salad, except she diced her own potatoes. She also used sweet pickle cubes (not relish) from a jar. They sell both kinds here. If this tastes anything like my Mom’s, this potato salad is AWESOME! I love to eat it when it has just been made and is still warm!
yeah, warm like the feeling in mama’s kitchen…
yeah, warm like the feeling in mama’s kitchen…
With the onions and pickle, do you add the other half cup, that is not minced fine, to the salad as is?
Jeff, the way I read it was there is not another 1/2 cup. It is just the 1/2 cup onion and 1/2 cup pickles. Read it again. A little bit further it states that. I thought the same as you the first time I read it.
UPS,,,,It was Gerry that asked about the other 1/2 cup……
Well, I gotta tell ya, Christy, that just THIS morning I was searching for a classic potato salad recipe and happened upon one similar to yours but MUCH more fussy. It promised to be the perfect potato salad but I was dreading all the preparation. Then I clicked through when I saw your email and thought wow!! A pretty near duplicate but much easier to make. Yay Christy!! You rescued me just in time. lol. 🙂