Potato salad Oak Cliff Style | Homesick Texan

Potato salad, Oak Cliff style

My dad’s side of the family loves hard-boiled eggs. They fold them into their salads, plop them into their giblet gravy, and whip them into deviled eggs, dishes that were all served at family gatherings in Oak Cliff when I was young

Now, I’m fine with hard-boiled eggs but don’t eat them nearly as often as my family does. Indeed, it seems that it’s only in the spring after Easter that I have them on hand. If they’re offered to me, I usually won’t refuse them. But they’re not something that I take an active role in keeping around.

When I was writing my second cookbook, I considered adding a potato salad my great-grandmother and grandmother had made. Yes, it included hard-boiled eggs. At that time, however, the combination of potatoes and eggs didn’t appeal to me, and I decided to forgo sharing the recipe at that time.

A few years later, however, I shared an old Texas potato salad with nasturtiums, which called for hard-boiled eggs. While I was still hesitant about them being in my salads, for the sake historical accuracy, I followed the recipe as written and kept the eggs.

Over the years, this side has become a favorite, and while the colorful flowers take it over the top, the base salad, eggs and all, is a solid representation of the form.

Potato salad Oak Cliff Style | Homesick Texan

When I had some hard-boiled eggs on hand recently, I was torn about how to use them. I considered making deviled eggs, but I had plans to cook a brisket and wanted to serve it with potato salad. Since I couldn’t find nasturtiums, I decided to look at my family’s eggy version once again.

The original family recipe called for potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, dill pickles, onion, pickle juice, and a dressing that featured Durkee’s dressing. The latter, if you’re unfamiliar, is essentially a blend of mayonnaise and mustard.

While I followed the original ingredient list almost exactly, Durkee’s is a challenge to find so I adapted the dressing a bit. For color, I swapped out the white onion for red. Lastly, I exchanged some pickled jalapeños for some of the dill pickles for more of a kick, though this it’s still terrific without this change.

There are only a few ingredients in this potato salad, but the balanced zest of the dressing with the abundance of bright pickles and snappy onions make the salad seem more complex than it is.

Potato salad Oak Cliff Style | Homesick Texan

It comes together quickly. And after I took my first tangy, creamy, chunky bite, I was back at my great-grandmother’s eating a plate piled high with food, listening to my family laugh and tell stories while we enjoyed our dinner in a house across the street from Kiest Park.

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4.80 from 5 votes

Potato salad, Oak Cliff style

Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 8
Author Lisa Fain

Ingredients

For the salad:

  • 3 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
  • 1 small red onion, diced
  • 1 cup chopped dill pickles

For the dressing:

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons pickle juice
  • 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon celery salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Instructions

  • Peel the potatoes then cut them into 1/2-inch cubes. Place the potatoes in a large pot with the salt, cover with cold water, bring to a boil on high, then turn the heat down to medium and cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse and turn off the heat.
  • Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl. Taste and add salt as needed. Add to the potatoes the egg, red onion, and dill pickles. Stir until well combined with the potatoes.
  • To make the dressing, stir together the mayonnaise, pickle juice, mustard, ketchup, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika, celery salt, and turmeric.
  • Add the dressing to the potatoes and stir to evenly combine. Taste and make any adjustments as desired. Chill before serving.

Notes

If you want to add some fire to this salad, substitute pickled jalapeños for some of the dill pickles

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16 Comments

  1. Patti Kyle says:

    Lisa, I always have Durkee’s on hand . What would you take out from above if using Durkee’s?
    Thank you!

    1. Lisa Fain says:

      Patti–I would swap 2 tablespoons of Durkee’s for 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise.

  2. Ellen Tannenbaum says:

    5 stars
    Native East Texan here. This is very close to my family’s way of making potato salad, except we use more eggs. Also usually use sliced pimento-stuffed olives instead of dill pickles.

    1. Lisa Fain says:

      Ellen–Using slice pimento-stuffed olives sounds fantastic! I will definitely be trying it that way!

  3. It was my responsibility as a teen growing up in a military family in the late 60’s and early 70’s to make potato salad for our family weekend “bbq” of T bone steaks, corn on the cob, etc. Not sure why I always included hard boiled eggs in my potato salads because it was not included in Japanese potato salads where I was born. I just assumed American style potato salads always had hard boiled eggs along with smidgen of mustard. No recipe was used but I always made it with sliced black olives, chopped onion, sliced celery, hard boiled eggs, boiled Idaho potatoes, a little mustard, a splash of apple vinegar and mayo. It tasted better next day.

    Now my parents and my brother are all gone and made countless variation of potatoes salads since those early days but that first variation is what I still consider as my favorite version. It is the memory that wins all the time.

    1. Lisa Fain says:

      Rinshin–What a beautiful memory! Thank you for sharing your story. And I agree, salads such as this always taste better the next day.

  4. Marsha Schroeder says:

    5 stars
    The only way to make potato salad as far as I’m concerned. I don’t like a bunch of extra stuff in it.

    1. Lisa Fain says:

      Martha–It doesn’t need much to be delicious!

  5. Kelley Jean says:

    5 stars
    Oh what a memory!! I’m an Oak Cliff girl (born in 1961 at Methodist Hospital)! My grandmother’s potato salad is one of my happiest memories. My Mother, who is 81 and lives in Eustace TX, still honors the recipe.

    I live in West Virginia now. I use your recipes religiously because there is no Tex-Mex in WV!!

    Thank you and God bless you for all the wonderful recipes and memories!

    1. Lisa Fain says:

      Kelley–Thank you for the kind words! I’m so honored that this post brought back such good memories to an Oak Cliff native! May you get back home to visit soon.