For Delicious Potato Salad In Half The Time, Try Out This Clever Mason Jar Trick

For more than 100 years, the humble mason jar has been indispensable for home cooks who love to can their own foods. Adding to its already long list of uses, a mason jar is also a cool tool to make a delicious potato salad in two (okay, maybe a few more) shakes. It's both fast and clever. Put all your prepped ingredients into a mason jar, shake it to mix the contents and voila: You've got yourselves a summer classic in moments. 

We're all for a soft, mashable tuber, but for potatoes that will hold their shape in your salad and you don't have to waste time peeling, plump for waxy, thin-skinned varieties like French Fingerling or Yukon gold. Including a liquid to emulsify your mayo or yogurt-based dressing is a must — think pickle brine, lemon juice, or a splash of vinegar. Quick-to-throw-in ingredients include a shot of jarred French mustard with a handful of blitzed, fresh herbs, not to mention store-bought, ready-made dips or vinaigrettes that positively zing with flavor. Don't forget some perfectly cooked, hard-boiled eggs. If you're looking to make a mayo-free potato salad, using store-bought vinaigrette, or pre-made Italian pesto sauce will save you even more time!

Regular mason jar salads are carefully layered creations, often with the dressing at the bottom so the crunchy veggies and greens above it don't get soggy. The advantage of the potato salad kind is it doesn't really matter which order the ingredients go in, because they're all going to be mixed up anyway. 

What does matter is leaving enough room in the jar so that when you shake it, nothing sticks and everything ends up evenly coated in sauce. Overpacking your mason jar might be tempting, but it's a big mistake. Now it comes time to do the shaking. Don't be tempted to throttle them into oblivion, the trick is to steadily combine the ingredients; tipping the jar upside down a few times will do the job!

If you do have any leftovers, keep them in the mason jar and they will last for three to five days in the refrigerator. However, if the potato salad was left out at room temperature for two hours or longer, it needs to be discarded. When the mason jar is finally empty, give it a thorough wash with dish soap and very hot water so it's ready for your next delicious batch of potato salad.