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Potato Salad

A potato salad with boiled eggs, onions, corn, basil, lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, steak sauce, and seasonings.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Basil and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,823 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Potato Salad

Time45–55 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the potatoes

  1. Place potatoes mixed with mustard and HP steak sauce along with 2 tablespoons of salt in a large pot of water.

  2. Bring the water to a boil and cook for 45–55 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife.

  3. Drain the potatoes in a colander.

  4. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in quarters, or smaller, depending on their size.

Prepare the eggs and onion

  1. Boil the eggs in water for about 30 minutes until hard‑boiled.

  2. Drain water and let cold water run over the eggs before peeling the shell.

  3. Once shells are peeled, dice the eggs and place in a large bowl.

  4. Sauté some diced onions until light golden brown.

  5. Add the onions to the bowl with eggs.

Assemble and dress

  1. Place the potatoes in the bowl with the eggs.

  2. Add the corn along with some salt, pepper and pasta seasoning to the potato and egg mixture.

  3. Set aside.

  4. In a small bowl, add the lemon juice while whisking in olive oil slowly.

  5. Add the dressing to the potatoes, mix all ingredients.

  6. Chill for 3 hours, cover with extra HP sauce, enjoy.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

971Calories
50 gProtein
37 gFat
113 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Sweet Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Saucenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Basil + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,823 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Basil + olivetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,063 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Pepper + basiltop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Starch base that holds its shape when waxy and gives the salad its body.
Eggs
Add richness and a soft, creamy texture to the salad.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the oil.
Olive oil
Provides fat that carries flavour and gives the dressing its body.
Red onion
Adds sharp aroma and savoury bite; sautéing mellows its flavour.

The step that matters

Cook the potatoes until just tender. Potatoes cooked past tender break down and turn mushy, while undercooked ones stay hard and resist seasoning. Testing with a knife at the first sign of tenderness keeps pieces intact.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, pepper, egg, basil, corn, lemon, olive):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, pepper, egg, basil, corn, lemon, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

More potato salad recipes

German 31Hot 19Dressing 17Anchovy 15French 10American 9 See all 504 →

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