Kartoffelsalat (roughly “ka-TOFF-el-sa-lat”) is the Danish cold potato salad: boiled potatoes, cooled completely, then folded into a dressing of crème fraîche, a little mayonnaise, mustard, a pinch of sugar and plenty of chives. It takes about 30 minutes plus cooling time and serves four as a side.
What sets the Danish version apart is how little mayonnaise it uses. Crème fraîche carries the dressing and two spoonfuls of mayonnaise only round it out, and there are no eggs, celery or pickle relish. It is eaten with frikadeller, sausages and grilled meat, mostly in summer.
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Recipe
Kartoffelsalat (Danish Potato Salad)
Ingredients
Method
- Scrub the potatoes, or peel them if the skins are thick. Put them in a pot of cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until a knife slides into the largest one without resistance. Stop before they start to split.
- Drain the potatoes and leave them to cool completely. Cut the cold potatoes into slices or bite-sized pieces.
- In a large bowl, whisk the crème fraîche with the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, a good pinch of salt and some pepper. Add lemon juice if using. Taste and adjust: the dressing should be clearly seasoned, because the potatoes will mute it.
- Snip the chives and grate or finely chop the shallot, if using. Stir the shallot and most of the chives into the dressing, keeping a little back for the top.
- Fold the cold potatoes gently into the dressing until every piece is coated. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes, taste again, and scatter the rest of the chives over before serving.
What is kartoffelsalat?
Kartoffelsalat is Danish for potato salad, and in Denmark the word on its own usually means the cold, creamy kind, sometimes called kold kartoffelsalat to set it apart from warm versions. Danish recipe sites Valdemarsro, Madens Verden and Arla all build it on the same frame: cold boiled potatoes, a crème fraîche dressing seasoned with mustard, and chives.
It is a side dish, not a meal. Danish recipes pair it with frikadeller, sausages, chops, chicken and whatever comes off the grill.
How Danish potato salad differs from other potato salads
The dressing is the difference. Danish kartoffelsalat uses mostly crème fraîche, with 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise against 2 dl of crème fraîche. It has no hard-boiled egg, celery or relish, and the sugar is a single teaspoon, there to balance the mustard rather than to sweeten.
The name causes some confusion. A few American family recipes published as “Danish potato salad”, such as the one on Food.com, use a cooked vinegar-and-egg dressing with sweet pickle relish. That is a different dish from what a Danish recipe site means by kartoffelsalat. Denmark also has warm potato salads, including an old-fashioned sweet-and-sour one and a vinaigrette version; they are covered under variations below.
Kartoffelsalat, step by step
Scrub the potatoes, or peel them if the skins are thick. Put them in a pot of cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until a knife slides into the largest one without resistance. Stop before they start to split.- Drain the potatoes and leave them to cool completely. Cut the cold potatoes into slices or bite-sized pieces.
- In a large bowl, whisk the crème fraîche with the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, a good pinch of salt and some pepper. Add lemon juice if using. Taste and adjust: the dressing should be clearly seasoned, because the potatoes will mute it.
- Snip the chives and grate or finely chop the shallot, if using. Stir the shallot and most of the chives into the dressing, keeping a little back for the top.
- Fold the cold potatoes gently into the dressing until every piece is coated. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes, taste again, and scatter the rest of the chives over before serving.
Which potatoes to use
Use small, waxy potatoes, and new potatoes when they are in season. Arla specifies small, firm boiled potatoes and Madens Verden recommends new potatoes in summer. The point is potatoes that turn tender without falling apart, so they keep their shape when sliced and folded.
The potatoes must be completely cold before they meet the dressing. Madens Verden names this, with not overcooking them, as what matters most. It boils its potatoes for about 7 minutes and then leaves them in the hot water for another 7, which cooks them through without splitting the skins. Leftover boiled potatoes from the day before work well, as Scandinavian Simple Eating points out.
The dressing, and the older ymer version
The dressing is crème fraîche first, mayonnaise second. This recipe uses 2 dl (200 ml) of crème fraîche to 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, as Valdemarsro does; Tales of Belle uses a little more crème fraîche, 250 g, with the same 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise. Danish crème fraîche is sold in several fat levels, and both 9% and 18% appear in Danish recipes. Outside Denmark, full-fat crème fraîche or sour cream both work.
Arla notes that the older classic used half ymer or tykmælk, both Danish soured milk products, and half crème fraîche. Ymer is hard to buy outside Scandinavia. Plain thick yoghurt is the nearest substitute, and Arla itself mentions yoghurt as an option for the dressing.
Season the dressing on its own before the potatoes go in, and season it more than seems right. Madens Verden and Valdemarsro both stress tasting it well: the potatoes take up some of it as the salad stands.
What to serve with kartoffelsalat
Kartoffelsalat goes with frikadeller above all; Arla, Valdemarsro and Madens Verden all name them first. It also sits beside sausages and hot dogs (ristet pølse is a natural partner), pork chops, chicken and grilled meat.
Potato on rye bread, kartoffelmad, is also a Danish open sandwich, one of the many kinds of smørrebrød; Hillvale’s version tops the bread with potato salad.
Variations
- Radishes, peas or bacon. Valdemarsro suggests freshly podded peas, small radishes or crisp bacon, depending on the season.
- More mustard or a little curry. For a sharper salad, Valdemarsro adds extra Dijon, or stirs a teaspoon of mild curry powder or a little cumin into the dressing.
- Dill and capers. A Scandinavian-style variation from Scandinavian Simple Eating swaps the chives for dill and adds capers and red onion.
- Warm potato salad. Danish cooks also make warm potato salads, including a sweet-and-sour version and one with a vinaigrette. These are separate recipes with a cooked or oil-based dressing, not this one served hot.
Making it ahead and storing it
Kartoffelsalat can be made the day before. Arla and Madens Verden both recommend it, and the potatoes take up some of the dressing overnight, so taste it again before serving.
Keep it covered in the fridge, and Valdemarsro gives it two days. A dressing of crème fraîche and mayonnaise should not sit out for long on a warm day: Madens Verden puts out only what will be eaten and returns the rest to the fridge straight away.
Where these quantities come from
The card follows the agreement of published recipes rather than one source. The potatoes (1 kg), mayonnaise (2 tablespoons), sugar (1 teaspoon) and handful of chives match Valdemarsro and Tales of Belle. The crème fraîche is Valdemarsro’s 2 dl. Mustard splits evenly between 1 and 2 teaspoons across the four main sources, so the card gives the range. Lemon juice comes from Arla and Madens Verden and grated shallot from Arla alone; both are optional. Times are the median of the sourced values. A total time is not given because the sources range from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on how long the potatoes cool and the salad chills.
Questions people ask
Is Danish potato salad served cold?
Yes. Kartoffelsalat is made with cold boiled potatoes and chilled before serving. Warm Danish potato salads exist, but they are separate recipes with a different dressing.
Can I use sour cream instead of crème fraîche?
Yes. Several published versions use sour cream. Plain thick yoghurt also works and is closer to the older Danish version made with ymer.
Do you peel the potatoes for kartoffelsalat?
Either. Tales of Belle scrubs or peels them. Thin-skinned new potatoes only need a scrub.
How long does kartoffelsalat keep?
About two days, covered, in the fridge. Taste it again before serving, because the potatoes absorb the dressing as it stands.
What goes with Danish potato salad?
Frikadeller, Danish meatballs, are the classic partner. It is also served with sausages, hot dogs, pork chops, chicken and grilled meat.
