Potato salad: portions and refrigerator storage

Here are the potato amounts in our recipes, calculated per serving:

• Christmas potato salad with mayonnaise and vegetables – 1.2 kg of potatoes for 8 servings, or 150 g per person, plus carrots, parsley root, celery root, eggs, and pickles,
• Slovak potato salad without mayonnaise – 1 kg for 6 servings, about 170 g per person,
• Summer potato salad with cherry tomatoes – 900 g for 4 servings, about 225 g per person,
• Grandma-style potato salad with pickles – 1 kg for 4 servings, or 250 g per person.

As a side dish for fried carp or a breaded cutlet, 150–170 g of potatoes per person is enough. If the salad is the main dish, plan on 200–250 g. For a Christmas Eve dinner for ten people, that works out to about 1.5 kg of potatoes. The more vegetables, eggs, and pickles you add, the fewer potatoes you need.

Potato bags may be labeled with a cooking type. For salad, firm, waxy type A potatoes (salad potatoes) are best—they hold their shape when boiled, and the cubes or slices will not fall apart when mixed with dressing or after resting. All-purpose type B potatoes also work; just mix them more gently. Starchy type C potatoes are suitable for mashed potatoes and halušky, small Slovak dumplings, but would fall apart in a salad.

• For potatoes in their skins, start them in cold salted water and boil for 25–30 minutes, until a knife slides in easily but they are not falling apart. Let them cool before peeling and cutting them, as in the Christmas potato salad.
• Peeled, cubed potatoes become tender in salted water in 10–12 minutes, as in the grandma-style potato salad.

Let potatoes cool before adding them to a mayonnaise-based salad. For a vinegar dressing without mayonnaise, pour it over the potatoes while they are still lukewarm—they absorb it better than cold potatoes do.

The salad needs time to rest so the flavors can blend: our Christmas recipe calls for 2 hours in the refrigerator, and you can also prepare it the day before Christmas Eve—it tastes even better after resting overnight. If it thickens in the refrigerator, thin it with a tablespoon of pickle brine rather than more mayonnaise. Cold temperatures dull the flavor slightly, so taste the salad before serving and add a splash of vinegar or some salt as needed.

Refrigerate the finished salad within 2 hours and store it at 4 °C (39 °F) or below, as recommended for perishable foods by the U.S. food safety website FoodSafety.gov. Its storage chart lists mayonnaise-based salads, such as egg or pasta salad, as keeping for 3–4 days in the refrigerator and does not recommend freezing them.

Do not leave the salad on the holiday table all evening: serve a smaller bowl and replenish it from the refrigerator.

• Christmas potato salad with mayonnaise and vegetables
• Grandma-style potato salad with pickles
• Slovak potato salad with mustard and no mayonnaise
• Summer potato salad with cherry tomatoes
• Egg salad with potatoes and pickles

For Christmas Eve dinner, serve the salad with breaded fried carp. Find more dishes in the Christmas Eve dinner collection.