Name: Cajun-Style Potato Salad
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 1 (24-oz.) bag gold new potatoes, cut into 1½-inch pieces; 6 thick-cut bacon slices, cut into 1-inch pieces; .75 cup mayonnaise; 2 tablespoons pickle juice (from a jar of dill pickles); 2 tablespoons Creole mustard; 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning; 1 cup (1-inch) chopped red bell pepper (from 1 medium bell pepper); 1 cup (1-inch) chopped yellow bell pepper (from 1 medium bell pepper); .5 cup (1-inch) chopped green bell pepper (from 1 medium bell pepper); .5 cup coarsely chopped dill pickles; .5 cup (¼-inch) diagonally sliced celery (from 1 medium celery stalk); 5 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut into eighths (quartered lengthwise, then halved crosswise); .25 cup sliced scallions (2 small scallions), plus more for garnish

Not your average potato salad.

Karen Schroeder-Rankin

Published on April 11, 2022

Cajun-Style Potato Salad — Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Ali Ramee; Prop Styling: Christine Keely

Cook Time:

30 mins

Active Time:

20 mins

Total Time:

1 hrs 20 mins

Servings:

Imagining a Louisiana picnic or cookout without a side of potato salad is almost impossible. And for some folks, this is a preferred stand-in for rice when eating a bowl of gumbo. The texture of the potato salad can range from smooth and creamy to chunky, depending on who's in the kitchen, but in its most basic form, it's a sumptuous mix of exactly what you'd expect: potatoes, mayo, a little Creole mustard, hard-cooked eggs, and Cajun seasoning. We took it beyond the limit, adding thick-cut bacon, bell peppers, celery, and freshly chopped dill pickles.

Our Cajun-Style Potato Salad starts with creamy, tender gold new potatoes, with their skins left on for added texture. Pro tip: cooling the potatoes before adding them to the other ingredients in the salad keeps them from absorbing all the dressing, instead allowing the dressing to coat all the ingredients. The peppers bring complex sweetness, crunch, and beautifully appetizing color to the mix, while celery adds a nice textural element. The real pièce de résistance in this Cajun potato salad is the big pieces of bacon, which make this cold salad utterly decadent. If you're a fan of all things spicy, you can add a pinch of cayenne pepper or a dash of hot sauce to the mayonnaise mixture, but the potato salad holds its own with just the Creole mustard and the Cajun seasoning.

Ingredients

1 (24-oz.) bag gold new potatoes, cut into 1½-inch pieces
6 thick-cut bacon slices, cut into 1-inch pieces
¾ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons pickle juice (from a jar of dill pickles)
2 tablespoons Creole mustard
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 cup (1-inch) chopped red bell pepper (from 1 medium bell pepper)
1 cup (1-inch) chopped yellow bell pepper (from 1 medium bell pepper)
½ cup (1-inch) chopped green bell pepper (from 1 medium bell pepper)
½ cup coarsely chopped dill pickles
½ cup (¼-inch) diagonally sliced celery (from 1 medium celery stalk)
5 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut into eighths (quartered lengthwise, then halved crosswise)
¼ cup sliced scallions (2 small scallions), plus more for garnish

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high. Add new potatoes, and cook until tender when pierced with a knife, about 15 minutes. Drain and spread on a large rimmed baking sheet to cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet over medium, stirring often, until crisp, about 12 minutes. Remove from skillet, and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside.
Stir together mayonnaise, pickle juice, Creole mustard, and Cajun seasoning in a large bowl. Add bell peppers, pickles, celery, hard-cooked eggs, scallions, cooled potatoes, and three-fourths of the bacon pieces; stir gently until evenly coated (trying not to break bacon pieces or eggs). Transfer to a serving bowl, and garnish with remaining bacon pieces and additional scallions. Store, covered, in refrigerator until ready to serve.