Chunky Pennsylvania Dutch Potato Salad is a great recipe and with so many end-of-summer picnics coming up, I thought I'd share it. I know everyone has their own special potato salad formulation but if you are open to experiment, this is a great one to try!
I've seen this recipe posted online, but it was first sent to me by an Amish woman from the Ronks, Pennsylvania area. This is a potato salad with a classic Pennsylvania Dutch culinary influence. The apple cider vinegar and yellow mustard are tell-tale signs.
The big difference in this potato salad from others is one minor detail: size.
I mean, most of my life I’ve had potato salads that are basically diced potatoes tossed in a mish-mash of mustard, mayo, eggs, sometimes both. But this Pennsylvania Dutch Chunky Potato Salad is almost like a deconstructed potato salad. In other words, you can see and enjoy the pieces because they aren’t all mish-mashed together. You can actually take a forkful of potato swimming in flavor and enjoy it. There’s nothing wrong with more traditional potato salads, but this just something a little different.
By the way, some versions of this recipe do up the mustard to 3 - 4 tablespoons. So if you like a more "mustardy" salad, feel free to do so.
Potato salad is one of those staples of Amish summer menus and every family has their own version. There are mustard potato salads, mayo potato salads, potato salads with the skins on, potato salads with the skins off, peppery potato salads, saltier salads, and on and on. Personally, I like them all! Few things better than a cold bowl of lightly salted potato salad on a hot summer day. This salad with the large chunks of potatoes, for me, is a winner on a warm summer's day.
This is an amazing Chunky Pennsylvania Dutch Potato Salad!
Start with fresh garden potatoes if you can, otherwise store-bought will do. Many Amish grow their own potatoes. Of course, soil quality plays into it, a nice, sandy soil makes for great potatoes.
Eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and salt are combined and heated that will serve as a base for the salad.
This shows you the sauce you come up with and the big chunks of potatoes in this chunky potato salad. If you like potatoes, this is your salad!
Put the potatoes in a large bowl and toss with the other veggies.
This is in my view is a fancier, more elegant potato salad. It's a superb-tasting one and just shows how varieties there are of a dish. Give it a try!
🥔 Potato Salad Ingredients
- 6 medium white potatoes with skin, chunked, not diced
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- â…“ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
📋 Potato Salad Instructions
- Place the potatoes into a large pot, and fill with enough water to cover.
- Bring to a boil, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork. Drain, and set aside to cool.
- While the potatoes are cooking, whisk together 2 eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.
- Stir in the vinegar, milk, and mustard. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat, and stir in the butter.
- Refrigerate until cool, then stir in the mayonnaise.
- Peel the potatoes if desired, and cut into medium chunk pieces.
- Place in a large bowl, and toss with the onion, celery, carrots, celery seed and hard-cooked eggs.
- Gently fold in the dressing.
- Refrigerate until serving, tastes best after a day of chilling which allows the flavors to meld.
🥔 Additional Amish Potato Salad Recipes
Rosana's WOW Potato Salad & her musings about potato salad in general!
Gloria's Potato Salad
Amish Sweet Potato Spring Salad
Grandma Mary's Six Spoon Potato Salad
Amish Funeral Potato Salad
📖 Full Recipe
Amish Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 6 medium white potatoes with skin
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 4 hard-cooked eggs peeled and chopped
- 2 eggs beaten
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- â…“ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
Instructions
- Place the potatoes into a large pot, and fill with enough water to cover.
- Bring to a boil, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork. Drain, and set aside to cool.
- While the potatoes are cooking, whisk together 2 eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.
- Stir in the vinegar, milk, and mustard. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat, and stir in the butter.
- Refrigerate until cool, then stir in the mayonnaise.
- Peel the potatoes if desired, and cut into medium diced pieces.
- Place in a large bowl, and toss with the onion, celery, carrots, celery seed and hard-cooked eggs.
- Gently fold in the dressing.
- Refrigerate until serving, tastes best after a day of chilling which allows the flavors to meld.
Claudine
Kevin why don't you post your grandmother's potato salad recipe?? Sounds like it would be so good!
Kevin
I knew someone would ask, I think I will do that this coming week so stay tuned!-)
Christine T
It was wonderful seeing this recipe that I have been making since childhood. I came up in the River Brethern of Pa and had many OOM and Amish friends in good ole Lancaster. We lived near Lititz. It was fun to see this recipe with actual amounts written out as very few of mine are. Although my ratios vary, it also depends on my mood that day! Thank you so much for your newsletter.
Kevin
Christine, very interesting....Culinary lineage/history interests and from what I've heard about the recipe it matches right up with the geographical region you are from! - Kevin
Terri Nomura
beginning of recipe says "nothing better than potato salad with chunks of bacon...." but there's no bacon listed in the ingredients?
Kevin Williams
You can add bacon, it would be super crumbled up and stirred in, but that is an optional part of the recipe, I removed that sentence to avoid any confusion. Thanks for pointing that out!