Frances' Famous Liberian Potato Salad Recipe (The BEST!!!)

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This recipe for Creamy Liberian Potato Salad, shared by my podcast guests, Jah and Frances Fahnbulleh, really is the BEST potato salad recipe I have ever had (unanimously agreed upon by my entire family!!). Make sure you listen to their episode 177 From Liberia with Love while you make their perfectly seasoned potato salad!   

Whether you're a potato salad lover on a never-ending search for the perfect recipe, or someone (like me) who has never bought the hype over potato salad... 

You've found the best potato salad recipe ever, (my podcast guest) Frances's Famous Potato Salad. Beware making it however, soon it will become YOUR famous potato salad. 

Decades ago in Liberia, Frances's mom made this potato salad, which she now makes in massive quantities to support a school in one of the poorest sections of her home country. Hear her story here.

P.S. Making this for backyard barbecues this summer? Try any of these 100+ Summer Drinks from All Around the World

Key Tips for Success: Seasoning & Time

• Top Tip 1: The ongoing struggle with potato salad dressing is that even the most delicious creamy dressing doesn't give a potato any flavor. Frances's potato salad is generously seasoned with actual seasoning and the result was conclusive: We've been going about this potato salad dressing thing wrong all along for all these years. Seasoning is THE KEY: Salt your water, season your dressing. 
• Top Tip 2: While this IS a forgiving, unfussy recipe that you won't mess up, I can't truthfully say this is an "easy" recipe in this sense: it takes a lot of time. It takes time to cook the potatoes and eggs (and bacon), time to cool both, time to chop, time to mix, time to season. Start early and just do the steps as you have a moment. There's no rush; the potato salad keeps well at every stage of preparation.

Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

I *hate* peeling hard boiled eggs - or, at least, I DID until I found Ken's recipe on All Recipes. Here are the key takeaways

• Add white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar) AND salt to the water. Check out his recipe for the proportions and details.
• For best results, boil the water first, then place the eggs into the boiling water. Boil for 14 minutes.
• Cool eggs immediately: While cooking, prepare a small bowl of ice water. Leave in the freezer. When done cooking, spoon eggs into a strainer and run cold water over them until they stop steaming and are easy to handle. Place eggs in the prepared ice water and immediately refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Best Potatoes for Potato Salad

Type of potatoes and pros/cons

• Waxy potatoes like reds and yellows are more flavorful. However, they are also higher in moisture, which makes them quick to fall apart when cooking and mixing. You'll be adding in lots of flavor to the potatoes themselves, so you can use a starchy potato, which won't fall apart, and still have flavor in your potato salad.
• Starchy potatoes have a better texture for standing up to chopping and mixing. Your best bet is Russet potatoes, the king of all the starchy potatoes. You'll have to spend less time peeling with a choice of something nice and large, like a Russet. 
• (P.S. For a red potato salad that works because it's simple and requires very little mixing, take a peek at this Ukrainian Creamy Warm Red Potato Salad with Dill shared by my podcast guest, Christine Pittman.)

Real Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

• There are strong opinions on this topic. For me, there's only one option - real Mayonnaise (Hellman's or Duke's). I strongly dislike sweet potato salad and I find Miracle Whip to be sweet. But of course, in the end, it all comes down to personal preference
• Therefore, I was shocked when I read this recipe and noticed Frances casually suggests using either/or - or even mixing the two! I double checked with her during our interview, and she reiterated that she doesn't find either important.
• Again, if you're seasoning the potatoes and dressing properly, it is true that the mayo/Miracle Whip debate matters less. I still feel strongly about the mayo! 😉
• In a pinch, you could even sub in a little sour cream or unsweetened yogurt. 

Guest's Memories of Making Recipe

Frances says, "I can close my eyes and see my mom mixing this potato salad in what I thought was a big bowl. But now that I make 40 pounds of it at a time, I know what a big bowl is!" 

Listen to Jah and Frances's story of meeting in their home country of Liberia, immigrating to the U.S., and all the things they do now to support children in Liberia, including a 3 day cook-a-thon every December!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Cooked Potatoes: Cooled and chopped (Russet are best)
• Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
• Mixed vegetables (steamed or canned)
• Salted meat (cubed ham, spam, or cooked bacon)
• Hard-boiled eggs (some diced to mix in, others for decorating)
• Tomatoes (one diced, the other for decorating)
• Seasoning (such as Lawry's Season All)
• Black pepper
• Onions (diced) - red onion, green onions or scallions, sweet onion (Vidalia). Chop them nice and small so it won't be an overly strong flavor either way.
• Red and/or green bell peppers (diced)
• Salt (optional, to taste)
• Paprika (optional; smoked paprika can be used)

What Frances's Recipe Does NOT Include

Besides mayo/Miracle Whip, France's recipe includes NONE of the other standard dressing ingredients. I had my doubts, too. All I can say is - try it!

• NO Dijon Mustard, Seed Mustard, Yellow Mustard
• NO sweet pickles, dill pickles, or sweet pickle relish
• NO crisp celery or celery seed
• NO vinegar (German Potato Salad) - white, balsamic, apple cider, or red vinegar. No acid at all - but I personally add a few squeezes of lemon juice for a little freshness. 
• NO fresh herbs - but I think these could be OK. Fresh dill, fresh parsley both could work. I've used the parsley.

Instructions

Prepare Potatoes:

1. Wash and boil whole unpeeled potatoes until fork-tender.
2. Cool in cold water immediately, then set aside until room temperature. Peel and cube.

Prep Other Ingredients:

1. Cook bacon (if using). 
2. Chop onions, bell pepper, and tomato. You don't want large chunks, so sharpen your knife, take your time, and dice.

Mix Salad:

1. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika (if using). Add diced veggies and eggs.
2. Gently mix, then add mayonnaise or Miracle Whip and mix until combined.

Prepare for Serving:

1. Transfer to a serving dish, and garnish with sliced tomato and eggs.
2. Lightly sprinkle with paprika and refrigerate before serving.

Equipment

• Deep stockpot
• Extra large metal bowls
• Strainer
• Decorative serving platter

Food Safety and Storage

Mix and Chill Promptly

• After mixing the salad, refrigerate it immediately. Avoid leaving the salad at room temperature for more than two hours, as bacteria can grow rapidly between 40°F (4°C) and 140°F (60°C).

Store Properly

• Store the potato salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It can be kept safely for 3-4 days
• Keep in an airtight container for at most 48 hours.

More Potato Recipes

More Recipes from Guests with African Heritage

Listen to Frances and Jah's Episode: 177 With Love From Liberia

Frances and Jah share their love story with us, a great deal about the history of Liberia, including a civil war 30 years ago, that decimated the country, and they hope they find in supporting the Betty Memorial Institute in Western Liberia.  

You’ll hear the inspiring story of how this school was started and what it’s accomplished, as well as details about the 3 day Cook-a-thon that Frances and Jah commit to every December to raise money for the school. During these nights, Jah stays up manning the smoker, and Frances makes 40 pounds of this potato salad!

Recipe

Frances' Famous Liberian Potato Salad Recipe (The BEST!!!)

Unanimously voted the BEST potato salad ever: creamy, well-seasoned, not sweet, loaded with add-ins.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Course Sides

Cuisine African, American

Servings 12

Calories 482 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 lbs potatoes Russet are best (See Note 1)
• 2 cups mayonnaise or miracle whip
• 1 cup mixed vegetables steamed or from can
• 1 cup salted meat cubed ham, spam, or cooked bacon
• 6-8 eggs hard boiled (dice 3 to 6 to mix in salad and use the rest to decorate salad) (See Note 2 for BEST way to hard boil)
• 2 large tomatoes dice one and use the other to decorate salad
• 11/2 - 2 tablespoons Season All (I use Lawry's)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper-
• 1/4 cup onions diced
• 1/4 cup red and/or green bell peppers diced
• salt optional - season to taste
• paprika (Optional) (I love smoked paprika)

Instructions

 

Listen to Frances and Jah's Story

• Make sure you listen to Frances and Jah's episode of The Storied Recipe Podcast, 177 With Love from Liberia while you make her famous potato salad!!

Prepare Potatoes

• Wash potatoes to remove dirt from skin.
• In large pot, boil potatoes for approx. 30-40 minutes or until able to pierce through with fork. (Do not over cook!)
• Empty excess water and replace with cool tap water, allow to stand for 10 minutes or until cool enough to peel off skin.
• After peeling, cut potatoes into cubes.

Prep Other Ingredients

• While potatoes are cooling, cook bacon, if using. Dice onions, bell pepper, and tomato.

Mix Salad

• Sprinkle season all, black pepper, paprika (if using), and salt. Add diced onions, bell peppers, eggs and tomatoes.
• Mix until evenly distributed. Do not over stir (avoid mashing up potatoes). Add mixed vegetables and stir.
• Lastly add mayonnaise or miracle whip; mix until evenly distributed.

Prepare for Serving

• Empty salad into large bowl or platter. Garnish with sliced tomato and sliced eggs.
• Sprinkle lightly with paprika and refrigerate for 1 hr or more before serving.

Notes

Note 1: While Yukon Gold potatoes have the most flavor (followed by red potatoes), they mash too easily for use in this recipe. Russet Potatoes are my first choice. Add 2 tablespoons salt to the cooking water to add flavor to the potatoes.

Note 2: For easy-to-peel hard boiled eggs, follow this method from Ken on AllRecipes. We use same day fresh eggs from our own backyard (which are notorious for their sticky egg shells) and I have NO issues following this method. Add 1/4 cup of vinegar and 2 tablespoon of salt to water. Add eggs once boiling, cook for 14 minutes. It's also important to cool the eggs immediately. Place right away into strainer under running water until stop steaming. Plunge into cool ice water (I prepare my ice water while eggs are cooking). Refrigerate until totally cooled. Thank you, Ken!!!

Nutrition

Calories: 482kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 13gFat: 35gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 20gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 98mgSodium: 633mgPotassium: 638mgFiber: 6gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 1.184IUVitamin C: 31mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 2mg

Keyword Creamy Potato Salad, Loaded Potato Salad, Old Fashioned Potato Salad, Potato Salad

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