I had to obtain this recipe before we returned to the United States because I live in southern Germany. This variety of potato salad is available at all grocery stores and is offered at every restaurant. This recipe for true German potato salad was given to me by a German acquaintance, and it is delicious!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 pounds potatoes, unpeeled
- ½ small onion, diced
- ½ teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 3 tablespoons vinegar, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain; allow potatoes to cool slightly. Peel and slice potatoes. Mix potatoes and onions in a bowl; stir in mustard, salt, and black pepper.
- Bring vegetable stock to a boil in a small saucepan, pour over potato mixture and stir to combine. Stir in vinegar and let rest for 10 minutes. Stir in vegetable oil and season with salt and black pepper if desired.
- Cook’s Note:
- This recipe is excellent warm or cold. It is usually eaten with German sausage, and is great for any family gathering. Typically in southern Germany, this potato salad is served in a salad. That’s right, in a salad! It was always my favorite surprise at the end of my salad. I could not wait to get to the potato salad at the bottom. Hopefully you will enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
Reviews
I would just echo some of the other posts regarding letting the potatoes soak for at least a couple of hours. But this is very authentic tasting. Our neighbor in Heidelberg (Baden-Württemberg) added diced cornichons and, while the potatoes were cooking, soaked finely diced onion in vinegar, salt, sugar, and a splash of water. This process tenderized and removed the harsh {{ONION!!}} taste in an otherwise smooth kartoffelsalat. She would then drain them once the potatoes were peeled and sliced and mix them with the potatoes before adding the boiling stock. One additional item: she used 1.5 x more vinegar and sometimes added dill if available. We’ve made it her way ever since.
11.16.21 I know that potato salads vary depending on the region of Germany you’re in. I’ve been to Germany twice, and this one measures up well to what I’ve been served. Red onion might be nice for a little pop of color and more eye appeal. Even though this may not be authentic in southern Germany, I’ll be adding some crisp bacon next time to suit our taste. I’ll also substitute bacon grease for the vegetable oil. If I’d had some Yukon gold potatoes on hand, I would’ve sliced the potatoes, but had Russets which break apart pretty easily, so I cut into chunks. We love German sausages and are fortunate to have a German market not too far away. It pretty much supplies most of the German delis and restaurants in Florida with homemade German sausages (it’s the real deal). We have different sausages at least monthly with a number of different German potato salad recipes, and this is one that’ll be added for the future. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
I made this for New Year’s Day. I wanted something quick to serve my sauerkraut recipe over (also a recipe I found on this app). This was flavorful, fast, and just what I needed to complete my dish! Thanks!
Really good although I would change a few things on here. Whole grain mustard is much better. As gigi said Apple cider vinegar. Cook the bacon. Cook the sweet onion in the bacon grease. Add everything including any remaining bacon grease. That is how my great Omi, and my Tante would make it. That is how I would make it. FYI If you don’t like onions (like gigi) don’t bother with German food. The basis for all German cooking is Bacon and Onion. Like Olive Oil and Garlic is for Italian food.
O mein got! I remember the potato salad I had at my friend’s house in Gotha, Thuringia, and I have never been able to find anything like it. This recipe is as close as I’ve found, though the potatoes need to be soaked in the broth for at least a couple of hours, not ten minutes. And red russet potatoes are the best.
The potatoes should sit in the broth for HOURS, not 10 min. This is why the recipe didn’t have enough flavor, Annie. My Oma made her potato salad earlier in the day and let it sit for 2 hours in the broth. The longer it sits, the more flavor. Then the oil drizzles over last, just before serving. You will then have a flavorful salad. 10 minutes isn’t enough time to soak up. We also omit the onions since half our family dislikes raw onions. Instead we add a little onion juice for flavor. We do not add any mustard. We use white pepper, not black. And apple vinegar has more flavor than plain. Lastly, you have to use a strong potato, which won’t fall apart easily, otherwise you have mush. Red works well. Sorry, I can’t add my photo because I just ate all mine! 🙂
Tangy and savory; I absolutely love this potato salad, especially since there is no mayo in it and no added sugar. I have made it twice now and find myself wanting to make extra potatoes so I have left-overs to make it with.
It just wasn’t what I was looking for and wasn’t received well with those I served it to.
I have made this several times for my German friend and he found it really good, as with the other comment I also used more onions (3 onions) as we love fried onions and added well cooked bacon crumbled up.
I remember eating German Potato Salad at a friend’s house and it had much more flavor than this. I was disappointed by the blandness of this recipe.
This was very easy and quick to make yet resulted in good salad. I used organic red skin potatoes and left the skin on and used white distilled vinegar. Followed the recipe exactly. Will make it again.