I just learned the most genius trick for making potato salad

Hint: The secret ingredient is already in your fridge.

There's a reason you see potato salad at every potluck or barbecue—it's a crowd-pleaser that doesn't take a whole lot of effort. From our traditional Old-Fashioned Potato Salad to our flavor-packed Authentic German Potato Salad, we've got plenty of potato salad recipes that everyone will crowd around at your next gathering. 

If you're looking to add some zing to your potato salad, though, there's one simple ingredient that makes a huge difference. Give your potato salad a significant upgrade with one of the most magical and under-utilized ingredients in your refrigerator: pickle juice. This simple ingredient might just make a convert out of the potato salad-hater in your life.

Why You Should Add Pickle Juice to Your Potato Salad

Pickle juice, along with other brines, is a game-changer for dips, sauces, and salads. All that salt and fermentation deliver a strong punch of flavor to an otherwise bland food (sorry, potatoes). Pickle juice also enhances the flavor of meats when used as a marinade—Chick-fil-A uses the same strategy with its fried chicken. 

Pickle juice won't just enhance your potato salad's flavor, though. It'll also help maintain the potatoes' texture after cooking, thanks to an unexpected technique. 

How To Incorporate Pickle Juice Into Potato Salad

Ready to add pickle juice to your potato salad? We recommend starting with our Million Dollar Potato Salad recipe, which features both a secret ingredient and a secret technique—think of it as a multi-pronged approach to irresistible potato salad.

1. When gathering your ingredients, measure out 1/2 cup pickle juice (also called brine). You'll use half of it midway through the recipe (step 6) by adding it to a large pot of salted water. In addition to giving them a delightful pickle flavor, boiling them in pickle juice helps them hold together after cooking. This is because adding pickle juice to water increases its acidity. If you don’t have enough, you can substitute two tablespoons of a neutral vinegar—like white wine, distilled, or apple cider vinegar. 
2. While the potatoes are simmering, get started on the dressing. Here, you'll combine mayonnaise and sour cream for an ultra-creamy dressing, along with Parmesan, Dijon mustard, and the remaining pickle juice for unbeatable flavor. 
3. And another tip that'll make your potato salad even better: Once the potatoes are cooked and drained, immediately coat them with the dressing. Doing this will give the potatoes more time to absorb the ingredients, resulting in a thick, even coating.

More Add-Ins for Potato Salad 

• Bacon. Nobody says you have to put bacon in your potato salad, but as long as everyone at your party enjoys pork, they're definitely not gonna complain. Fry the bacon for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, then transfer it to a cutting board to cool. Once it's cool enough to handle, chop the bacon into small pieces and serve it as a garnish. 
• Chives. Potatoes and chives are already a champion pair, so adding 1/3 cup finely sliced chives as a garnish is a can't-lose decision. 
• Crispy fried onions. Sure, celery and pickles give potato salad a nice degree of crunch, but you know what would make it even better? Miniature crispy fried onions. This ingredient works best as a garnish, so add it to the top just before serving.

Read the original article on Allrecipes