Authentic German Potato Salad

German Potato Salad is often served warm, and dressed with a vinegar and dijon mustard dressing. 

One thing I truly do miss about living in the German speaking part of Europe is the mouth watering potato salads available at any restaurant serving local cuisine. There are a few versions, however this is the one I always thought of as the classic.

I love the vinegar and mustard base of the dressing, and since this German potato salad can be served warm, it eliminates a lot of waiting to refrigerate it. Once it’s cold, however, you can serve it straight out of the fridge without heating up.

Some things to watch out for when preparing this potato salad is purchasing the right ingredients. Make sure you buy the Yukon gold potatoes, as those will still be firm when cooked, vs. the other kinds that become mushy. We want to make sure our potatoes are still firm when cooked and do not turn into mashed potatoes on their own.

You can use leeks and/or red onions in this dish. I personally prefer leeks, as they give me more of that spring or early summer feeling. If you prefer red onions, make sure you slice them thin in order to allow for the dressing to bond with all the ingredients.

In the U.S., the potato salad I’ve tried always had a largely mayonnaise based dressing. As the true European that I am, you can imagine that I prefer the German version that with a dressing that is vinegar and dijon mustard based. I don’t know about you, but in my world, mustard makes everything better!

Your traditional southern German potato salad does also include bacon. This recipe is vegetarian, but for those of you who cannot resist the wonderful taste of bacon, you can add that and use some of the drippings to add to the dressing – this is outlined in the preparation steps of the recipe regardless of the version you choose!
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Authentic German Potato Salad

Recipe by Jana FeannyCourse: salad, sidesCuisine: german, europeanDifficulty: easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Resting Time

30

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

An authentic German potato salad is served either warm or cold, and dressed with a dressing made up of vinegar and dijon mustard. Bacon can be added to a German potato salad, however it is optional.

Ingredients

• 1 lb of potatoes (Yukon gold)

• 1 leek

• 4-5 radishes

• 1/2 cup of chopped dill pickles

• 1 bunch of fresh parsley

• 1-2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard

• 1/3 cup of white wine vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• 100 ml of vegetable broth

Directions

• Clean you potatoes and boil them for 20 minutes. While still warm but cool enough to handle, peel the skins off and slice then into relatively thin circles (NB: the thicker the slices, the harder for the dressing to bond with the potatoes).
• Chop your pickles and radishes, and add to the potatoes.
• If using bacon, skip steps 6-8 heat your skillet to medium – high and sauté bacon bits. Once done, remove from the pan and reserve the grease.
• Chop red onion and add to the bacon grease and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add in vinegar, olive oil, mustard, salt, and pepper until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. – move onto step 10.
• If not using bacon, skip steps 3-5: heat up 100 ml of vegetable broth on the stove and let cool down until just slightly warm to the touch.
• In a separate bowl, whisk your mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper and pour over your slightly warm potatoes.
• Pour vegetable broth over the potatoes as a next step.
• Sprinkle with chopped parsley, and very carefully mix the salad – the broth and dressing will thicken and combine with the potatoes while they are still warm.
• Allow the salad to sit for a minimum of 20 minutes before serving in order for the potatoes to absorb all flavors of the dressing.