Dolly Parton’s Secret to the Best Potato Salad —It’s So Delicious

Dolly Parton can do no wrong. Her hits are legendary, her movies are classics, and her charitable work with organizations have helped thousands of people. She’s already done plenty for us, but add one more thing to the list: In Good Lookin’ Cookin’, the cookbook she co-authored with her sister, Rachel Parton George, Dolly shared her family recipe for the best, creamiest potato salad that has ever graced a potluck table.

Why Dolly Parton’s Family Potato Salad Is So Great

There are a lot of ways to make potato salad, and I have room in my heart for all of them, but when I imagine the classic side in my mind, Dolly’s is it: tender potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and crunchy celery and onion, all dressed in a creamy yet tangy mixture of mayo, mustard, and vinegar. Her recipe also includes one ingredient in the dressing that I’d never seen: heavy cream.

Every ingredient in Dolly’s potato salad is there for a reason, and like her, each one is pitch perfect. The heavy cream adds an extra layer of richness to the dish that keeps me coming back, bite after bite.

Dolly’s recipe also includes a fair bit of Dijon mustard, and the mustard and cream work together to balance each other, so there’s a nice tanginess that isn’t overwhelming and a pleasant creaminess that doesn’t suffer from being one-note.

How I Make Dolly Parton’s Family Potato Salad

Dolly makes it easy to pretend you’ve pulled up at the table at one of her family gatherings with this simple salad. To make it, in a bowl, toss just-tender cubed Idaho potatoes, quartered hard-boiled eggs, finely diced celery and onion, and chopped dill.

In a separate bowl is where the saucy magic happens—mayo, Dijon, white vinegar, and her (not-so-top-secret-anymore) heavy cream are blended, then folded into the potato mixture. Season the salad, and you’re good to go.

Dolly does suggest cooling the potato salad in the fridge for at least an hour to help the flavors come together, so this would be a great recipe to make a day before you need it. A couple of tips I gathered while making the recipe:

• Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to: If you don’t have russets on hand, you can make this salad with red-skinned or Yukon gold potatoes.
• Practice a little patience: Once you’ve boiled and drained the potatoes, give them a few minutes to dry. This will help them absorb the dressing.
• In a pickle? If you’re out of vinegar, you can use a couple tablespoons of pickle brine. Fresh dill can also be swapped with other herbs, like chives or parsley.