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!
Do you know how they
Cooked their ribs?
Mine turned out soupy, what did I do wrong
Hey! I’m sorry it didn’t turn out like you’d hoped. Next time I would drain the potatoes for a few more minutes in a colander and make sure you drain your relish or pickles for a few as well.
This is basically the recipe I use but I cook my potatoes after peeling them. I guess I cook my potatoes a little longer, because I don’t mash but there are creamy potatoes in with the chunks. To me this is the best potato when you have ethe creamy with the chunks. Makes me want potato salad, may have to get to cooking.
🙂 I like the way you think Kay!!
I grew up in Oklahoma and my grandmama would occasionally make a mashed potato salad with mashed potatoes, onion, dill pickles, eggs and mustard with just a spoon of mayonnaise. It’s like she reversed the mustard and mayonnaise ratio from her traditional potato salad that she usually made for us. It was really good and i have tried, as an adult, to duplicate her recipe but she used dill pickles that she canned and the store bought pickles i use just can’t duplicate it, although it’s still good, it’s not as good. This recipe has me thinking of her. I’m using your recipe next weekend for a potluck bbq that i’ll be attending. Thank you for sharing this. All of your recipes look fantastic!
It would be great if you could find someone near you that made homemade dill pickles that you could buy some from. My friend Jyl keeps talking about Boars Head dill pickles, she said they are only in the deli of stores that sell Boars Head deli meats. That might be something else you could look for to try. I know how frustrating it can be trying to duplicate a recipe and not be able to get it just right.
Miss Christy, thank you for sharing this recipe. I wouldn’t have thought to use the cubed hash browns. My Dad made the best potato salad and his recipe was similar to this one as he used to mash the potatoes. I actually prefer my potato salad this way. This is a great shortcut, I will be making this again soon. Also I am firmly in the sweet pickle camp for potato salad, but everyone should make it how they like it! Thanks again!
I made this the other night. Not exactly sure where I went wrong but it turned out quite soupy… but the flavor was delicious! I’m definitely going to make it again but perhaps with less pickle juice.
Love the idea of hash browns, will have to try it. I also used those ingredients, and add, chopped dill pickles, onion and green and black olives. My in-law never had olives in their potato salad, but was won over to that idea.