Sour Cream Potato and Egg Salad Recipe

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 15 mins

Total: 35 mins

Servings: 6 servings

Put this sour cream potato salad together for your summer cookout or picnic. It’s an essential warm-weather salad that goes well with barbecue, grilled meats, and sandwich lunches.

Potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, chopped cucumber, celery, and some finely chopped onion give the salad its excellent texture, while the sour cream and mayonnaise dressing provides the tangy flavor.

Make the salad several hours ahead of time if you'd like. Refrigerate the dressing and vegetables in separate containers and then put everything together just before serving time. If you are taking the salad to a cookout or picnic, be sure to keep it at or below 40 F. See the tips (below) for safety details.

Feel free to change the dressing or vegetables to suit your tastes. Add more onion or make adjustments to the sour cream to mayonnaise ratio. Omit the cucumbers and add extra celery, or add some chopped bell pepper to the salad.

Ingredients

• 5 cups diced potatoes
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (plus more for the potato water)
• 1 small cucumber
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
• 3/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 3 hard-boiled eggs

Steps to Make It

1. Gather the ingredients.

   

2. Put the diced potatoes in a saucepan and cover with salted water (about 1 teaspoon of salt per quart of water). Bring to a boil. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

   

3. Drain thoroughly and set aside to cool.

   

4. Peel the cucumber, slice it lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Dice the cucumber.

   

5. In a large bowl, combine the diced cucumber, chopped celery, onion, the 3/4 teaspoon of salt, celery seed, and freshly ground black pepper. Add the cooled potatoes and toss gently.

   

6. In a separate bowl or container, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, and mustard. Blend well.

   

7. Dice the egg whites and add them to the potatoes.

   

8. Mash the yolks and stir them into the sour cream and mayonnaise mixture.

   

9. If you are preparing the salad in advance, cover the bowls and refrigerate the vegetables and mayonnaise mixture separately.

   

10. About 30 minutes before serving, combine the dressing with the vegetables and stir gently to blend ingredients. Refrigerate until serving time.

    

Picnic and Cookout Safety

Foodborne bacteria can contaminate food between the temperatures of 40 F and 140 F, also known as the "danger zone." Make sure your salad is kept refrigerated or in a cooler at or below 40 F until serving time. Always return leftovers to the refrigerator within 2 hours, 1 hour if the serving temperature is 90 F or above. If possible, nestle serving bowls with salads and other cold foods in a bed of crushed ice while serving.