Texas BBQ Side Dishes: Southern Potato Salad (Recipe)

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Image © Lyn Lomasi; All Rights Reserved

Potato salad is a common barbecue side dish. There are so many ways to make it and everyone seems to have their own secret touch. Some versions are native to certain areas, such as southern style potato salad. When I moved to Texas, unbeknownst to me, my existing potato salad recipe matched the Southern style flavor that Texans are used to.

This recipe started with my mom, but I eventually adapted into my own tastes and ended up coming up with the perfect Southern style BBQ side dish. It's easy to make and every time I get asked to a barbecue, this recipe and my spicy guacamole are requested. According to friends, no one can match my flavor. I shouldn't be giving away my secret ingredients, but lucky for you, I've always been known for sharing most everything.

Ingredients:
To make potato salad you need potatoes, of course. Five pounds is good for this recipe. If you are going to have more than 10 people, add more potatoes and other ingredients accordingly. Double it, triple it, quadruple it - whatever you need to do for your number of guests. Next, you need 4 hard-boiled eggs - cooked and peeled. You also need at least 2 cups of mayo (could be more or less depending on coverage) and maybe ¼ cup of spicy brown mustard. Pickles, green onions, paprika, cayenne pepper, sea salt, and pepper are your remaining ingredients.

Directions:
First you need to boil the potatoes and the eggs. Wait! Don't forget to peel the potatoes first and then cut them into 2 or 3 inch round pieces. Just don't peel the eggs until after they are done. To save dishes, you can actually boil the potatoes and eggs together and even drain them together. Put the eggs into a large mixing bowl and use a potato masher or fork to break up the eggs into smaller bits. Next, put in the potatoes. Then, cut up enough pickles and green onions to your liking. Pile on the mayonnaise and stir enough in to your desired coverage. Some people like only a little mayo. Some like a good amount. Squirt in some spicy brown mustard as well. This adds the Southern touch. Next, sprinkle on the cayenne pepper, paprika, sea salt, and pepper to taste. If you don't like spicy, you can skip the cayenne pepper. Remember that the heat degree of the cayenne pepper will increase the longer it sits.

Only thing left to do now is refrigerate the potato salad until cool and serve to guests. Mmm!

Goes great with:
Texas Style Smoked BBQ Ribs
Mama's Spicy Meatloaf
Mama's Wings Seven Ways


*I originally published a version of this via Yahoo Contributor Network