Julia Child’s Secret Ingredient for the Best Potato Salad Ever

When I make potato salad I almost always use Julia Child’s recipe. It’s one of those classics that works every time, so why resort to anything else? The secret to this successful recipe is in timing, technique and one unexpected ingredient: sour cream.

Why You Should Trust Julia

Sour cream is the perfect potato salad addition if you consider its texture and flavor. It contributes to the creaminess of the dish without weighing it down. Sour cream also has a natural tangy flavor that plays so well with the creamy texture and mild flavor of potatoes. It’s funky and fun and gives life to a dish that can often feel one-note.

The thing I also love about Child’s recipe is the way it’s written. She provides the right combination of cues and instructions to successfully complete any dish. Her potato salad requires a step-by-step approach to building flavor. From cooking the potato slices until “just barely tender when pierced with a fork,” to drizzling the still-hot potatoes with a bit of vinegar and reserved cooking water, you’re expertly guided in creating the dish. 

Speaking of that cooking water, it’s equally part of the success of the recipe. Along with her secret ingredient of sour cream, Child smartly reserves and uses the potato cooking water to help create a velvety, creamy texture to her potato salad. It’s a technique that’s similar to using reserved pasta water to give body to pasta sauces, and it offers the same benefits here.

A Few of My Best Potato Salad Tips

Trust me when I say Child knew what she was doing when she made that recipe. It’s my go-to for a reason and if you’re looking to give it a try, I fully support you. Here are a few tips that I’ve learned along the way:

• Leave the skins on: The skin is packed with nutrients, so why discard it? This means more nutrition, but also less waste! 
• Scrub your potatoes: Since you’ll be enjoying the skin, make sure you give it a good scrub. Potatoes have a lot of little divots where dirt can linger so I recommend buying a little potato scrubber to make cleaning them easier. If you can’t find a potato scrubber, a clean toothbrush will also do the trick!
• Set out the sour cream: Cold sour cream on hot potatoes is not a good combination. I like to measure my sour cream out and then leave it on my counter to come to room temperature while my potatoes cook.