German Potato Salad Recipe (2024)

Rich,we have various ways of making potato salad here in Germany. Eggs can often be found in "our" potato salad.
Oh, my mother used to make potato salad with eggs, herring, carrots etc. - a BIG bowl of this herring salad on Christmas evening with breaded fish or sausages was something to look foward to. A great tradition.. that I keep alive.
Rich, just as there are various ways of making apple cake - there are many recipes for potato salad in Germany. Greetings from Bavaria - Helga

When making potato salad, try cooking the potatoes for about two minutes less, they will continue to cook through after draining, and put the dressing on while the potatoes are warm, they will absorb more of the flavor of the dressing. It is tricky, but practice makes perfect, and potato salad is never really unwelcome.

My Swiss mother-in-law made a fantastic potato salad. Her trick: boil and peel the potatoes and then pour some very strong veggie bullion over them. They soak up the bullion, so that you can use considerably less oil and vinegar on them. Serve slightly warm, it is great. I still call it "Irma's potato salad".

I refrigerate my cooked potatoes. Thorough chilling keeps them from disintegrating when slicing or cubing.

Hmm...should the recipe say 1/4 of bacon fat rather than 1/4 water as written? I tried boiling the vinegar with the water-even added it to the potatoes-but was sorely disappointed. Drained and saved the potatoes and found another recipe that included cooking down bacon fat with vinegar, etc...

If you add some vinegar to the cooking water for the potatoes, they will hold together better when you slice them. Also, stir ingredients in a folding fashion like you would with beaten egg whites. This releases the starch better which will blend the flavors. Enjoy!

There is no substitute for bacon.

I made this with mini gold potatoes and didn't peel them -I just sliced them in half. It cut down on the boiling time and saved my finger tips from the usual "hot potato" dance. Delicious!

How wonderful to find mention of Joy of Cooking, best basic cookbook ever: my go to wedding present and my go to recipe for German Potato Salad for 50 years !

There is no such thing as "German potato salad". Each region does it differently. I make potato salad according to my great-grandmother's recipe who came from the Southern region (Schwaben) to Switzerland. Add a cup of bouillon to a normal salad sauce. Add only chopped onions, nothing else. Let potatoes soak up sauce, add more bouillon if necessary. It's less calorie rich than the Northern version (mayonnaise). Less acidic than the Bavarian (and Swiss) version (vinegar).

Acknowledging everyone’s preferences in recipes could get out of hand. Take bacon. As a base ingredient, you decide what kind suits your taste or belief—vegan, soy, turkey, uncured, smoked, slab, thick. Likewise sugar. Some believe white sugar is evil, some swear by agave, brown, turbinado, castor, etc. Or salt—kosher, sea, maldon, gray. Or boiling potatoes. Some believe in waxy, red, purple, or god forbid yams. You see how political a recipe could become?

Quite good. Watch the potatoes...these can easily go from salad-potatoes to mashed-potatoes. I added more celery and used garden onions because these are what I had. Thank you!

Rather than boil potatoes for salads, I steam them

I make warm German Potato Salad very, very similar to this recipe quite often but I usually add a sprinkling of Caraway seeds for that extra "kick" - delicious!

I live in Germany, and have often had it served with boiled eggs (and spicy mustard) on the side. That way each can prepare their plate the way they like.

Peel the potatoes and slice first. Cook a bit less than 15 min boiling.

Delicious! Used 1 1/2 lbs of various potatoes I had left over, made the whole amount of dressing, but with 1/3 cup of vinegar. A little more sugar was still needed for balance so I added a little honey which mellowed the wang. Potatoes soaked up all of the dressing. Used the tip posted about keeping it warm in the oven, worked great.

excellent. Have done it many times.

The sauce is all wrong. Needs more sugar, plus some flour to thicken it. It was way too watery and sour.

Made it with less sugar as recommend by multiple reviews but was way too vinegary. Added a little sugar after I baked it & it was great.

This was unbearably acidic for me and my family. Did anyone else find the 1/2 cup of vinegar to be overbearing. Currently looking for ways to resuscitate the rest of the vinegary potatoes.

Great salad but I wish I put in less vinegar. I would of halved the sauce completely.

Please, please don’t talk about sallade Nicoise like this. In a salad Nicoise the only thing thats cooked is the egg perhaps the tuna (slightly). Thing that can ba added to the tomatoes include raw artichoke, raw fava beans, radishes, anchovies, and spring onions. And basta!

Got half way through this and realized we were out of apple cider vinegar. Subbed maple lime vinegar and it was still delicious

There’s no such thing as a “German” potato salad. Every region has their own varieties, plus many different personal preferences.A robust salty, slightly sweet Umami flavor is essential, which is the reason why many variations use good quality beef bouillon. Stay away from cheap bouillon cubes though.I do not use bacon in potato salad - only for „German“ style hashbrowns.

Used chicken broth instead of the water and pulled back a bit on the vinegar. Used less potatoes (1 1/2 lbs) with same amount of liquid and it came out perfectly. Let it sit in the warming drawer before serving. Yummy.

I thought this was too acidic as written. I’d start with 1/3 C vinegar and add to taste. I also spread my potato on a sheet pan and poured the dressing over- reduces stirring and keeps the potatoes more in tact.

Pouring the hot liquid onto the already too mushy potatoes was the death knell for this potato salad. Will not make again.

My mother, American, but German by culture, made both potato salad with mayo, boiled eggs, and the usual ingredients served cold, and German potato salad served warm. The ratios seem fine. However, use all the bacon fat and never, ever serve it immediately. Once mixed, put it in a slow warming device and allow it to slowly heat and the flavors meld. Adjust the flavor. Put this out at a party (at 5x the recipe in a crockpot), and good luck getting a portion.

That was delicious. We will definitely make again.