Not Yukon, Not Russet — Better (And Easier) Potato Salad Starts With This Variety

Whether putting together your favorite herbed potato salad recipe with a tangy oil and vinegar dressing, or stirring together a more traditional dish topped with creamy mayo, the type of potato you use in your salad matters. Big, starchy russet potatoes, for instance, have a tendency to fall apart when boiled and dissolve into dressings and other liquids. This is great for mashed potatoes, but terrible for potato salad. Fortunately, there are lots of types of potatoes with unique characteristics that make them excellent for one potato dish over another, including the perfect spud for spectacular potato salad: new red potatoes.

Though mature red potatoes are fine for potato salad, using new red potatoes saves a ton of time when making potato salad because they have thin, tender skins and are, on average, about the size of a ping-pong ball. This is because new potatoes are simply a younger version of the larger variety that haven't had quite as much time to grow. That means, rather than spending what seems like forever peeling and cubing potatoes, you can leave the skins intact and simply slice the little potatoes in half to get them to the perfect size.

Another advantage to using new red potatoes, rather than more mature spuds, is that some potato salad recipes call for boiling your potatoes whole, which results in a more pleasant texture. Using smaller spuds means boiling and cooling times are much shorter, so this classic cookout side comes together much faster overall.

When purchasing new red potatoes for the easiest, tastiest potato salad of your life, size is the most important characteristic to pay attention to, especially if you're choosing them from among the bins of loose potatoes offered in many grocery stores. Look for potatoes no larger than the size of a ping-pong or golf ball. Potatoes any larger than that (about half the size of a fist or bigger) with slightly thicker skins are mature. Be sure not to mix mature and new potatoes if you intend to boil them whole since this risks overcooking the smaller ones. Your selection should be as uniform in size as possible to ensure they're all finished cooking at the same time.

In your search for the correct size and type of potato, you may be lucky enough to find bags of new potatoes produced by brands such as The Little Potato Company. This takes some guesswork out of choosing the right size, but pay close attention to the labels. All potatoes start as new potatoes, and the last thing you want is to snag a bag of new russets. Also, avoid bags with a medley of potatoes in them since waxy new reds are the best at holding their shape. You should also still sort your potatoes by size since some may be especially small, and best saved for roasting whole.