This Puerto Rican Potato Salad is perfect to make on a weekday and enjoy during the week. The perfect side to take to a potluck, party, or family gathering.
As a Puerto Rican, I can confirm that at almost every Puerto Rican festivity where there’s food involved, there will be a Puerto Rican Potato Salad.
We call it ensalada de papa, and we make it with the typical ingredients like potatoes, egg, and mayonnaise. But we also add peppers, ham, and even some apples!
This is a side you will find next to a porchetta stuffed with rice and an elbow salad at a Christmas party. Or just made for any weeknight dinner with a Puerto Rican Chicken and rice.
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Recipe Ingredients
- Potatoes- I use what I call cooking potatoes, which are just russet potatoes. But you can also use yellow or yukon gold potatoes.
- Vegetables- This can vary a little bit, but we always use a combination of peppers and onion. For the peppers, I use whatever color I have in my kitchen at the moment. So use green, red, or yellow. For the onion, I like using red onions, but if it is too strong for you, you can use white or yellow onion.
- Water, salt & pepper- To boil, I use 8 cups of water that I season with 2 tablespoons of salt. This is to season the potato inside out. Then, once cooked, I just add black pepper.
- Eggs & ham- This is optional, but I really like adding cubed pieces of ham and eggs. Sometimes I add only 2 eggs and sometimes 4.
- Dressing- The base for the dressing is the mayonnaise. Then, to add some acidity, I add vinegar. The vinegar will add flavor and also make the dressing not so thick.
How to Make A Puerto Rican Potato Salad
- Photo 1: First, cut all the vegetables. Cut the peppers and onions into very small cubes. This is just a preference in texture, so cut them bigger if you like.
- Photo 2: Rinse the potatoes before cutting to remove any dirt. Peel and cut into small ½ inch pieces or smaller. You can always cut the potato bigger if you want to have big potato pieces.
- Photo 3: Put water, salt, and potato in to cook for 25 minutes over high heat. Make sure your potatoes are tender before removing from the heat. Let the potato drain and cool.
- Photo 4: While the potatoes cook, you can save time and prepare the eggs and all the ingredients. In a small pan over high heat, add the eggs and enough water to cover the eggs. Boil for 12 minutes. Let the eggs cool and then peel.
- Photo 5: The eggs. I like to cut them into small 1-inch pieces. The cut is just a preference.
- Photo 6: In a big bowl, add the mayonnaise, vinegar, and black pepper. Mix until all the vinegar has been incorporated.
- Photo 7: First, I like to mix the potatoes with the mayonnaise dressing so it is easier to mix.
- Photo 8: Then, just add the rest of the ingredients to the potato and mix well. Then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe Tips
- Potato texture. Most people, including myself, make the potato salad almost to a mashed potato consistency. But if you like a chunky potato salad, just cut the potato into bigger pieces.
- Dressing. The dressing is made with mayonnaise and vinegar, so is a more acidic taste. But you can also add acidity by adding some mustard. Or add sweetness by adding ¼ teaspoon of sugar.
Frequently Asked Question
The apples in a Puerto Rican potato salad are more of a preference. Some family recipes do have it while others don’t. Some people even add raisins to their potato salad.
More Side Recipes
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Puerto Rican Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds potatoes
- 8 cups water
- 2 tablespoons salt (for the water)
- 4 eggs
- ¼ red onion
- ¼ red bell pepper
- ¼ green bell pepper
- ½ cup cubbed ham
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
Instructions
- Rinse and peel the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into small cubes about ½ inch thick. Add the potatoes to a big pot with 4 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of salt over high heat (the water should be slightly salty). Cook for 25 minutes. Once cooked, drain and let them cool.
- While the potatoes cook, add the eggs to a small pot over high heat with enough water to cover them. Cook for 12 minutes. Once cooked, run the eggs under cold water and peel. Cut the eggs into small pieces.
- Cut the onion and peppers into small cubes. Add the potatoes, chopped vegetables, eggs, ham, mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, and pepper to a big bowl.
- Mix until everything is well combined. Serve right away or cover and refrigerate. Buen provecho!
Recipe Notes
- Potatoes- You can use your favorite type of potato. I used russet potatoes.
- Vegetables- The vegetables added are the most common ones used in a Puerto Rican potato salad. Some people like to add an apple to this, and even raisins. You can also add them if you like, and add or take away vegetables.
Nutrition
*The nutrition information is automatically calculated, so this is only an approximation.
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