Cajun-Style Potato Salad Recipe

Cajun-Style Potato Salad in a white bowl — Photo:
Antonis Achilleos; Prop Stylist: Christine Keely; Food Stylist: Ali Ramee

Cook Time:

30 mins

Active Time:

20 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 20 mins

Servings:

Cajun potato salad is a robust twist on classic potato salad, calling in bold spices and vibrant colors for a truly satisfying side dish. This dish is a great example of Cajun culinary traditions, and imagining a Louisiana picnic or cookout without this delicious side is almost impossible. For some folks, this is even a preferred stand-in for rice when eating a bowl of gumbo.

Learn how to make Cajun potato salad. Whether served at a barbecue, picnic, family gathering, or as part of a Mardi Gras feast, this flavorful potato salad will quickly become one of your favorites.

What Does Cajun Potato Salad Taste Like?

The texture of Cajun 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. The Cajun seasoning and Creole mustard gives it a mild kick, with the salty bacon, refreshing celery and scallions, briny pickles, and creamy mayonnaise giving the potatoes a deliciously satisfying flavor and texture.

Ingredients for Cajun-Style Potato Salad

Our Cajun-Style Potato Salad is made with:

Gold new potatoes: Creamy, tender potatoes with their skins left on add texture.
Hard-cooked eggs: Add extra richness to the dish.
Green bell peppers: Red, yellow, and green peppers bring a complex sweetness, crunch, and beautifully appetizing color to the mix.
Celery: Adds great crunch and slightly sweet earthiness.
Dill pickles: Add tang and a nice textural contrast.
Bacon: The real pièce de résistance in this Cajun potato salad. It makes this cold salad utterly decadent.
Mayonnaise: Provides the creamy base of the potato salad dressing.
Pickle juice: A boost of briny flavor.
Creole mustard: Adds the perfect tanginess and a hint of bite.
Cajun seasoning: An all-purpose combination of peppers, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika.
Scallions: Brings everything together with a fresh, herbaceous flavor.

How To Make Cajun-Style Potato Salad

Simply boil the potatoes, cook the bacon, and stir to coat with a Cajun-seasoned mayonnaise and some colorful additions. Full instructions are below, but here's a brief recap before you get started:

Step 1. Boil potatoes: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high. Boil potatoes in a large pot of boiling water until tender. Drain and spread onto a baking sheet to cool completely.
Step 2. Cook bacon: Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Step 3. Mix potato salad: In a large bowl, stir to combine mayonnaise, pickle juice, Creole mustard, and Cajun seasoning. Stir in peppers, pickles, celery, hard-cooked eggs, scallions, potatoes, and 3/4 of the bacon pieces just to coat. Transfer to a serving bowl, and garnish with bacon and scallions.

Test Kitchen 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.

Cajun-Style Potato Salad Variations

To change up this Cajun-style potato salad, consider some of these substitutions and additions:

Bacon: Substitute the bacon with smoked sausage, Andouille sausage, spicy chorizo, or turkey bacon if preferred.
Mayonnaise: Replace some or all of the mayonnaise with sour cream or Greek yogurt.
Pickle juice: If needed, substitute with other acidic ingredients, including apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, or lemon juice.
Creole mustard: Swap the Creole mustard with Dijon or whole grain mustard if you don't have any on hand.
Herbs: Add a fresh boost from parsley, cilantro, or chives.
Heat: Add heat with hot sauce or red pepper flakes.
Veggies: Add cherry tomatoes, red onions, or cooked corn for extra interest.
Pickles: If needed, swap the dill pickles with bread and butter pickles, spicy pickles, or other preferred types.

What Type of Potatoes Are Best for Potato Salad?

When it comes to making potato salad, you want a potato that will cook up creamy and tender, without falling apart. Gold new potatoes are our top choice for this purpose. They have a buttery flavor, creamy texture, and hold their shape well after cooking. Note that you can use other waxy types of potatoes if needed, including fingerling and red potatoes.

Whichever type you choose, make sure to drain and cool them thoroughly before tossing with the remaining ingredients to keep them from soaking up too much of the dressing.

Can I Make Cajun-Style Potato Salad Ahead?

Cajun-style potato salad can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance, and chilled until ready to serve. Wait to top with bacon and scallions until just before serving.

Store leftovers of the potato salad for up to three days in an airtight container in the refrigerator, Give the salad a stir and adjust with additional seasoning and mayonnaise, if needed, to revive it before serving.

What To Serve With Cajun-Style Potato Salad

Whether you're hosting a barbecue, potluck, or other type of gathering, you just can't go wrong with a good potato salad. Serve this Cajun-style potato salad as a vibrant side dish to grilled chicken, barbecue ribs, fried catfish, smoked or Andouille sausage, grilled seafood, or po' boys. Pair with classic Southern sides like cornbread, collard greens, hush puppies, corn on the cob, biscuits, mac and cheese, fried okra, and more for a flavorful meal your guests will remember.

More Potato Salad Recipes You'll Love

Whether you like your potato salad with ranch dressing, deviled eggs, or pickles in the mix, we've got a recipe for you:

Editorial contributions by Katie Rosenhouse.

Ingredients

1 (24-oz.) bag gold new potatoes, cut into 1 ½-in. pieces
6 thick-cut bacon slices, cut into 1-in. pieces
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. pickle juice (from a jar of dill pickles)
2 Tbsp. Creole mustard
2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1 cup (1-in.) chopped red bell pepper (from 1 medium bell pepper)
1 cup (1-in.) chopped yellow bell pepper (from 1 medium bell pepper)
1/2 cup (1-in.) chopped green bell pepper (from 1 medium bell pepper)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dill pickles
1/2 cup (1/4-in.) diagonally sliced celery (from 1 medium celery stalk)
5 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut into eighths (quartered lengthwise, then halved crosswise)
1/4 cup sliced scallions (2 small scallions), plus more for garnish

Directions

Boil potatoes:

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.
Cook bacon:

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.
Mix potato salad:

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make my own Cajun seasoning?

You can make your own seasoning blend with a mix of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano and thyme, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt. Adjust the quantities as desired for your perfect blend.
What's the best way to hard-cook eggs for potato salad?

For the best hard-cooked eggs, we recommend cooking your eggs in boiled water for 11 minutes, then transferring to an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
Is Cajun-style potato salad spicy?

This potato salad carries mild heat from the Creole mustard and Cajun seasoning in the mix, but feel free to tone down or amp up the heat as desired.

Additional reporting by

Katie Rosenhouse

Cajun-Style Potato Salad