Amish Potato Salad Recipe

This authentic Amish potato salad recipe is creamy, simple, and delicious! Made with russet potatoes, eggs, celery, and onion, there are no special ingredients - just traditional, hearty food. My mom grew up Amish, and she taught me to make this recipe when I was a teen. We enjoyed it at many backyard picnics when I was a kid, alongside hotdogs and slices of fresh garden tomatoes. It have always loved this potato salad, it's creaminess and tangy flavor.

Amish Potato Salad Recipe

First, cook the potatoes and eggs. I like to use my Instant Pot for cooking the potatoes, or you can just boil them on the stovetop till tender.

To cook potatoes in the Instant Pot

Wash the potatoes well, and place them on the trivet in the Instant Pot. (or use the steamer basket) Add 1 cup of water, close the lid and set to seal. Cook on Manual Pressure for 5 minutes, then allow Natural Release. (use 8 minutes pressure if you live at or above 5,000 ft elevation) Natural Release should take about 20 minutes. After the pressure has dropped, remove potatoes from Instant Pot and place on a plate. Let them cool to room temperature. When potatoes are cool, peel potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. If you don't have an Instant Pot, just place the potatoes in a large pan of water and boil till fork-tender.

Cook the eggs

While you are waiting for the potatoes to cool, boil the eggs. Place eggs into a small pan and cover with water. Bring to boil over medium heat, and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, drain water, and fill pan with cold water to cool the eggs. Tip: Here are instructions how to make hard-boiled eggs in the Instant Pot.  After the eggs are cool, peel, rinse, and chop the eggs into 1/2 inch pieces. I use a knife and cutting board to chop all the ingredients.

Prepare the Vegetables

Dice the onion and celery into very small pieces - much smaller than the potatoes and eggs. Smaller pieces give the salad a more pleasant texture. If you want to add some pickles, go ahead and dice them up. You may also shred the potatoes, if you like a thicker consistency, but I prefer chunks.

Make the dressing for potato salad

Place the Miracle Whip and sugar in a dish and stir well - stir until the sugar is dissolved. Miracle Whip gives this dressing its tangy flavor.  (Mayonnaise will not be the same, but if you do substitute mayo, you may need to add a little salt.) Add the vinegar and mustard to the dressing mixture, and stir well.

Place the potatoes, eggs, celery, and onion into a large mixing bowl. Add the dressing and stir gently. Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days.

Tips for Amish potato salad:

• I like to add some diced pickles to this salad - really adds a pop of flavor and a nice crunch. Dill or sweet pickles are both good!
• If your kids don't like to see onions in their salad, you can grind the onions in a blender or processor before adding. That way you get the flavor but the kids can't see the onions.
• This makes almost a gallon of Amish potato salad. Perfect for a family BBQ or potluck!
• Potato salad does not freeze well, it will become mushy and watery. It is best eaten fresh.