This Cajun Potato Salad is creamy, spicy and loaded with so much flavour!
If you’re looking to (quite literally) spice up your potato salad game, then look no further. This Cajun potato salad is the ultimate pot luck dish that never fails to impress! Follow me…
Baby Potatoes
Baby potatoes have got very thin skin and a nice creamy texture, which makes them perfect in a potato salad.
Boiling Baby Potatoes
When it comes to boiling the baby potatoes, as you can imagine it’s a fairly straightforward process. Just a few things to consider:
- Salt – Potatoes LOVE salt, so it’s important to get them properly seasoned from the get-go. As such, you’ll want to boil them in heavily salted water.
- Cold Water – You’ll want to start with cold water and bring it to a boil from there. This way the potatoes will cook more evenly.
- Steam Dry – Once fork tender, you’ll want to drain and leave the potatoes to sit until room temp. I know this is tedious, but you want as much steam to escape the potatoes as possible. You also don’t want the potatoes in any way hot before you stir in the dressing, otherwise the leftover heat with turn the dressing gloopy/greasy.
Another thing to ensure is that you don’t rinse the potatoes. By doing that you’re merely adding in unwanted moisture.
Process shots: boil potatoes in salted water (photo 1), drain and steam dry (photo 2).
Spicy Potato Salad Dressing
The dressing is a gorgeous balance of creamy and spicy. The creaminess comes from mayonnaise alongside sour cream, whereas the heat comes from wholegrain mustard, Cajun seasoning and hot sauce (optional).
How spicy is the dressing?
It’s actually more on the mild side if you’re not using hot sauce. Cajun seasoning will differ slightly from brand to brand, but mostly they’re fairly tame. If you’re wanting it spicier after you’ve mixed everything, then just add hot sauce to your preference.
Can I make it ahead of time?
Yep! Just tightly store in the fridge until needed.
Process shots: to a bowl add mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, mustard, Cajun seasoning and parsley to a bowl (photo 1), stir to combine then adjust with hot sauce and s&p to taste (photo 2).
Cajun Potato Salad
Once the spuds are cool and the dressing is made, we’re going to mix everything together with some spring onions and hard-boiled eggs.
Hard-Boiled Eggs
I LOVE me some hard-boiled eggs in a potato salad. I find the easiest way to dice them up is to squash them through a wire rack. So much easier than dicing with a knife. I know everyone has their own method of hard-boiling eggs, but if you’re after a method then I’ve added one in the recipe card notes below.
Resting the potato salad
Once you’ve made the potato salad I highly recommend letting it rest in the fridge for at least an hour. This will give time for the flavours to all marry together and soak into the potatoes.
Process shots: add potatoes to large mixing bowl and place wire rack on top (photo 1), add hard-boiled egg on top (photo 2), push through onto the potatoes (photo 3), add spring onion (photo 4), pour in dressing (photo 5), toss to combine (photo 6).
Crispy Fried Onions
To take this potato salad to new heights I love serving it with some crispy fried onions. You could use store-bought fried onions, but homemade ones are way too easy not to make.
I actually like to fry the onions in a fairly low heat (around 120C/250F). That way you can slowly draw out the moisture, which leaves them ultra crispy. Just add them to an inch or two of oil, and leave them to gently sizzle until deep golden.
Process shots: add sliced onion to oil (photo 1), fry until crisp (photo 2).
Serving Cajun Potato Salad
When it comes to serving, the final touch is adding a few pinches of smoked paprika. This not only adds a pop of colour, but also enhances the smoky tones of the Cajun seasoning.
After more potato salad recipes? Check out my Creamy Bacon Potato Salad and Warm Herbed Potato Salad!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this Cajun potato salad shall we?!
How to make Cajun Potato Salad (Full Recipe & Video)
Spicy Cajun Potato Salad
Equipment
- Large Pot & Colander (for boiling potatoes)
- Wire Rack (for quick cutting boiled eggs)
- Heavy Bottom Pan, Paper Towels & Slotted Spoon (for fried onions)
- Large Mixing Bowl & Spatula
- Small Mixing Bowl (for dressing)
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Ingredients
Cajun Potato Salad
- 2lb / 1kg small Baby Potatoes, halved
- 4 Hard-Boiled Eggs, cooled & peeled (see notes)
- 1 cup / 240g full fat Mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup / 60g Sour Cream
- 1/2 cup diced Spring Onions, (2-3 large spring onions)
- 2 tbsp finely diced Fresh Parsley
- 2 tbsp Cajun Seasoning (see notes)
- 2 tsp Wholegrain Mustard
- 1-2 tsp Hot Sauce, or to spice preference (optional)
- 1/2 Lemon, juice only
- Salt & Black Pepper, as needed
- Smoked Paprika, to serve
Fried Onions
- 1 large White Onion, finely sliced
- Vegetable Oil, for deep frying (enough to cover approx 2" depth of the pan)
- Salt, as needed
Instructions
- Cook Potatoes: Add potatoes to a large pot with enough cold water to just about cover them. Mix in 2 tsp salt then bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender (10 or so mins once boiling). Be careful to not over-boil them or they'll turn to mush. Drain (don’t rinse) and leave to steam dry until they are room temp (important!).
- Dressing: Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl combine mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, cajun seasoning, mustard and parsley. Check for spice & seasoning and adjust with hot sauce (if you want it spicier) and more salt & pepper to taste (I typically do 1 tsp hot sauce and 1/4 tsp s&p).
- Potato Salad: Add cooked & cooled potatoes to a large mixing bowl. Place a wire rack over the top and press through the hard-boiled eggs (easiest way to dice them up). Add spring onion then pour in the dressing. Give it all a good toss then preferably pop in the fridge for at least an hour to give chance for the flavour to marry together and soak into the potatoes.
- Fried Onions: Add paper towels over the sliced onion and press down to remove some moisture. Heat up 1-2" of oil in a heavy pot pan to around 120C/250F. Add in the sliced onion until deep golden and visibly crispy (careful, they'll go from perfect to burnt fairly quickly). Remove with a slotted spoon and rest on paper towels. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over them as they cool.
- Serve: Serve potato salad with a few pinches of smoked paprika and the crispy onions on top.
Video
Notes
- Add eggs to a pot and cover with cold water.
- Bring to boil until the eggs start dancing, then immediately turn off the heat and pop the lid on.
- Leave for exactly 10mins, then transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water (to stop the cooking process).
- Once cool enough to handle, peel away the shell.
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
If you loved this Cajun Potato Salad Recipe then be sure to Pin it for later! Already made it or got a question? Give me a shout in the comments and pick up your free ecookbook along the way!
I’ve made this a few times now, and it is delightfully spicy and delicious – but then I add more spice than the original recipe calls for – AND I make a very good slight change in the recipe : I add Zatarain’s Crab Boil spice to the water in which I boil the potatoes, which I highly suggest everyone try. It adds a nice depth to the Cajun flavors.
This has become my Go-To Potato Salad recipe, everyone loves it !!!
If I ever get my hands on some Zatarain’s Crab Boil spice I’ll definitely give it a go! Thanks so much for the review 🙂 C.
My daughter convinced me to make this for her because she loves anything cajun flavor. I don’t usually like anything tha even looks hot a d spicy. I was actually surprised that this wasnt spicy at all. I followed everything on the recipe, and it was delicious. My whole family enjoyed it. My daughter now has a new favorite kind of potato salad.
This is so great to hear, Muaty! Thanks so much for popping back for a review 🙂 C.
I must say I was a little sceptical at first, just because I am used to a classic potato salad. But I like spice and Cajun flavours so thought I’d give this a shot. It was amazing. The flavours were just brilliant. Will be repeating this a lot!!
Great to hear this went dow well, John! Thanks for popping back for a review 🙂 C.