The Secret Ingredient for Better Potato Salad Is Already in Your Fridge

You'll never make potato salad without this genius secret ingredient again.

There’s a reason you see potato salad at every potluck or barbecue—it’s a crowd-pleaser that doesn’t take a whole lot of effort. From our traditional Old-Fashioned Potato Salad to our flavor-packed Million Dollar Potato Salad, we’ve got plenty of potato salad recipes that everyone will crowd around at your next gathering.

If you’re looking to add some zing to your potato salad, though, there’s one simple ingredient that makes a huge difference. Give your potato salad a significant upgrade with one of the most magical and under-utilized ingredients in your refrigerator: pickle juice. The simple ingredient might just make a convert out of the potato salad-hater in your life.

Why You Should Add Pickle Juice to Your Potato Salad

Pickle juice, as well as other types of brine, is a game-changer in dips, sauces, and salads. All that salt and fermentation delivers a strong punch of flavor to an otherwise bland food (sorry, potatoes). Pickle juice also enhances the flavor of meats when it’s used as a marinade—Chick-fil-A uses the same strategy with their fried chicken.

Pickle juice won’t just enhance your potato salad’s flavor, though. It’ll also help maintain the potatoes’ texture after they’re cooked, thanks to an unexpected technique. 

How to Incorporate Pickle Juice Into Potato Salad

Ready to add pickle juice to your potato salad? We recommend starting with our Million Dollar Potato Salad recipe because it involves both a secret ingredient and a secret technique—think of it as a multi-pronged approach to irresistible potato salad. When gathering your ingredients, divide half a cup of pickle brine. You’ll use the first quarter-cup of pickle brine halfway through the recipe (step 6) by adding it to a large pot of water and salt.

In addition to giving them a delightful pickle flavor, boiling potatoes in pickle brine also helps hold them together after they’ve been cooked. This is because adding pickle juice to water increases its acidity—if you don’t have enough pickle brine on hand, you can also use two tablespoons of a neutral vinegar, like white wine, distilled, or apple cider, instead.

While those potatoes are simmering, get started on the dressing. Here, you’ll use a mixture of mayonnaise and sour cream for an ultra-creamy dressing, as well as 1 cup of Parmesan, 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, and the remaining 1/4 cup of pickle juice for an unbeatable flavor.

We’ve got one more tip that’ll make your potato salad even better: Once you’ve removed the potatoes from the stove and drained them, go ahead and coat them in the dressing. This will give the potatoes more time to absorb the ingredients and provide a thick and even coating. 

More Additions to Potato Salad

• Bacon. Nobody says you have to put bacon in your potato salad, but as long as everyone in your party enjoys pork, they’re definitely not gonna complain. Fry the bacon for 5-7 minutes on each side, then move it to a cutting board and let it cool down. Once it’s at a safe temperature, chop the bacon into small pieces, and serve as a garnish.

• Chives. Potatoes and chives are already a champion pair, so adding ⅓ cup finely sliced chives as a garnish is a can’t-lose decision.

• Crispy fried onions. Sure, celery and pickles give potato salad a nice degree of crunch, but you know what would make it even better? Miniature crispy bites. This ingredient works best as a garnish, so add to the top just before serving. 
  

Read the original article on All Recipes.