The Czechs are champions at making potato salad. Believe me, the Czech one tastes the best of all! We call our potato salad “bramborový salát” in the Czech Republic, and you’ll find it most often on the table as a salad for Christmas Eve dinner served with fried carp or schnitzel.
➜ What is Czech potato salad?
Czech classic potato salad is made of boiled potatoes, eggs, root vegetables, dill pickles, and mayonnaise. In addition to salt and pepper, pickle juice and yellow mustard are mixed into the salad.
Potato salad is traditionally served as a side dish with fried carp at Christmas Eve dinner. Not only at Christmas but also on other festive occasions, potato salad appears on the holiday menu.
If you have ever tasted the famous Czech open-faced sandwiches, then you know that potato salad can be spread on white bread and forms the basis of the “obložený chlebíček” sandwich.
➜ Ingredients
To make Czech potato salad, you will need:
- Potatoes; use all-purpose or waxy gold/yellow potatoes that hold together and don't fall apart when cooked. Cook potatoes with the skin on until done. It takes anything between 15-20 minutes; check them for doneness with a fork. If potatoes are still too hard, cook them for a little bit longer. Cook the potatoes preferably the day before to give them time to cool completely. The potatoes are only cut into the salad when thoroughly cold.
- Eggs; hard-boiled, peeled
- Dill pickles; in the US, see if you have a German or Polish deli nearby. There you have a chance to find pickles that taste similar to Czech ones (e.g., German gherkins are good). In addition to the pickles, we will want to season the salad with a bit of pickle juice. Also, check my recipe on how to make homemade Czech dill pickles!
- Onion; finely chopped
- Carrot; fresh carrot, peel and boil them briefly in boiling water, salted and seasoned with a tablespoon of vinegar. After cooking, immediately cool the carrots in cold water.
- Green peas; frozen. Let them thaw simply.
- Mayonnaise; plain, I used Hellmann's mayonnaise
- Ground black pepper and salt
- Yellow mustard; Czech, German or Polish style
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
In the Czech Republic, there are many variations of potato salad. Practically every homemaker has their own recipe. The one I am presenting here is tested in our family, contains basic ingredients, and is simple.
➜ Instructions with photos
STEP 1: Boil the potatoes in their skins and let them cool down completely, ideally overnight. Once cooled, peel them.
STEP 2: Boil eggs for 8 minutes, let them cool, and peel them. Allow the frozen peas to thaw.
STEP 3: Clean the carrots and cut them into 1-2 equal-sized pieces. Cook them in boiling water with a bit of salt and vinegar for about 5 minutes, then cool them quickly with cold water. The vegetables will be soft but not mushy.
STEP 4: Cut the potatoes, eggs, pickles, and carrots into cubes about ⅓ inch (0.8 cm) in size. Peel and finely chop the onion.
STEP 5: Put everything in a large bowl. Add mayonnaise, pickle juice, and yellow mustard. Season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
MY TIP: Let the potato salad sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. Or make it a day ahead. It’s always better the next day when all the flavors have a chance to blend!
Interested in Czech cuisine? Discover more authentic Czech food!
➜ Potato salad presentation
Potato salad is a typical side dish in Czech cuisine, usually served alongside fried breaded meat. Garnish the salad on the plate with a sprig of green parsley as a final touch.
➜ Storage
Store the potato salad covered in the fridge and eat it up within three days. The salad is not suitable for freezing, as the low temperatures will change its texture; it would be mushy if thawed.
➜ Cook’s tips
- For the potato salad, choose potatoes of roughly the same size to be cooked evenly.
- Some Czech recipes call for adding celery or parsley root to the salad. If you have a chance to get these root veggies, boil them briefly, cut them into small cubes, and add some to the salad. Taste it to see how its taste changes.
➜ One helpful trick
When preparing potato salad, the Czechs often use a special slicer in the shape of a steel wheel to cut potatoes and soft vegetables. If you have the chance to buy one, don't hesitate to do so.
Working with this slicer will make your work very easy. It only costs a few bucks, and if cooking is your hobby, it's well worth the investment.
➜ Pronunciation
Curious how Czechs pronounce "bramborový salát"? I recorded a short audio clip to give you an idea! I'm a native speaker, so I guarantee an authentic Czech voice.
More Czech salads:
- Vlasský salat – ideal as a snack salad
- Deli salad with mayo – pochoutkovy salat
Tried this recipe?
Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Follow me on Facebook and Pinterest. Subscribe to my newsletter. Send me any question about Czech cuisine to my e-mail. I love hearing your feedback!
Czech Potato Salad – Bramborový salát
Ingredients
- 2 pounds potatoes (900 g)
- 2 carrots mid-size
- 1 onion smaller
- ¾ cup green peas frozen
- 5 dill pickles smaller
- 2 Tablespoons pickle juice
- 5 eggs hard-boiled
- 1 cup mayonnaise (230 g)
- 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 and ½ teaspoon salt the exact amount of salt will depend on the type of mayonnaise used
- ½ teaspoon black pepper ground
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes in their skins and let them cool down completely, ideally overnight. Once cooled, peel them.
- Boil eggs for 8 minutes, let them cool, and peel them.
- Allow the frozen peas to thaw.
- Clean the carrots and cut them into 1-2 equal-sized pieces. Cook them in boiling water with a bit of salt and vinegar for about 5 minutes, then cool them quickly with cold water. The vegetables will be soft but not mushy.
- Cut the potatoes, eggs, pickles, and carrots into cubes about ⅓ inch (0.8 cm) in size. Peel and finely chop the onion.
- Put everything in a large bowl. Add mayonnaise, pickle juice, and yellow mustard. Season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
Notes
- Makes 6 portions as a side dish.
- Let the potato salad sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.
- SERVING: Potato salad is a typical side dish in Czech cuisine, usually served alongside fried breaded meat. Garnish the salad on the plate with a sprig of green parsley as a final touch.
- STORAGE: Store the potato salad covered in the fridge and eat it up within three days. The salad is not suitable for freezing, as the low temperatures will change its texture; it would be mushy if thawed.
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
pz
This salad is excellent! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Petra Kupská
I thank you for your comment! This type of potato salad is one of the most festive dishes in the Czech Republic. Every time bramborový salát is served, I know it's a special day 🙂
Kelsey
I have been trying to tap into my heritage more, my maternal grandmother was 100% Czech (Bohemian) and I figured the easiest way to start would be with food! This is the best potato salad I’ve ever had, and it’s simple to make. I paired it with schnitzel for Christmas and I’m making it again this weekend for a corned beef dinner. Thanks for sharing!
Petra Kupská
Kelsey, thank you for your kind words and nice feedback! You are right; food is a perfect way to start discovering your Czech heritage. Food used to be more than just something to eat in the Czech Republic; it was a way for families to gather around the table and form strong bonds. Best wishes from Bohemia!
kristena
I do mine like this, minus the root vegetables. I will try this!
Petra Kupská
Try it, and I'd love your feedback on how the potato salad tasted! Czechs use root vegetables quite a lot in cooking; vegetables like carrots or parsley are common and affordable in the shops here in the Czech Republic.
Crystal S.
I was so happy to find your blog today. In 2007-2008, I lived in Sokolov for one year teaching English. Enjoying the local food was one of my favorite parts of living in your beautiful country. I loved bramborový salát, the rohliky sandwiches I would buy for lunch at my school, smažený sýr, and the exquisite Christmas cookies prepared by my friends' families. I have looked at many Czech recipes over the years, but always had trouble finding websites or books that seemed authentic. Your recipes remind me so much of my time in Czechia that I feel homesick! Thank you for starting to publish this wonderful resource. I can't wait to try some.
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Crystal, thanks for the lovely message and for sharing your memories of the Czech Republic! I'm glad you enjoyed your time here. My kids also have native English speakers at school – both from the UK and the U.S. They are primarily young people and rotate after a year. Our kids love them; these teachers constantly enrich them with traditions from their country and tell them how life is elsewhere. I believe Czech cuisine is exciting, and thank you for confirming that. The dishes you listed are typical of Czech food. Moreover, you reminded me that we would soon start baking Christmas cookies, which Czech women make a month before Christmas 🙂 Sending warm greetings from Bohemia, Petra
Karen
Hello,
I need to say a few things here. Where I live, in Canada, almost all the prepared ingredients plus the potatoes are different in taste. Call me a food snob, it's ok.
Pickles - big deal for me. Local pickles (both in Canada and the US) are salty and sour. Quite a different taste. Unless one has the luck to have a German or a Polish deli nearby, or makes their own, it is the salty/sour ones available only. Some supermarket chains can carry Polish of German pickles in their international food sections. (The sweet sliced pickles also sold here are not a substitute).
Mayonnaise. Here, salty. Just salty. Nothing like the sweet and sour creamy thing I was used to. I get mine from a Polish deli, imported from Poland (but just one kind, I find the others there salty as well).
Yellow mustard - again, salty and sour.
Potatoes - unless the variety "yukon gold" is commercially available in local stores, it's the white starchy things.
Parsley root? Good luck! I can't even get it here in regional farmer's markets.
Back home (CR) I learned to make the salad with some twists, for example, added peas, and sometimes celeriac (but no onions - my aunt used onions in hers). The vegetables would be cooked in water with the addition of vinegar or pickle brine to make them pleasantly 'navinulé' (acidulated).
The mayonnaise would be mixed with yogurt (my mother's attempt to reduce the calories...) and often, lemon juice would be added for extra zinginess.
Always better the next day!
Also, some people would cut the veggies really fine, about a cubic centimetre size for the potatoes (there exists the round frame with the wire mesh for pressing the potatoes through).
I know, it's a first world problem, but it is interesting how a few simple ingredients with the same name differ from region to region, in this case across the Atlantic, and how our taste buds are set in the initial impression of the food. There is no potato salad like mom's ;-)!
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Karen,
First of all, my sincere thanks for your comment. Since I live in the Czech Republic, I don't know in detail the differences between Czech ingredients and those available in the USA, Canada, or other countries. I know that there are nuances, and I am grateful that you point them out from the side of someone who lives on the other side of the "pond" 🙂
In the year that I have been running this blog with Czech recipes, I have already gotten some feedback from my readers. They write to me with tips about flour or butter, for example. I have a big task ahead of me in the future: to incorporate this knowledge better into recipes so that those who cannot buy Czech ingredients can try them out.
Specifically, with potato salad, the Czechs are very inventive and use various ingredients. In our house, we put onions in the salad, and my parents used to add Gotha salami, a Czech specialty. My parents-in-law don't put mayonnaise in their salad at all, but vegetable oil does.
One thing I absolutely agree with: potato salad needs a few hours of rest after preparation, so it is often made the day before.
Thanks again for your helpful suggestions; I appreciate them.
I send greetings from Bohemia and have a wonderful Christmas! ????
Mayali
Ahoj z Kanady! Many years ago I lived for several months with a Czech family just outside of Prague, and was thrilled to find your blog to help me recreate many of those typical homecooked meals I enjoyed so much! Thankfully, where I live in Canada, I have access to many of the products necessary for your lovely recipes. A question for you about what you call parsley root... Would a parsnip (pastinák) be a good choice for this? It has a stronger taste than celeriac, but appears more like what you have in your photo. Děkuji moc 🙂
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Mayali, thank you for your lovely comment, and sorry for my late reply; I was on holiday with my family and not on the computer. About parsley root. I know it is sometimes a problem to get this root vegetable abroad in a regular store. I've read discussions of people living in the US and they said they sometimes substitute parsley for parsnip. To be honest, I've never tried it because parsley root is very common in the Czech Republic. In my opinion, nothing special will happen if you simply omit the parsley in the recipe. Have a wonderful summer!
Michele
Parsley root is called parsnip in Australia. Available in every supermarket.
William Milan Uhlarik
Ms. Michelle, I am a first generation American whose family is from Czechoslovakia. Parsnips and parsley roots are different in taste and size even though they look similar. In American markets parsnips are very commonplace; however, parsley roots are not usually not sold and hard to find unless one happens to live in a city with a neighborhood of large concentration recent immigrants from a Slavic country like the Czech or Slovak Republics, Poland, Ukraine, etc. Here in America, if I were to go to the produce section of a grocery store and ask for parsley roots, I would get a puzzled look, or the clerk might show me a bunch of parsnips not understanding they are not the same. When teaching friends in the US how to cook our native dishes that require parsley roots, I have to be especially careful to explain and show them they are totally different than parsnips which if used in error would ruin the recipe.
Dusan
A great recipe!!!!....I just add the boiled celery, and parsley root cubes, little apple cubes, and the thick cut Bologna salami cut into thick squares (for carnivores.:-))))...) ...also add a little bit juice from pickles. This is my mom's potato salad and we (here in LA) blind taste it against a winner of the Czech Republic Championship in making potato salad that is organized in Mratin (a little town close to Prague)...So far mom's recipe has done very well. (Note.....apple cubes should be treated with a little bit of lemon juice to preserve their fresh color)...My potato salad "aging" is minimum one day in the fridge...so much better that way!
William Milan Uhlarik
Pani Kupska, Vesele Vianoce a Stastny Novy Rok! I enjoyed reading your delicious Potato Salad Recipe which is very similar to how my mother and grandmother made it for our celebration of the traditional Slovenská Vigília, however, it was moister and creamier because they used a little more mayo and red potatoes for better texture. But I understand and appreciate the regional differences of food preparation of our shared heritage. In your picture of the plate of potato salad, I was especially interested in the type of sausage on the plate. It looks like what we would call smotanová klobása. Is that what it is, and do you have a recipe on how to make it because it is absolutely delicious, and I would love to make it. When I was younger and living in our old neighborhood in Chicago, we had numerous Czechoslovak born and raised butchers who made it. Unfortunately, they died years ago and the neighborhood where we grew up in and a lot like the shops, cafes, restaurants, butchers, bakers one would see in Bratislava or Praha is now a very distant memory and no more. Thanks for all you do to help us here in the US keep our cultural traditions and heritage alive and not forget our past. Boh ti žehnaj!