Potato Salad with Smoked Mackerel

Potato Salad with Smoked Mackerel takes a classic side dish and makes it extra special.

Creamy, smoky and with a hint of horseradish, hard-boiled eggs add to the interest along with flakes of mackerel.

Pair with a green salad to enjoy as a main meal or eat as one of several small dishes. Also great for picnics and lunchboxes.

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I’ve been making potato salads for more years than I care to remember.

At its simplest, it’s just cooked potatoes in a creamy dressing, served chilled. Great as a side to steaks, fish, barbecues or one of a series of dishes at get togethers.

But Potato Salad with Smoked Mackerel is so much more than a side dish.

With flakes of tender smoked mackerel fillet, chunks of hard-boiled egg, plus herbs, red onion, gherkins, and tangy horseradish, this is a hearty salad that’s almost a complete meal.

POTATO SALAD WITH SMOKED MACKEREL

CREAMY BUT LIGHT DRESSING

All too often I find that the dressing on a potato salad lets it down. Sometimes disappointingly thin and watery, others are heavy on the mayonnaise and cloyingly fatty.

But the basis of all the potato salads I’ve made in recent years is a creamy but still light dressing. This is achieved by combining equal parts mayo and natural yogurt.

From there, you can flavour it in all sorts of ways to create different creamily dressed salads. And not just potato salads: take a look at my Tangy Vegetable & Apple Coleslaw where the basic dressing includes cider vinegar.

For my Potato Salad with Smoked Mackerel the dressing has a classic accompaniment to smoked fish: horseradish. I use horseradish sauce from a jar as it’s convenient and widely available.

Also in there is garlic plus finely chopped gherkin which cuts through the richness.

MIXING THE SALAD

Once you’ve prepped the ingredients (boiled some new potatoes until just tender, hard-boiled two eggs, and made the dressing) all that’s left to do then is mix up the salad. I do this in two stages.

First off, I thoroughly toss the still-warm potatoes and red onion with the dressing. I also add fresh herbs like parsley, dill, or chives.

Because the egg and mackerel flakes are a little more delicate, I gently fold these in after the first, more vigorous, mixing.

This means they’re more likely to stay in bite-size pieces: much nicer than letting them get mushed up, I think.

At this point you should taste the salad to see if it needs any salt. Apart from personal preference, this will depend on how salty your mackerel is. Some jarred mayonnaise can also be quite salty.

The potato salad should then be covered and put in the fridge to chill. A minimum of thirty minutes will meld the flavours and allow the potatoes, eggs, and mackerel to soak up a little of the creamy dressing.

SERVING POTATO SALAD WITH SMOKED MACKEREL

With so much going on in the salad, if you want to have it as a main course all it really needs is a green salad to go with it.

But I think the rich flavours mean this potato salad also works as one of a series of smaller plates.

Some dishes I think it would go well with include:

Roasted Radishes

Grilled Spring Onions with Romesco Sauce

Green Bean Salad

Vegetable Slaw with Orange, Honey & Mustard Dressing.

Because Potato Salad with Smoked Mackerel can be made up to a day in advance, it’s also great for picnics and lunch boxes.

To ring the changes, besides using different herbs, you could also replace the smoked mackerel with smoked salmon or even tuna. I’ve also made the same salad with leftover grilled fresh mackerel and that was excellent too.

If you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to know what you thought.

Leave a comment and don’t forget to give the recipe a star rating.

5 from 3 votes

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Potato Salad with Smoked Mackerel

A classic side dish made extra special. Creamy, smoky and with a hint of horseradish. Pair with a green salad for a main course or eat as one of a series of small dishes. Great for picnics or lunchboxes too.

Course Salad, Fish

Cuisine European

Keyword picnic, lunchbox

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Chill time (minimum) 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 4 as a side dish

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 600 g potatoes new or salad potatoes work best
• salt to taste
• 2 large eggs
• 3 rounded tbsp mayonnaise
• 3 rounded tbsp natural yogurt
• 1 heaped tsp horseradish sauce
• 2 medium gherkins finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic finely chopped
• black pepper to taste
• 1 small red onion finely chopped or sliced
• 1 tbsp parsley, chives or dill finely chopped
• 2 smoked mackerel fillets skin and bones removed, flesh flaked

Instructions

1. Cook the potatoes

   Peel or scrub the potatoes, cutting any large ones in half.

   Put in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover plus 2 tsp of salt.

   Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer.

   Cook until the potatoes are just tender (15-20 min) then drain in a colander and set aside.

2. Boil the eggs (do this while the potatoes are cooking)

   Put the eggs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water.

   Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer.

   Cook the eggs for 8 minutes then drain and quickly cool under running water.

   Cover with cold water until completely cold, then shell and cut into quarters or eighths.

3. Make the dressing

   In a bowl or jug, stir together the mayonnaise, yogurt and horseradish sauce.

   Stir in the chopped gherkins and garlic plus some black pepper.

4. Mix the salad

   Cut the cooked potatoes into bite-sized pieces and put in a serving bowl.

   Add the red onion to the bowl along with most of the herbs (same some for a garnish if liked).

   Pour over the dressing and mix everything together well.

   Add the chopped eggs and flaked mackerel to the bowl and carefully fold them through the potatoes, trying not to break them up too much.

   Taste and add some salt if needed and/or more black pepper.

   Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving with any reserved herbs scattered over the top.

5. Can be made up to a day in advance. Eat within 2 days.

Like this recipe? Try Tuna & Egg Salad