Red Hot and Blue Potato Salad Recipe
Red Hot and Blue Potato Salad is a simple recipe made popular by a BBQ joint in Washington, D.C. Lord knows I love a good potato salad, so I made a batch or two and loved the flavor of the celery salt. But I could not stop there and gave this yummy potato salad a little of home-cooking love and adjusted to add more flavor! This could be your new favorite side dish for BBQs and other hot weather celebrations.
Red Potato Salad Recipe
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Move your southern hospitality meter up to the top navigation level in your toolbox with this delicious potato salad recipe. Serve it at summer BBQs, potlucks, brunches, and Sunday supper.
I filled this tasty salad with fork-tender red potatoes (skin on) cooked in a large saucepan.
However, before we dive into momma’s style of this famous recipe, let talk about the original.
Cook Tip (Keep peeled hard-boiled eggs in the fridge for quick meals throughout the week. These economical protein choices are perfect for salads and sandwiches, make the perfect snack, and of course, turned into amazing deviled eggs.)
The Original Recipe
(I actually met one of the founding restaurant owners of the Red Hot and Blue Restaurant (Don Sundquist, back in my teens, while babysitting for his campaign manager.) I really enjoyed reading the history of the restaurant chain.
Red Hot & Blue potato salad originally as claimed here and there on the internet is as follows.
Potato Salad Ingredients
- 4 lbs Red Bliss potatoes
- 4 large peeled hard-boiled eggs
- 1/2 cup green onion finely chopped
- 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
- 1 3/4 teaspoons celery seed
- 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
Directions for Copy Cat Red Hot and Blue Potato Salad Recipe
- Place potatoes in a large pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until fork-tender.
- Rinse potatoes with cold water inside a colander. Once cooled to touch dice into bite-sized pieces, about 3/4-inch pieces, and place in a large glass bowl. Dice hard-boiled eggs and place in the bowl with potatoes.
- Add remaining ingredients and fold until potatoes and eggs are coated. Serve at room temperature for the best flavor.
(COOK TIP) Mix the mayo, onion, salt, and celery seed in a small separate bowl, then fold into potato and eggs. This will give the seasonings a better chance of even distribution, and the end result will be a better salad.
Momma’s Version Red Hot & Blue Potato Salad
Now that I have shared the original version, let me tell you what I decided once I made it twice. This is a delicious potato salad, but it seemed like it needed a little more salt each time I made it. So I thought, why? Did it need a special seasoning? Maybe an ounce of grated jack cheeses or a cup of chopped sweet pickled? A dash of hot sauce? A splash of white wine vinegar? All the extras I was dreaming up were speaking to me! It needed a contrasting flavor to the creamy mayo, eggs, and potatoes.
The next time, I made a batch of the potato recipe; I added a heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard and two teaspoons of white sugar. I wanted to add more, but I thought, this will be so sweet, people will roll their eyes and wonder why I just did not add a cup of relish. Well, that would be just plain ol’ deli potato salad and I did not want that! I wanted it to be special for all those summer holidays! The celery seed had to shine through, no matter what!
Salt and Pepper Tip
I will give you one more hint about southern folks and their potato salad. You can make the best damn potato salad in the world and everyone will rave and you will smile from ear to ear. But many of the old-timers will ask you to pass the pepper, because they grew up adding their own salt and pepper to taste at the table, and they love to sprinkle enough to make it look like a pepper storm swept by the table and covered everything within an inch of its existence! Always have a fully filled salt and pepper shaker when serving your family and guests! Let them enjoy every bite in a way that makes them happy!
Additional Ingredients You Can Try
Give a few additional ingredients a try in Red Hot & Blue Potato Salad.
- diced red onion
- yellow mustard
- za’atar (Lebanese, Mediterranean seasoning)
- fresh dill
- chopped celery
- diced cucumber
- sour cream
- shredded cheddar cheese
If you are not on team-mayo substitute olive oil for the mayonnaise. But honestly, try this potato recipe that is Lebanese-inspired and so healthy and tasty.
Red Hot and Blue Potato Salad Recipe
Red Hot and Blue Potato Salad is a simple recipe made popular by a BBQ joint in Washington, D.C. Lord knows I love a good potato salad, so I made a batch or two and loved the flavor of the celery salt. But I could not stop there and gave this yummy potato salad a little of home-cooking love and adjusted to add more flavor! This could be your new favorite side dish for BBQs and other hot weather celebrations
Ingredients
- 4 lbs Red Bliss potatoes
- 4 large peeled hard-boiled eggs
- 1/2 cup green onion finely chopped
- 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
- 1 table spoon dijon mustard,
- 2 heaping teaspons of white sugar
- 1 3/4 teaspoons celery seed
- 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a large pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until fork-tender.
- Rinse potatoes with cold water inside a colander. Once cooled to touch dice into bite-sized pieces, about 3/4-inch pieces, and place in a large glass bowl. Dice hard-boiled eggs and place them in the bowl with potatoes.
- Add remaining ingredients and fold until potatoes and eggs are coated. Serve at room temperature for the best flavor.
