Skip to main content
Main

Calorie-trimmed Potato Salad

A potato salad made with tofu dressing, celery, red bell pepper, eggs, scallions, pickles, and milk or pickle juice.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Potato and tofu work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 62 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

The recipe

Time20 to 25 minutes

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, soy (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Cook the potatoes

  1. In a 4-quart Dutch oven place potatoes and enough lightly salted water to cover.

  2. Bring to boiling; reduce heat.

  3. Simmer, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are just tender.

  4. Drain well; cool slightly.

  5. Peel and cube the potatoes.

Make the dressing

  1. Meanwhile, for dressing, in a food processor or blender combine tofu, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, and the 1 teaspoon salt.

  2. Process or blend until smooth.

  3. With the processor or blender running, add oil in a thin, steady stream.

  4. When necessary, stop processor or blender and scrape down sides.

  5. Set aside.

Assemble and chill

  1. In a very large bowl combine cubed potatoes, celery, red bell pepper, eggs, green onions, and pickles.

  2. Add dressing, tossing lightly to coat.

  3. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

  4. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours.

  5. Before serving, add milk or pickle juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, to reach desired consistency.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Potato + tofutop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together62 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Lemon + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together27,039 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Lemon + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,467 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Mustard + celerytop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4,160 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Garlic + olivetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together23,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Provide the starchy base that holds the salad together while staying tender.
Soft silken-style tofu
Blends into a creamy, smooth dressing that adds body without heavy mayonnaise.
Eggs
Add richness and a soft, firm texture when cooked and folded through the salad.
Olive oil
Emulsifies into the tofu base, adding fat and a silky mouthfeel to the dressing.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances its richness.
Mustard
Adds sharp flavour and helps the dressing hold together smoothly.

The step that matters

Adding the oil slowly to the blended tofu. Pouring the oil in a thin, steady stream while the blender runs lets it emulsify into the tofu base. Adding it all at once can leave the dressing greasy or separated.

Flavor stand-ins for the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, tofu, lemon, garlic, olive, celery, pepper):

  1. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  2. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  3. Spinachbetter flavor fit
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, tofu, lemon, garlic, olive, celery, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Illustration of Potato CroquettesIllustrationPotato Croquettes255 recipesIllustration of Lemon SauceIllustrationLemon Sauce236 recipesIllustration of Cream of Celery SoupIllustrationCream of Celery Soup113 recipesIllustration of Potato RollsIllustrationPotato Rolls78 recipes