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This cold smoked potato salad is fantastic, with smoked flavour coming from both the potatoes & the mayo. A tasty departure from traditional potato salad!
Originally posted June 1, 2017. Updated 5/17/2023
Last week, I happened across "smoked potato salad" at a specialty food store. Given that my husband is a sucker for anything smoked, I picked some up.
It was ok - good even - but the smoky flavor only came from the mayo. It was a fairly basic classic potato salad, just with a hint of smoke.
Of course, we discussed how we would have done it - smoking both the mayo and the potatoes.
We discussed the other ingredients we'd use, and before I knew it, we were grocery shopping to make it happen.
Part of our discussion involved the various ways we could tackle the smoking.
We could hot smoke the potatoes from raw, or we could pre-cook and cold smoke them.
In the end, we decided to cold smoke them after boiling. It gave us more control over the finished texture, for one.
Secondly... when it comes to a creamy potato salad, I just prefer the texture of boiled potato salad, to roasted potato salad - and hot smoked potatoes would be closer to the texture of roasted.
The Best Potato Salad Recipes
Now, I've already got a great boiled potato salad recipe - my Grandma's Potato Salad - which I believe to be the *best* potato salad ever... but this comes very, very close to that #1 spot for me, now.
Gramma's is the king of side dishes and will always have the nostalgia, but this one has a really great flavour, and it's unique.
This turned out fantastic, with a really great smoked flavour throughout!
We’ve started making Smoked Mayo on its own, for use as a standalone condiment - it’s amazing on burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches!
Note: Want a lower carb version of this smoked potato salad recipe for your next cookout?
Check out my Keto Cauliflower Potato Salad!
If you cold smoke the mayo and cauliflower, you’re most of the way there!
Potatoes
I recommend using small red potatoes / new red potatoes for this, for the best taste, texture, and appearance in the final smoked, diced potatoes.
Larger potatoes are fine, I just find they’re more prone to skin blemishes, black spots inside, etc - so I tend to avoid them.
Fingerling potatoes are an OK option - I just find them a bit waxier than I like, when it comes to potato salad.
Wood Chips
You can pretty much any kind of wood chips - or wood pellets - for this, it just depends on what kind of flavour you want to achieve.
Personally, I like a light, fairly neutral tasting wood for this, so we use :
Apple Wood Chips or Apple Wood Pellets
Cherry Wood Chips - or Cherry Wood Pellets
Usually, we’ll use Jack Daniel's Bourbon Barrel Wood Chips - or Jack Daniel's Wood Pellets -, which are kind of our default flavour.
Some other great options are:
Rum Barrel Wood Chips, Apple & Rum Barrel Wood Chips, Maple & Bourbon Barrel Wood Chips, or Scotch Barrel Wood Chips
Maple Wood Chips - or Maple Wood Pellets
Pecan Wood Chips - or Pecan Wood Pellets
That said, if you’re looking for a robust, in-your-face BBQ smoke flavour, you might want to try:
Everything Else
Rounding out this recipe, you will need:
Corn on the Cob
Celery Ribs
Green Onions
Jalanpeno Pepper
Mayonnaise
Sour Cream (can use Greek yogurt)
Dijon Mustard
Hard-boiled eggs
Kosher Salt & Ground Black Pepper
... I just don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go!
Variations
This recipe makes a simple smoked potato salad, really letting the smoke flavour take center stage.
There’s a lot of room for customization - I recommend making it as-is the first time, to get a feel for what you’re starting with.
Next time, go wild!
Seasoning is a good way to customize it. Personally, I like my potato salad flavourful but not spicy, to provide a counterpart to spicy grilled foods.
If you want to bring BBQ flavour to the potato salad itself, consider spicing it up with some Cayenne Pepper, Chili Powder, Hatch Chile Powder, Jalapeno Powder, Smoked Paprika, Smoked Serrano Powder, or a bit of your favourite barbecue spice blend or dry rub.
Want a bit more of an acid bite? Add some chopped dill pickles - or pickle brine - or a splash of red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice, AFTER smoking the mayo mixture.
As for the veggies, sometimes we’ll toss some chopped red bell pepper or green bell pepper in there. Sometimes some chopped red onion (raw, AFTER assembling the potato salad), either instead of or in addition to the green onion.
It’s all good!
Cold Smoking
Please note: This recipe requires a smoker that's set up to do cold smoking.
This can easily be accomplished by an attachment kit - many are available that can affix to any grill or smoker.
Whether you have a Pit Boss,Traeger Smoker, Pellet Grill, Charcoal Grill, Electric Smoker, Pellet Tube Smoker , Gas Grill / Propane Grill, or even a Big Green Egg, there’s a cold smoking option out there for you - you’ll just have to look up your specific grill or smoker.
Anyway, the cold smoking aspect is important, as your mayo will just cook if you don't have a cold smoker attachment.
Be sure to set up your cold smoker and get it going - with a real light smoke coming out - before adding your ingredients to the smoker.
Too much smoke - especially the early, heavy smoke - increases the risk of soot, which is not appetizing at all.
More Grilling & Smoker Recipes!
Looking for an excuse to fire up the grill? I've got you...
Smoked Cheese Balls
Chicken Souvlaki
Smoked Chicken Breast
Cold Smoked Mayo
Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings
Easy Smoked Cream Cheese
Smoked French Fries
Crunchy Smoked Bacon
Grilled Jambalaya Skewers
Hoppy IPA BBQ Sauce
How to Cook Corn on the Cob
Hot Smoked Salmon
Smoked Jalapeno Poppers
Montreal Smoked Meat
Moroccan Spiced Lamb Burgers
Replica Diana Sauce
Smoked Mac and Cheese
Spinach Feta Salmon Burgers
Tandoori Spiced Chicken Burgers with Mango
Also be sure to check out our recipe sections for Grilling Recipes and more Smoked Food Recipes.
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Cold Smoked Potato Salad
This unique potato salad is fantastic, with smoked flavour coming from both the potatos and the mayonnaise. A fun departure from the traditional.
Prep Time20 minutes mins
Cook Time20 minutes mins
Smoking Time20 minutes mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian
Servings: 8 People
Calories: 436kcal
Author: Marie Porter
Equipment
Smoker or Grill
Cold Smoker Attachment Kit
Wood Chips*
Ingredients
- 5 lbs Small Red Potatoes
- ¾ Cup Mayonnaise
- ¼ Cup Sour Cream
- 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 2 Ears Fresh Corn Shucked
- 5 Celery Ribs Thinly sliced
- 3 Green Onions thinly sliced
- 1 Jalapeno Pepper Sliced in half, seeded, finely chopped
- Salt and Pepper
- 6 Hard Boiled Eggs Cooked, peeled, and sliced
Instructions
Wash potatoes, chop into 1″ cubes. Boil the in a large pot of water for about 20 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain potatoes, cool to room temp.
Prepare your smoker for cold smoking, based on your smoker’s instructions. Get smoke going!
Whisk together mayo, sour cream, and mustard. Spread on a small, rimmed baking sheet or baking dish. I like to use a
disposable aluminum pan, like a foil pie plate.
Fill another, larger (but small enough to fit in your smoker!) baking pan with ice. Place mayo pan on the ice.
Place stacked pans in smoker, along with cooled potatoes (arranged in a single layer on your grill grates), and corn (if using). Cold smoke for 10 minutes.
Remove mayo mix pans from the smoker, allowing corn and potatoes to continue smoking.
Stir the mayo mix, replace ice if melted. Return to smoker, continue to smoke for 10 more minutes.
You can continue the “smoke, stir, check flavour, replace ice” routine a couple of times, if needed - keep going til the smoke flavor is to your liking!
In a large mixing bowl, mix together potatoes, celery, green onions, and jalapeno. If using corn, use a sharp knife to remove kernels from ear, stir kernels into potato mix.
Add about half of the mayo mix to the large bowl of vegetables, mix well.
Add more mayo mix, to taste. Season with salt and pepper, before gently stirring in sliced hard boiled eggs.
Chill for an hour or two before serving.
Leftovers
Leftover smoked potato salad can be transferred to an airtight container and kept in the fridge for 3-4 days.
This potato salad is even better the next day!
Nutrition
Calories: 436kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 152mg | Sodium: 264mg | Potassium: 1427mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 390IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 3mg
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