Summer’s on its way, which means potato salad might be on the menu. This side dish goes so well with grilled foods like burgers, hot dogs and chicken with its creamy and comforting texture. Whatever you put in it — like eggs to make the mayo creamier, mustard for a little tang, or celery and onions to add a bright crunch — there’s one secret ingredient you should not omit.
Because classic potato salad is basically a softened potato mixture with mayonnaise, its flavor can be slightly bland. According to The Kitchn, you can perk up your potato salad with an easy, tasty hack, and it doesn’t require any extra work: simply add pickle brine.
Plenty of potato salad recipes already include some pickle flavor by way of adding pickles or relish, which makes a lot of sense. Pickles add sugar, salt, dill and other herby flavors to any dish. However if you’re wondering how to use up the liquid your pickles came in (salad dressing is another great option), adding it to your potato salad is a great way to help reduce food waste.
The Kitchn doesn’t advocate any particular method. However, according to Food52, the best way to incorporate pickle flavor into your potato salad is to toss your potatoes with a quarter cup of strained pickle brine right after you’ve cooked and drained them. Then you can let the potatoes cool and mix more brine into the dressing.
Kaitlyn Yarborough of Southern Living, who says her grandmother’s recipe uses pickle brine and her potato salad recipe is the talk of the neighborhood, advocates using about 5 to 7 tablespoons of dill pickle juice for a small batch, and double that amount for a larger batch. That meshes well with Food52’s recipe, which adds a quarter cup (4 tablespoons) to the potatoes and then another quarter cup to the dressing.
The best thing about this hack is that you don’t have to cook up a batch of potato salad to use it — after all, preparing and cooking the potatoes takes a while, and other ingredients like hard-boiled eggs are also a bit work- or time-intensive. Simply buy a batch of potato salad from the store, doctor it with your favorite pickle brine, and you have a better-tasting side that friends and family won’t realize isn’t homemade.
Of course, you could also add pickle relish to perk up your potato salad. Other ingredients that will level up your potato salad include vinegar, bacon, basil and other herbs. And if you’re feeling particularly experimental, consider adding potato chips in your favorite flavor: some recipes use barbecue-flavored chips, but we think sour cream and onion or salt and vinegar chips would taste pretty perfect, too.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.
Of course, you could also add pickle relish to perk up your potato salad. Other ingredients that will level up your potato salad include vinegar, bacon, basil and other herbs.
Waxy potatoes are generally considered the best for classic potato salad because they retain their shape, you don't have to peel them, and they have a smooth texture. People who prefer a creamy potato salad that soaks up dressing like a sponge, though, opt for a starchy potato.
In terms of appearance, their skin is much thinner. Unlike starchy ones, which become soft when cooked, waxy potatoes hold their shape. This makes them good for making soups or stews, potato salads, or casseroles.
If you add the dressing too soon, especially with mayo-based recipes, they'll soak it all up, leaving you with a dry potato salad, or the coating will become oily, which changes the texture of the dish.
Try reheating the potatoes in a pan, tossing quickly with a little warm liquid and then adding the spices, cheeses, etc.just before serving. Vary the cheeses to get a sharper, more intense flavor.
Your dressing or vinaigrette may be perfectly seasoned but when added to unseasoned or raw vegetables, the overall taste of the salad may turn out bland.
Potatoes can retain moisture. To prevent this, drain the potatoes very well in a colander or pot. Allow all the steam to escape the potatoes before mixing them with the dressing and other ingredients. Steaming the potatoes instead of boiling them is a good way to ensure that excess moisture isn't trapped inside.
Drop a whole russet into the pot and by the time the outside has cooked through, the inside will still be raw. Larger potatoes should be cubed to ensure they cook evenly (peeled first if desired). Smaller potatoes tend to have thin skins and can be boiled whole, no peeling required.
Russet, Yukon Gold, or red potatoes (new potatoes) are all excellent for potato salad. They do cook at different rates so be sure to adjust cook time depending on which type of potato you select.
Rinsing potatoes helps remove excess starch, so it is recommended to rinse the potatoes before cooking. To ensure even more starch is out of the way, it's recommended that they even be quickly rinsed after boiling. We recommend using hot water for rinsing after boiling and cold water prior to boiling.
You've got two options. The first option is to cook more potatoes and make more potato salad, adding more of every ingredient except mustard. Doing so will get the mustard content in equilibrium with the rest of the flavors in the salad. Your other option is to adjust the seasonings to compliment the…
Did the potato salad get made up and then refrigerated right away and you just have some leftover? If this is the case then it should easily last 3-4 days.
Try draining the water and then leaving the potato on the stove for a few moments to cook any extra water out, just turn lightly so you don't over work the potato or it will turn mushy. Note, some lighter mayonnaise based dressings or lite versions will liquefy easier than a traditional mayonnaise.
Got soft beets, carrots, potatoes, radishes, or other root vegetables? Rehydrate your roots to bring them back to life. Simply soak them in water overnight and they should be as firm as new.
As Wiggly Wisdom shares, a vinegary potato salad can easily be salvaged with a bit of lemon zest. Just take a fine grater or zester to the rind, measure out about a half teaspoon of zest per two cups of potato salad, and mix it in. Orange and lime also work if you don't have any lemon on hand.
Introduction: My name is Duane Harber, I am a modern, clever, handsome, fair, agreeable, inexpensive, beautiful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
