3 Tips to Spruce up the Humble Potato Salad

Potato Salad is a summertime barbeque essential. Great for feeding a crowd, this quick and easy salad can be as basic or as complex as you like.

From simply throwing together a few of the more traditional potato salad ingredients, such as whole egg mayonnaise, lemon juice, seeded mustard and shallots, to trying a more adventurous Middle Eastern spice medley of cumin, coriander, garlic and fruity olive oil, it’s time to embrace the versatility of the humble spud. 

Here are our top three tips for taking your potato salad from drab to fab:

1. The secret to a great flavour-full potato salad, is to dress the potatoes when they are still warm so they can soak up all the flavours. We love this Pesto Potato Salad. For the pesto, we’ve switched out the basil for rocket, added celery for crunch and thinly sliced red onion for an aromatic edge and added bite. Place the pesto, celery and onion over the warm potatoes, then refrigerate until required.    
2. Add a savoury element to your potato salad. A little bit of lightly fried off bacon, spicy salami or smoky chorizo sausage can really take your salad to the next level. Keep the rest of the dressing ingredients simple by adding some fresh lemon juice or a splash of white wine vinegar, salt & pepper, a handful of chopped chives and the fat from the fried off meat to the warm potatoes. And avoid creamy ingredients with this one to keep the salad on the lighter side.   
3. Make your potato salad into a meal by combining boiled cubed potatoes with wedges of pickled beetroot, flaked smoked trout and thinly sliced red onion. Combine crème fraiche, freshly grated horseradish, lemon juice and salt & pepper for the dressing. Lightly toss together before serving. This is one salad that is sure to become a summer staple.

So get busy in the kitchen this barbeque season, let your creativity take hold and see where it takes you!