Not Mayo Or Greek Yogurt — Potato Salad Is 10x Creamier With A Flavorful Dip From Your Fridge

While it may not be the first thing most people think of when picturing their favorite foods, there's just something about old-fashioned potato salad that's secured a place of honor on potluck tables for decades. Creamy, cool, and wonderfully carby, well-made potato salad is full of flavor and features a contrast of textures between the crisp sliced celery and the tender potatoes. Of course, if you want to put this old-school side in the spotlight, you'll have to rely on something other than mayonnaise to really make it sing.

Though creamy and delicious, mayo isn't exactly a powerhouse when it comes to flavor, which may be why potato salad has a reputation for being either really good or pretty lackluster. A simple way to fix this and make your spud salad craveable is to replace at least half of the mayo with high-quality French onion dip (we think Heluva Good makes the absolute best onion dip). A sour cream base with caramelized onion flavor, this dip adds salty, tangy umami to potato salad that takes it from bland to bursting with flavor.

Part of the reason this combo is so good is that potatoes and onions are a natural pairing. Potatoes are basically flavor sponges with a beautifully starchy texture, and onions are chock-full of complex, savory deliciousness. Add to that the sharp richness of sour cream and aromatic herbs, and you have a fresh, nuanced potato salad that might outshine whatever's on the grill.

Though most French onion potato salad recipes use at least a little mayo to coat those spuds, it's not really necessary, as the dip is already nice and creamy due to its sour cream base. If you find your dip is a little dense, you can always loosen it up with a little more sour cream, but it's also easy and delicious to make yourself from those flavorful little packets. After all, there's a reason homemade onion dip was such a popular party appetizer, as it comes together in seconds and is easy to customize the texture and flavor with extra sour cream or fresh herbs. 

Speaking of which, fresh ingredients are definitely the way to go to enhance that tangy, sharp onion flavor and make your potatoes sing. As mentioned, fresh herbs are always a good idea, with tarragon or dill (but just one or the other, since they clash) being tasty choices that mingle well with the onion dip while giving the potatoes an astringent contrast that makes them taste almost roasted.

Of course, the most obvious add-in for French onion potato salad is, well, onions. Chopped caramelized onions work well as long as they're added right before serving so the salad doesn't turn soupy, since caramelized onions are relatively moist. If you prefer crunch, try stirring in a handful (or two) of crispy French fried onions, the kind usually used to top green been casserole. These add salty umami along with a crispy texture.