At a Glance
- Dish: Baby potato salad with sour cream dressing, eggs, celery, and chives
- Flavor Profile: Creamy and tangy with fresh chives, mild onion flavor, and balanced richness
- Method: Tender baby potatoes are folded with a light sour cream dressing and chilled before serving
- Why It Works: Using mostly sour cream instead of mayonnaise keeps the dressing creamy without feeling heavy
- Servings: 6
- Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes (includes chilling)
- Effort Level: Simple
A Lighter Take on Classic Potato Salad
This sour cream potato salad with chives takes a lighter approach to a classic summer side without losing the creamy texture that makes potato salad such a popular choice. The dressing is tangy and balanced, made with mostly sour cream, a small amount of mayonnaise for texture, and a splash of rice vinegar to offset the richness.
Baby yellow potatoes hold their shape well after cooking, while the hard-cooked egg yolks blend into the dressing and the whites, celery, and onion add textural contrast. Fresh chives bring mild onion flavor and a fresh pop of color that sets this dish apart from heavier deli-style potato salads. It pairs especially well with grilled chicken, burgers, steak, and seafood.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
A few key ingredients make this recipe work – here’s what to know. A complete list with quantities is in the recipe card below.
- Potatoes: Baby yellow potatoes are ideal for potato salad because of their creamy, waxy texture and thin skins, which means there’s no peeling required. Regular yellow potatoes work well too. If preferred, you can peel larger potatoes after boiling.
- Sour cream: Regular sour cream gives the dressing its creamy texture and tangy flavor. Reduced-fat sour cream can be substituted, but because it’s thinner, you may want to omit the milk and add a little extra sour cream instead.
- Mayonnaise: A small amount of mayonnaise softens the tang of the sour cream and helps create a smoother, more balanced dressing without making the salad feel heavy.
- Chives: Fresh chives add mild onion flavor and color. Fresh dill, parsley, or tarragon make good substitutes, while chopped scallions provide a sharper onion note.
A Quick Look at Preparation
How to Make Sour Cream Potato Salad
Here’s how this dish comes together, along with a few tips for the best results. Full instructions are in the recipe card below.
This potato salad starts with baby yellow potatoes cooked just until tender, then cooled slightly before being cut into chunks. Letting the potatoes cool briefly makes them easier to handle and helps them hold their shape when mixed with the dressing.
Mixing sour cream with a small amount of mayonnaise, a splash of rice vinegar, and bit of Dijon mustard creates a lighter, tangier dressing than traditional potato salad. Once the potatoes are combined with the dressing, fresh chives are stirred in at the end for a mild onion flavor.
The salad benefits from a short rest before chilling so the potatoes can absorb the seasoning more evenly. If you can, taste the potato salad again before serving, as chilled potato dishes can often need an extra pinch of salt.
Tested Tips
- Use a waxy variety of potato for the best texture. Baby yellow potatoes, Yukon Golds, and red potatoes hold their shape well after cooking and are less likely to break apart when mixed.
- Start the potatoes in cold, salted water so they cook evenly from the center outward.
- Don’t overcook the potatoes. They should be tender enough to pierce easily with a knife but still firm enough to hold clean edges when cut.
- Potato salad tastes best after chilling for a few hours, which gives the dressing time to coat and season the potatoes more thoroughly.
More Savory Side Salad Recipes
If make-ahead side salads are part of your summer rotation, here are other options to explore. Our Old-Fashioned German Potato Salad combines bacon, red onion, and a tangy mustard vinaigrette for a classic mayo-free version; Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad pairs sweet corn and cherry tomatoes with a bright lemon-chive dressing; and Couscous Salad with Feta and Tomatoes blends fresh herbs, feta, and tomatoes in a light lemon and olive oil dressing.
Sour Cream Potato Salad with Chives
Ingredients
- 2 lbs baby yellow potatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
- 3 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes and place them in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water by about 1 inch and add 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Drain and let cool for about 10 minutes, or until easy to handle.
- Cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks and transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Add the celery and onion, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper, and combine gently.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, milk, rice vinegar, and Dijon mustard until smooth.
- Pour the dressing over the potato mixture and fold gently to coat. Add the hard-cooked eggs and chives and combine carefully to avoid breaking up the potatoes too much.
- Let the potato salad rest for 10 minutes, then taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
