Creamy Seafood Potato Salad Recipe

Potato salad is a pretty basic side dish, but it lends itself to being dressed up in all manner of ways. Some potato salad recipes add extra crunch with ingredients like bell peppers, chopped nuts, or potato chips; others amp up the heat with chiles or hot sauce. Some even add protein in the form of eggs, bacon, sausage, or, as in the case of this potato salad, seafood. Recipe developer Feta Topalu feels that her recipe adds "a unique twist to traditional potato salads" and describes it as having "creamy [and] savory flavors along with sweet and tangy spices."

This recipe is a fairly easy one, and Topalu assures us, "There are no special ingredients, techniques, or tricky steps." She does recommend inspecting the crab and removing any shell fragments you find, but apart from that, the only prep work you'll need to do is to boil and chop the eggs and chop the vegetables and pickles. Topalu also dices her cooked shrimp (she uses large ones) in pieces that are about ¼- to ½-inch long, although she says, "Using whole shrimp is a wonderful idea if one may want to skip the step of dicing, and they add a fun shape, too."

Potatoes mixed with mayonnaise form the base of this salad, which is seasoned with salt, pepper, yellow mustard, and Old Bay. The standout additions are canned crab and cooked shrimp, while Topalu also mixes in boiled eggs, red onion, celery, and pickles. She uses dill pickles, but tells us that "one may want to use sweet pickles or even pickle relish if they prefer to add sweetness to the overall salad."

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Add the potatoes, cover, and cook for 20–30 minutes, until pierced through easily with a fork.

Let the potatoes cool slightly, then cut into ½-inch cubes.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, and Old Bay seasoning. Set aside.

Place the cubed potatoes into a large bowl.

Pour the dressing over the potatoes and gently mix until well combined.

Add the shrimp, crabmeat, eggs, onion, celery, and pickles. Mix until well combined.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste, then cover and refrigerate for 4–6 hours, or overnight.

Serve cold.

If you'd like to make this potato salad but you only have baking potatoes on hand, do you really need to head out to the store to buy more tubers? Well, yes, at least if you want your salad to look and taste its best. As Topalu explains, "Red potatoes are preferred for this salad because of their waxy texture, which holds up well in salads." Idaho or russet potatoes are too starchy, which means that they are great for baking, frying, or making potato soup. If you use them in a salad, though, they may fall apart and you'll wind up with something resembling extra-mayonnaisey loaded mashed potatoes. Red potatoes aren't the only waxy potatoes that work in this recipe, though, since fingerlings and Yukon Golds are also perfect for potato salad.

How about peeling the potatoes? Topalu says there's no need to do so here. Going the no-peel route will certainly save you some effort, and potato skins have nutritional value, too. Still, not everyone likes to eat potato peels. As Topalu advises, "If the potato skin is bothersome, it can be peeled easily after the potatoes are boiled."

While plainer potato salads often serve as side dishes, Topalu says that this hearty, seafood-enhanced one is "versatile enough to stand alone as a light meal." If you do choose to serve it as an entree, you could do so alongside a simple green salad or pair it with a heartier Caesar or chef salad. You could also serve it as part of a cold salad buffet alongside such dishes as pasta salad and elote en vaso.

Topalu does say, though, that this seafood potato salad "can be served as a side dish" as she feels that it "offer[s] a uniqueness to other traditional sides." She suggests that you "consider serving it alongside grilled meats" where it could take the place of baked potatoes, rice, noodles, or other starchy sides. Topalu also feels that her potato salad could be "part of a seafood-themed meal."