You’ve probably come across delicious German potato salad (Kartoffelsalat) before. It’s definitely a staple and a highlight of Gertman cuisine.
What I love most about it is how much it can vary between regions and places in Germany so it can be like trying a different dish if you order it as you travel around.
But what goes into a German potato salad? How can you make a delicious one so you can enjoy a taste of Germany at home tonight?
In this article, you’ll see exactly how you can make your own German potato salad that your family and friends will love quickly and easily.
Love Germany? Click here to download your free guide to 25 Incredible Things You Must Do In Germany In Your Lifetime. You won’t want to miss them!
In the video below by DW Food, you’ll see a demonstration of how to prepare a traditional German potato salad, a dish beloved at springtime barbecues, summer picnics, and even on Christmas Eve in Germany
The recipe features waxy potatoes to maintain texture, along with ingredients such as apple, onion, parsley, chive, mustard, mayonnaise, and gherkins.
How To Make Delicious German Potato Salad by DW Food
The process starts with cooking the potatoes with their skins on, followed by cooling them with cold water to ease peeling. After slicing the potatoes, the host incorporates gherkin water to prevent the salad from becoming too mushy and to keep the mayonnaise from being overly absorbed.
The final preparation includes thinly sliced gherkins and apples, which are mixed with the potatoes and gherkin water. Fresh chive is added, and the mixture is combined with mayonnaise, reflecting the North German style of potato salad.
The salad is seasoned with German mustard, salt, and pepper, and decorated with parsley for a finishing touch. The host emphasizes the balance of flavors and the non-mushy texture of the salad, making it ideal for easy preparation the night before a festive meal.
I hope you enjoy making and eating this potato salad as much as I did!
If you want to learn more about German potato salad, find our full guide here with the history and more of this delicious dish.
Want to learn more about German food? Find our guide to typical dishes here, 20 ways to serve potatoes in Germany here, how to make cucumber salad here and German potato recipes here and German side dishes here. You can also find all our German food articles here.
Oma Hildegard’s potato salad is weird. Never heard of apples and gherkins or mustard.
The preparation also weird. With all the mixing the slices would have been broken up but they weren’t…..meaning the potatoes were undercooked. Potato salad and Frankfurters is very traditional on Christmas Eve. Because it’s easy and fast and because we decorate the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. But just for the fun of it I will try the receipt once.