Going to a cookout? This classic potato salad is what you want! It's made with boiled potatoes, sour cream, mayo, green onions, celery, parsley, pickles and bacon. Serve room temperature or chilled.

Photography Credit: Elise Bauer

Summer. Outdoor barbecues, kids and swimming pools, burgers, hot dogs, and plenty of potato salad. We made a big batch of potato salad for a little family gathering this weekend. How about you?

VIDEO! How to Make Classic Potato Salad

Potato Salad for a Crowd

What I love about potato salad is that it serves a lot of people without a lot of effort, and it’s so easy to make a good one.

I love using Yukon golds, though you can use any potato. My dad likes using russets in his potato salad. This recipe is for potato salad with sour cream – using it as a binder makes it extra creamy.

How to Cook Potatoes for Potato Salad

The easiest way to cook potatoes for potato salad is to boil them. Here are two key tips for boiling potatoes success:

Cut them so they are the same size. This ensures that all the potato pieces cook evenly and at the same rate. We cut our potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Start the potatoes in cold water: Bring the potatoes up to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer and cook until they’re tender in the middles when pierced with a fork. Starting them in cold water also ensures that they cook evenly throughout.

How long to cook your potatoes? If you cut them into 1-inch chunks like we do, they will cook from start to finish in about 25 to 30 minutes.

How Far Ahead Can You Make Potato Salad?

Potato salad can be served right away, or refrigerated until ready to serve. It’s best served the same day it’s made, but leftovers will keep for about 3 to 4 days (less if the salad has sat out at room or warm temperatures for any length of time).

You can also boil the potatoes and fry the bacon a few days ahead. Keep them refrigerated separately and assemble the salad when ready to serve.

Potato salad does not freeze well, and we don’t recommend it.

Try These Other Potato Salad Recipes!