Date Published: Dec 25th, 2021 | Last Updated: Dec 25th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: sides, salads, easy, appetizers, vegetarian
Serves: 6-8 (one large bowl) | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 1 hour

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Merry Christmas everyone! Wherever you are, I hope you’re filled with good food for the holidays. 😊

What is bramborový salát?

Bramborový salát is a traditional Czech potato salad. Toby’s mom first made it about a year ago (it actually may have been for Christmas, exactly a year ago) and it was SO GOOD. I usually find most potato salads pretty boring and they all taste the same, but this one was different. It’s made with potatoes, carrots, onions, eggs, and pickles. Yes, pickles! It sounded weird to me at first, but trust me it totally works. The salad dressing has the addition of mustard which gives it an extra kick that pairs fantastically with the rest of the salad. Bramborový salát is also often made with the addition of parsley root (kind of like a cross between carrot and celery) but I’ve decided to skip it in this recipe because A) its difficult to find in Australia, B) I’m not a huge fan of celery anyway, and C) there’s already so much chopping involved and I cbs doing more 😜. Besides, when I made this salad for the first time, Toby said it tasted just like his mom’s and his grandma’s (who are Czech, btw) and ate 4 servings in one sitting, so I’d say the parsley root wasn’t missed 😂. If you want to make it more traditional, feel free to add it in the same amount as the carrots in the recipe. If you can’t find parsley root, Toby’s mom said you can replace it with either a celeriac or parsnip.

This recipe is technically easy, but labour-intensive (like most potato salads). The recipe instructions seem long, but it’s pretty much just describing how to boil the vegetables. It also takes some time due to waiting around for the vegetables to boil, so I’d recommend doing this on a lazy afternoon while playing some Netflix in the background. All of the work is in the chopping of the potatoes, carrots, onion, pickles, and egg. The rest is just boiling and mixing together. This potato salad is best served chilled overnight to allow the flavours to marinate through (its definitely worth the wait). I love recipes that are better made the day before because it frees up plenty of time for me during the day of a party and all I have to do is scoop it into a bowl to serve. 😊

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

• 1kg (~4-5 large) white potatoes, diced to 2cm pieces (peeled or unpeeled)
• 500g (~3-4 large) carrots, diced to 2cm pieces
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced to 0.5cm pieces
• 2.5 cups dill pickles, diced to 1cm pieces
• 5 eggs
• Dressing:
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise (good quality)
  • 1/4 cup pickle juice
  • 2 Tbsps dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

*Note: if you have the space, you can boil the potatoes, carrots, and eggs all at the same time in separate pots to save time, or if you prefer to do less clean-up, you can do them one after another.

Boil the Potatoes: In a large pot on HIGH heat, add in the diced potatoes and fill the pot with hot water until all the potatoes are submerged. Once the water boils, turn the heat down to MED and keep to a rolling simmer until the potatoes are soft enough to cut easily with a fork (~30mins). Strain and set aside to cool (or if you’re impatient, run it under cold water). Do not over boil the potatoes or else they will be too mushy.

Boil the Carrots: While the potatoes are boiling, in a medium pot on HIGH heat, add in the diced carrots and fill the pot with hot water until all the carrots are submerged. Once the water boils, turn the heat down to MED and keep to a rolling simmer until the carrots are soft enough to cut easily with a fork (~20mins). Strain and set aside to cool (or if you’re impatient, run it under cold water).

Hard boil the Eggs: Gently place the eggs in a medium sized pot and fill the pot with cold water until it is 2cm above the eggs. Turn the heat on HIGH. Once the water comes to a hard rapid boil, turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Let it sit for 12 minutes then submerge the eggs in cold water. Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel the shells and dice the eggs into 1cm cubes.

Make the Dressing: Add all the ingredients of the dressing to a bowl and whisk together until combined: mayonnaise, pickle juice, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.

Assemble the salad: In a large bowl, add together the cooked potatoes, cooked carrots, hard boiled eggs, diced raw onion, and diced pickles. Mix in HALF the amount of dressing and taste. Add in more dressing to taste.

The amount of dressing required will depend on personal taste and also how big or small you cut up your potatoes and carrots. I usually find I need less dressing if I cut up the veggies smaller and vice versa. We also like our potato salad mayo-y and will usually use up most of the dressing.

Place the salad in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for at least an hour before serving, or best if chilled overnight. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe: