Sweet Pickle Potato Salad
Sweet Pickle Potato Salad is a mayonnaise based traditional potato salad with added sweet pickles and sweet pickle juice.
August 19th is National Potato Day! You must celebrate by eating potatoes any way you enjoy them. I suggest making potato skins, French fries, baked potatoes, or this Sweet Pickle Potato Salad!
Share the potato love on social media today using the hashtags #NationalPotatoDay, #PotatoDay and #RecipesForHolidays.
Be sure to follow my August Food Holidays page so you never miss a food holiday in the month of August.
The History of Potatoes:
The Incas of Peru were the first to cultivate potatoes (8000BC to 5000BC). The ancient civilizations of the Incas used the time it took to cook a potato as a measurement of time.
Potatoes were introduced to Europe in the 16th century by Spanish Conquistadors. They were initially popular in Spain because they were inexpensive sustenance for the poor. Potatoes took up very little space and were very nutritious. One acre of potatoes could feed a family of four for a year.
In 1589, Sir Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes to Ireland.
European immigrants introduced potatoes to North America several times throughout the 1600’s, but they were not widely grown for almost a century. Not until 1719, when Irish immigrants brought the potato to Londonderry, New Hampshire, were potatoes grown on a large scale.
Thomas Jefferson served potatoes to guests at the White House, which helped the potato gain popularity in America. The popularity was strengthened with a steady stream of Irish immigrants to America.
Today potatoes are grown in all 50 states of the USA and in about 125 countries throughout the world.
Ingredients needed:
- red potatoes
- sweet pickle juice
- mayonnaise
- buttermilk
- Dijon mustard
- granulated white sugar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- hard-boiled eggs
- red onion
- celery
- sweet pickles
How to make Sweet Pickle Potato Salad:
The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.
Add the potatoes to a large pot of cold salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook just until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain the potatoes, and then transfer them to a large bowl. Drizzle pickle juice over the warm potatoes and toss gently. Let them cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, mustard, sugar and pepper. Pour this mixture over the cooled potatoes. Add the eggs, onion, celery and pickles.
Toss gently to blend. Season to taste with salt. Cover and refrigerate (can be made up to 8 hours ahead).
If you like pickles in your potato salad, then this is the potato salad for you. Don’t care for sweet pickles? Try making the same recipe using dill pickle and dill pickle juice. Enjoy!
Fun Facts about Potatoes:
- The potato is about 80% water and 20% solids.
- The average American eats about 124 pounds of potatoes per year while Germans eat about twice as much.
- Thomas Jefferson gets the credit for introducing “french fries” to America when he served them at a White House dinner.
- In October 1995, the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space. NASA and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, created the technology with the goal of feeding astronauts on long space voyages, and eventually, feeding future space colonies.
- Sweet potatoes belong to the morning glory family. They are not related to the traditional potato.
Sweet Pickle Potato Salad
This is the potato salad for sweet pickle lovers!
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, peeled (cut into 3/4-inch pieces)
- 1/4 cup sweet pickle juice (from the jar)
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon granulated white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
- 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet pickles
- salt, to taste
Instructions
Add the potatoes to a large pot of cold salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook just until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain the potatoes, and then transfer them to a large bowl. Drizzle pickle juice over the warm potatoes and toss gently. Let them cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, mustard, sugar and pepper. Pour this mixture over the cooled potatoes. Add the eggs, onion, celery and pickles, and toss gently to blend. Season to taste with salt. Cover and refrigerate (can be made up to 8 hours ahead).
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 399Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 355mgCarbohydrates: 52gFiber: 5gSugar: 11gProtein: 8g
Nutritional information is estimated using a nutrition calculator. It's not likely to be 100% accurate.