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Dill pickle potato salad with mustard dressing
Waxy potatoes, crunchy dill pickles and a light mustard mayonnaise dressing, with clear cooling steps for making it ahead.
In this guide5 sections
Let the potatoes keep their shape
Choose waxy potatoes for this salad: they keep their shape more readily than floury potatoes. A little roughness at the edges is welcome, but the bowl should still contain pieces you can recognise.
Yield: 6 side servings. Prep time: 20 minutes. Cook time: 18 minutes. Allow at least 1 hour for cooling and chilling. Start early enough to cool the potatoes before adding the mayonnaise dressing.
Ingredients
- 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) waxy potatoes
- 150 g (5 oz) drained dill pickles
- 100 g (3½ oz) shop-bought mayonnaise
- 75 g (2½ oz) plain Greek-style yoghurt
- 15 g (1 tablespoon) wholegrain mustard
- 15 ml (1 tablespoon) pickle brine
- 20 g fresh dill, chopped
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- ½ teaspoon fine salt, for cooking water
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Method
- Scrub the potatoes and cut into even 2 cm pieces, leaving sound skins on if you like. Put in a saucepan, cover with cold water and add the measured salt. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for about 12–18 minutes until a knife enters without resistance.
Test a potato piece: the knife should enter without resistance. - Drain thoroughly. Spread the potatoes in a shallow container and refrigerate promptly, following USDA guidance on rapid cooling. Do not leave a deep hot bowl on the worktop for hours. Keep the potatoes separate from the dressing until cold.
- Dice the pickles into small chunks and blot them. Wash and dry the dill and spring onions, then chop and slice. The pieces should be smaller than the potatoes so every spoonful contains a little of each.
- Mix mayonnaise, yoghurt, mustard, brine and black pepper in a large bowl. Scrape underneath with the spoon to make sure the mustard has not stayed in a concentrated streak at the bottom.
Mix the dressing thoroughly so mustard does not remain in a streak at the bottom. - Add the cold potatoes, pickles, dill and spring onions. Fold gently with a broad spatula, lifting from underneath rather than beating. A thin coating on the potatoes is enough; stop before the corners break down.
Lift from underneath and stop before the potato corners break down. - Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Fold once more before serving, bringing dressing up from the bottom. Serve a small bowl at a time if the meal will last a while.
A firm potato still needs cooking through
Waxy does not mean undercooked. Test one of the largest pieces and cut it in half if necessary; the centre should be tender rather than chalky. Even pieces make this judgement much easier, because you will not be choosing between tiny pieces falling apart and a large one still resisting the knife.
For a packed lunch, keep the salad in a chilled container rather than relying on the sourness of the pickles. Pickle brine is a flavouring in this recipe and does not preserve the cooked potatoes or dressing.
Try a pasta version for another picnic if potatoes are not on hand, or make your own dill pickle slices before your next batch.
Keep the next portion cold
Use the salad within two days for the best potato texture. Cool cooked ingredients promptly in shallow containers; the library storage guidance covers safe chilling and serving.
Keep cold during storage and serving; see the recipe library’s storage guidance.
Keep the jar open
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