Horseradish Cheddar Potato Salad

We’re keeping this potato salad pretty simple and classic but adding a touch of pizazz with some special ingredients. It’s really as simple as dice your potatoes, mix your dressing, toss it all together, then let it chill until you’re ready to eat. Easy breezy!

Let’s talk potato. There are two major decisions to make when it comes to your potato situation: what type of potato, and what size chunks have the right vibe you’re going for. For me and this salad, I went with a nice, small, half inch dice on a Yukon gold potato. I absolutely love the creaminess and butteryness of a Yukon gold potato. And because they’re a little firmer, they can stand up to a smaller dice without crumbling to mush. And, while I love a chunky potato salad, a nice small diced potato is my absolute favorite.

After we have our potatoes diced, we’re going to toss them in some cold, salted water. Bring them to a boil, let them cook until they’re just fork tender, then drain them. We’re also going to dice some celery and shallot, and toss it into the bottom of our mixing bowl. Once we’ve drained our potatoes, we’ll pour them right over top of those veggies while they cool for a couple reasons. For one, the flavors of the aromatics start to infuse the hot potatoes while they’re sitting there. And for two, the steam from the hot potatoes softens the veggies just the slightest bite taking away a smidge of the sharpness from their bite.

We want the potatoes to be just warm enough that all of our potato salad dressing really soaks into the warm potatoes but not so warm that we melt our cheddar. I find letting the potatoes cool for about 15-20 mins puts the taters at just the perfect temperature for all of the other ingredients to stay happy. So while those potatoes hang out and cool down a bit, we can make the dressing.

The dressing is a very simple mix of mayo, sour cream, grainy mustard, and horseradish. It’s perfectly tangy, perfectly zesty, and perfectly savory without being too spicy or aggressive. We’ll pour our dressing over the potatoes, toss in some shredded sharp cheddar cheese and fresh minced chives. Then, give it all a gentle mix. Taste for seasoning, add another pinch or two of salt, then let the salad hang in the fridge for a couple of hours to really help those flavors marry.

Now, I’m sure some of you are wondering where the bacon is in this salad. It seems like it’d be a natural addition, right? And if you wanted to add some in, I know it would be excellent. My issue with bacon in salads like this is that it tends to get soggy, no matter how crispy it is when you mix it in. I like my bacon so crispy crunchy that it snaps in half at just the thought of me looking at it. So as to not harm my own personal relationship with bacon, we’re leaving it out of this one. If you need it though, go for it.

What I love this most about this potato salad is that it’s loaded with bold flavors in the most subtle way. The spicy horseradish, tangy mustard, and sharp cheddar don’t overpower the salad at all. They all blend and balance each other in just the right way that makes the salad exciting without being aggressive. It’s soft and creamy and rich and savory and tangy and fresh and just absolute perfection in my book!

I’m not ready to even think about letting summer go yet, so expect the summery vibes to keep on keeping on!

I hope you all enjoy. And, let’s eat!