Polish Potato Salad

In our home, a potato salad will almost always have hard-boiled eggs and green onion in it, but in the case of this Polish Potato Salad, I’m adding finely chopped dill pickles, fresh dill, green peas, and minced white onions too!

I thought I had tasted the best of the best when it comes to potato salads, but I was wrong, because this Polish Potato Salad goes right to the top of my all-time favourite list! Don’t judge me because I have a list of favourite potato salads, because nobody loves or does a potato salad better than a Newfoundlander!

I was born and raised in Newfoundland. Do you know what that means? Among other things, it means that I know potato salad better than anyone! As a food blogger, it is my job to try recipes, and I’ve tried more potato salads that I care to count. To date, I have not found any potato salad that can beat a traditional Newfoundland variety, but this Polish Potato Salad comes very close!

My absolute favourite type of potato salad is the Vegetable Potato Salad. If you travel across the island, you will discover that just about everyone makes it just a little differently. But, there are a few constant staples. For example, almost all Newfoundlanders will use canned mixed vegetables in their potato salad. And, by doing so, they are right!

Some of them will add apples. But, I’d rather be trapped in a butterfly conservatory. Those of you who know me well can just imagine how horrifying that would be for me! Some people add raw onion. I love the flavour of onion, but not raw, and certainly not in a Newfoundland potato salad. With that said, raw white onions are used in this Polish Potato Salad and it works wonderfully! Some will add egg. I do. I love the texture and taste of eggs in a potato salad.

In essence, this Polish Potato Salad is almost a replica of a typical Newfoundland-style potato salad without the canned mixed vegetables. Newfoundlanders also tend to mash the potatoes rather than cube them. Instead, this one uses fresh carrots, green onions, hard-boiled eggs, fresh dill and dill pickles. I should also mention that like a traditional Newfoundland potato salad used canned mixed veggies, this one used canned peas. Could you use fresh peas? Sure! But, it won’t be as good.

MORE POTATO SALAD!

Lord Byron’s Kitchen has a lot of potato salad recipes. Yes, a good percentage of them are prepared in Newfoundland style, but some of them are not. So, basically, there’s a potato salad recipe here for everyone!

Inspired by classic Greek ingredients, with bright and fresh flavours, Greek Potato Salad is a great alternative to regular home style potato salad. Complete with feta, lemon, dill and pine nuts – who could resist!? For the serious dill pickle enthusiast, Dill Pickle Potato Salad is a creamy, dill-packed side dish fit for any summertime meal! Prepared with dill pickles, fresh chopped dill, and dill pickle juice too, this salad is very dilly indeed! Familiar Tex Mex ingredients can be found in my delicious Tex Mex Potato Salad. Doesn’t it just scream summer? Prepared with baby potatoes, black beans, corn, bell peppers, and a mayonnaise and sour cream-based sauce, this potato salad is sure to be a hit!

In terms of Newfoundland-style potato salads, I’ve got you covered there too! I’ve already mentioned my favourite of the three common types, Vegetable Potato Salad. It’s made with chopped hard boiled eggs, mashed potatoes, and green onions; it’s creamy, comforting, and oh so delicious! Mustard Potato Salad is very similar to regular potato salad, but with tang and zing from yellow mustard. Also, this one doesn’t have eggs. It’s a great way to update your regular salad with a new flavour profile! And, finally, there’s my Pickled Beet Potato Salad which is a sweet and creamy side dish paired perfectly with chicken or roast beef; a perfect summer potluck take-along side dish!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Potatoes – Use 4 large white flesh potatoes.
• Carrots 
• Salt
• Hard Boiled Eggs – Peeled and diced.
• Dill Pickles – Use your favourite brand.
• Green Peas – Canned green peas taste much better than fresh green peas in this recipe.
• White Onion
• Green Onions – These add a burst of freshness to the salad.
• Dill – Used in combination with the dill pickles for even more dill flavour!
• Mayonnaise – You can use any mayonnaise, even the fat free stuff!
• Sugar – Optional!
• Ground Black Pepper

HOW TO MAKE A POLISH POTATO SALAD

Add the diced carrots and diced potatoes to a pot and cover them by an inch with cold water. Add the salt. Bring to a boil and cook until carrots and potatoes are fork-tender. Drain and set aside to cool. Once the carrots and potatoes are fully cooled, transfer them to a large mixing bowl along with the hard-boiled eggs, dill pickles, green peas, white onion, green onions, dill, mayonnaise, sugar, and ground black pepper.

Using a large spoon, mix and fold all of the ingredients together. Taste for seasoning and sweetness and adjust accordingly. You may serve the salad immediately, however for best results, transfer the salad to a bowl with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

DRIED DILL IS NOT THE SAME AS FRESH DILL

If you don’t have any fresh dill on hand, but still want to make this Polish Potato Salad, you can. Let me go on record right here and right now. Substituting dried dill will give you dill flavour, but it’s just not quite as good as fresh dill. The fresh dill is what helps to make this potato salad extraordinary.

So, if you need to substitute fresh dill for dried dill, it’s easy to do. For this particular recipe, you need to use 1/4 cup of chopped fresh dill. That would be equal to four teaspoons of dried dill.

INCLUDING THE EGG YOLKS

Whenever I make a potato salad with hard boiled eggs in it, I tend to only use half of the egg yolks. Let me explain. All of the eggs are hard boiled and then roughly chopped. Before I chop them, I cut the eggs in half and remove the yolk from half the amount of eggs. The only reason I do this is that I don’t care for an extremely yellow salad!

I don’t mind a little yellow tint to the finished product, but I don’t want the salad to be completely yellow. Does it matter? Absolutely not! You can include all of the yolks in your salad, but if you do, keep in mind that your salad will be more yellow than the one you see in the photographs.

It’s all in my head, I know! But, how many times have we all heard the expression that we eat with our eyes first? Well, my eyes tell me that I don’t want to eat a yellow Polish Potato Salad. Ha! You do you, Dear Reader!

STORING AND REFRIGERATION

It’s important to let the salad chill in the fridge for at least four hours. This will allow the ingredients time to hang out and get to know each other! The vegetables and dressing will marry and all of the flavours will be exchanged and absorbed.

After four hours, the salad is ready to serve. Toss it again before plating just to freshen everything up. The salad does tend to settle a little bit. You can safely store this salad in your fridge for up to three days. Be sure to keep the salad covered at all times.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!