This soft, creamy, and crunchy Korean Potato Salad is easy to make with a few easy-to-find ingredients. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
This creamy mayonnaise-based potato salad (gamja salad, 감자샐러드) is the potato salad I grew up with! You’ve probably eaten a similar style of potato salad from a number of side dishes at Korean restaurants. This recipe is my mom’s potato salad with my little modifications.
While there are many variations of potato salad, the classic version, also known as Yetnal (옛날, old style) gamja salad, is made from boiled mashed potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, crunchy vegetables like cucumbers and carrots, and sometimes fresh and/or Dried fruits like apple and raisins.
The texture of the potato is soft and smooth, and the salad gets nice textural contrasts from the other veggies. My mom’s potato salad wasn’t overloaded with many other ingredients. She took a small amount of each ingredient and sliced everything small and thin to go well with the soft mashed potatoes.
This type of potato salad is usually served as a side dish. Placed on a soft roll or between slices of bread, it is also enjoyed as a sandwich. I love eating the leftovers as breakfast sandwiches. However, when I’m making potato salad just for sandwiches, I add a lot more crunchy veggies, including chopped kale and onions. It’s a slightly different recipe that I hope to share soon.
Korean Potato Salad is very easy to make and this recipe is very flexible. Feel free to use more or less of the ingredients than the recipe calls for, or add additional ingredients. Just adjust the amounts of seasoning ingredients to taste.
Ingredients for Korean Potato Salad
- potatoes: Red potatoes (aka baked potatoes) are great for this type of potato salad. The starchy potatoes give a nice soft texture. I also like Yukon golden potatoes, which have a buttery flavor and creamy texture.
- Hard boiled eggs: The eggs are classic for this salad, but you can omit them if you like.
- cucumber: This gives the salad a nice crunch, color and fresh taste.
- carrot: This also gives the salad a nice crunch, color and fresh taste.
- mayonnaise: Use your favorite mayonnaise. The sweetness and sourness of mayonnaise vary greatly depending on the brand. That’s okay because you can adjust it to your taste by adding sugar and/or vinegar/lemon juice.
- Optional ingredients for the filling: Other common ingredients are apple (thin, small slices), raisins (or dried cranberries), and onions (finely chopped). Some people also use ham (finely chopped), corn, etc.
- Optional flavor ingredients: Although not classic for this style of Korean potato salad, you can use sour cream or plain yogurt to swap out some of the mayonnaise if you like. A little mustard or Dijon mustard is good too.
How to make Korean Potato Salad
Peel the potatoes and cut into pieces of about 1.5 cm. Try to cut them to the same size for even cooking. Drain and puree until smooth. I like leaving a few pieces for a mix of texture.
Place the egg(s) in a small saucepan with cold water covering the egg(s). Bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover the eggs and let them cook in hot water for 12-13 minutes. After cooking, remove the eggs and place them in cold water to cool for about 10 minutes before peeling. Gently tap the egg on the countertop to crack all sides. Try to get under the foil/membrane and start peeling. It’s easier if you peel them in water or under running water.
Halve the cucumber and carrot lengthwise and thinly slice. Lightly sprinkle the cucumber with salt and set aside for a few minutes to remove moisture. Salt isn’t necessary since the carrot doesn’t hold as much moisture as the cucumber.
Roughly chop the egg(s), leaving the yolk if using for optional garnish.
Mix everything except the egg and mix with the seasoning ingredients. Taste and add more mayonnaise, salt and/or sugar if you like. I add the egg at the end to not break up too much.
You can serve this potato salad at room temperature or chilled. It keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
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Korean Potato Salad
garnish
Servings: 6
Print recipe
ingredients
Other optional ingredients (see note)
instructions
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Peel and cut the potatoes into equal sized pieces (1 to 1.5 inch chunks).
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Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the potatoes and continue cooking until easily pierced with a fork or chopstick.
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Drain the potatoes and mash in a mixing bowl with a fork until smooth. If you want, leave a few small pieces. put it aside
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Place the egg(s) in a small saucepan with cold water covering the egg(s). Bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover the eggs and let them cook in hot water for 12-13 minutes. Remove the eggs and place them in cold water for about 10 minutes before peeling.
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Halve the cucumber lengthwise and thinly slice. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients, then press firmly to remove moisture.
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Halve the carrot lengthwise and cut into thin slices. Salt isn’t necessary since the carrot doesn’t hold as much moisture as the cucumber.
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Roughly chop the egg(s), leaving the yolk if using for optional garnish. See optional set below.
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In the bowl with the mashed potatoes, add the cucumber, carrot, mayonnaise (start with 5 tablespoons), salt (start with 1 teaspoon), optional sugar, and lemon juice (or vinegar). Mix everything well. Taste and add more mayonnaise, salt and/or sugar if you like.
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Add the chopped egg and gently toss to distribute the egg chunks evenly.
Optional egg yolk garnish
Remarks
Optional flavor ingredients: Although not classic for this style of Korean potato salad, you can use sour cream or plain yogurt to swap out some of the mayonnaise if you like. A little mustard or Dijon mustard is good too.