Ina Garten’s Best Potato Salad Hack

For decades, celebrity chefs have been urging us to reserve the starchy water that remains after cooking pasta to help gently thicken and bring the pasta sauce together. 

But when it comes to cooking another starchy staple—potatoes—we always pour that liquid directly down the drain. Turns out, we’ve been discarding the secret ingredient that Julia Child and Ina Garten swear by to create the best pasta salad recipe ever.

“We know Julia Child made everything better—even potato salad,” Garten explains in her 2022 cookbook Go-To Dinners, which features her recipe for Potato Salad à la Julia Child. “For this dish, she used the trick Italians used for pasta—she added some of the potato cooking water to the salad to make a creamier sauce,” referring to the technique showcased in Julia’s American-Style Potato Salad from the 1999 book Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home.

Despite the similarities to pasta cooking water, which I always save to put to good use in dishes like carbonara and cottage cheese Alfredo, I had never thought of reserving the starchy water that remains after boiling spuds to use in the salad. So even though it was one of the darkest, coldest days of winter, I hustled to my kitchen to see if this could be the key I was missing to unlock my best potato salad yet.

How to Make Potato Salad Like Ina Garten and Julia Child

As you might guess, Julia’s American-Style Potato Salad and Ina’s Potato Salad à la Julia Child recipes are quite similar. That said, there are a few minor differences, including the fact that Ina’s recipe:

• Calls for a two-to-one mix of mayo and sour cream instead of all mayo in the dressing
• Features 1 tablespoon more each of chopped fresh chives and cornichons
• Includes ¼ cup more chopped celery
• Asks for 2 ½ fewer tablespoons of chopped alliums (Ina opts for shallot instead of Julia’s regular onion)

Otherwise, the Yukon Gold-based potato salads are exactly the same in terms of ingredients. For the sake of my experiment, I opted to follow Ina’s tribute to Julia since I had her cookbook handy. Here’s a quick overview about how to make Ina’s potato salad:

1. Boil the potatoes. Put peeled and sliced Yukon Gold potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with water by 2 inches, and add a generous couple pinches of salt. Place the pan on a burner, then bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are just slightly tender when pierced with a fork or knife. 
2. Reserve the cooking water then drain the Yukon Golds. Dunk a measuring cup in the pot to reserve ⅓ cup of the cooking water, drain the potatoes, then transfer them to a large bowl.
3. Marinate the potatoes. Toss the potatoes with white wine vinegar and that reserved starchy water, and let them rest for 10 minutes. Toss every so often.
4. Prepare the mix-ins and dressing. In another bowl, combine chopped celery, shallots, cornichons, chives, and dill. Then in a third and final bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, and black pepper. 
5. Join forces then head to the fridge. Add three-quarters of the celery mixture to the potatoes and marinating liquid, dump in the mayo dressing, and gently stir to combine. Allow the potatoes to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to allow the flavors to marry.
6. Add the eggs and enjoy. Pour in the final one-quarter of the vegetable-herb medley along with a couple diced hard-boiled potatoes, then season with salt, pepper, and extra fresh dill to taste. Stir, take one final seasoning check, then serve cold or at room temp.

What Does Ina’s Potato Salad Taste Like?

Before we get to the flavor, we need to take a moment to celebrate the texture. I had never considered “marinating” the potatoes in tangy vinegar and starchy water, however, this quick and easy step really made the dressing’s consistency and flavor shine. It coated the potatoes in a silky way, and brought the Yukon Golds and mix-ins together into a format that’s easy to enjoy with a fork without all of the celery, cornichons, shallots, and herbs dripping off.

My biggest complaint with most potato salads is that they’re either bland or so rich, it’s not what I’m in the mood for on a warm summer day. Here, instead of the mustard that’s included in many classic potato salad recipes, sour cream, vinegar, and briny pickles team up to lend a lovely amount of tartness to cut through the richness of the potatoes, eggs, and mayo. This potato salad is so well-balanced and almost elegant in its simplicity that I could see myself gladly sharing and savoring it any time of year.

Tips for Making Potato Salad à la Julia Child

When making this homemade potato salad recipe, keep these pointers and customization options in mind:

• Stick with a fairly waxy potato. A spud that’s more waxy than starchy will hold up better after boiling and being tossed around with a dressing and other ingredients. Yukon Golds, butterball, new potatoes, and fingerlings are all terrific options. Peeling is optional, but be sure to slice them into uniform pieces so they cook evenly.
• Don’t forget to save that starchy water. It’s your secret ingredient! If you forget and dump it in your sink, no worries. You can recreate a similar product by mixing together 1 cup of water and ¼ teaspoon of cornstarch. Stir, then microwave for 1 minute. Measure out ⅓ cup to use in this recipe, and save the rest in your refrigerator for when you need a potato or pasta water replacement. 
• Consider a sour cream swap. If you don’t have any sour cream handy, instead of opting for all mayo, replace the sour cream with full-fat Greek yogurt.
• Accessorize as desired. Think of Ina’s potato salad more as a formula than a mandate. If you prefer, try celery salt instead of salt, fold in some capers or chopped olives for even more brininess, or take a cue from this Salad Russe recipe and fold in some pickled carrots or beets.
• Go wild with garnishes. Ina’s potato salad is awesome as-is, but if you’d like to layer on additional texture or flavor, add one or more of the following to the top after chilling and just before serving: crumbled crispy bacon, chopped fresh chives or parsley, diced tomatoes, diced pimiento peppers, everything bagel seasoning, or paprika.

The Verdict on Ina and Julia’s Potato Salad

I’m grateful that Ina’s cookbook introduced me to the powers of potato cooking water. I’ll certainly give this free ingredient more respect in the future, and I’m already counting down until my first al fresco potluck in spring so I can introduce my friends to Ina and Julia’s brilliant potato salad hack—and the tasty recipe in which it’s featured! 

I love how this egg and potato salad can be served in its simple glory, or jazzed up with toppings and more mix-ins to make it match the party theme or the preferences of those I’m sharing it with. 

But since we’re still in the depths of winter and I have some extra Yukon Gold potatoes in my pantry, I’m off to make a batch of Tartiflette. I’m bet Julia and Ina would approve!