Our website editor regularly receives emails regarding how many calories are in a homemade potato salad. Obviously it varies tremendously depending on the ingredients used. We have the calorie figure listed for each individual recipe, and they are fairly accurate. Obviously if you use alternative ingredient brands than what the recipe calls for, then the figure will vary a bit and you will have to make your own calculations accordingly. The calories are listed per serving, as opposed to total overall calories for the whole dish. If you are also interested in knowing the fat content, we have also listed that figure in grams for each recipe. In the brief article below, we will discuss the various ways to create potato salad with less calories, less fat, and more nutrients. Back on the subject of calories, do be sure to drop us a note if you have any calorie related questions, an we will do our best to provide you with an accurate and well researched answer.
When it comes to shaving calories from a potato salad recipe, there are many ways to do it. The first and foremost method, is avoid creating your potato dressing with mayonnaise or sour cream. Extra virgin olive oil is sort of a middle ground dressing choice, as it isn't particularly low in calories, and it's high in fat. So what you should use as a dressing instead, is any variety of vinegar or juice. When it comes to vinegar dressing, I like to use apple cider vinegar, distilled white vinegar, white wine vinegar, or purple sweet potato vinegar, all of which taste great mixed in with delicious herbs and seasonings. With regard to low calorie juice dressing bases, I generally use lemon or lime juice, and then stir in some sea salt, garlic, and other tasty low calorie flavors. Another way to shave calories from the dish, is to obviously not use any meat or eggs with the salad, and replace them with fresh raw veggies instead, like chopped carrots, peas, or bell peppers.
As far as fat is concerned, the best way to reduce the fat level in a potato salad, is the very same way to reduce the calories, which is to remove the mayonnaise from the recipe. Hard boiled eggs are another source of fat, and removing them can bring your fat level down to zero for the dish. A great fat free potato salad, would be one that had a vinegar or juice based dressing, and had lots of onions, bell peppers, and seasonings. Olive oil does contain fat, but they are healthy fats that should be consumed at least in small amounts every day. There are obviously a lot of fat free butters and mayonnaise that you can use if you don't like vinegar based dressings, however fat free products usually contain tons of preservatives and processing chemicals, and I personally avoid them for that reason. If you are looking for a beautiful tasting fat free potato salad recipe, then try our Italian style potato salad minus the extra virgin olive oil.
If you are interested in eating nutrient rich potato salads that are healthy, the way to do that is simple. Make potato salad with lots of fresh raw organic vegetables. Potato salad tastes great with fresh raw corn kernels, raw peas, raw chopped strings beans, fresh grated carrot, onions, minced fresh garlic, chopped cucumber, chopped squash, eggplant, and many other healthy ingredients. Leafy veggies such as raw cabbage and spinach can also be shredded and then added to your potato salad. When it comes to the potatoes themselves, the healthiest variety of potatoes are sweet potatoes and purple potatoes. I have made many potato salads using these two healthier variety of potatoes, and I must say that they turned out just as delicious as the white potato based salads. Avocados and extra virgin olive oil are other great ways to add some healthy natural fats to your potato salads, making them good to eat for the whole family.
