The 10 Unhealthiest Store-Bought Potato Salads, Ranked
Potatoes are one of America's favorite vegetables, according to YouGov. It's easy to see why — no matter how you slice it, dice it, mash it, or smash it, there's no doubt that the almighty potato has seemingly endless potential in a wide variety of forms. Potato salad is perhaps the most approachable and beloved manifestation of this quintessential root vegetable. Simple, starchy, and satisfying, potato salad feels perfectly in place beside dishes as disparate as fancy steaks and cheap hot dogs. Even though potato salad is fairly easy to make from scratch, the truth is that it still requires precious time. In many cases, it can be tempting to just grab some store-bought potato salad at the grocery store.
The issue here is that pre-made potato salad tends to be unhealthy. Let's face it: It's not exactly the healthiest dish, even when it's made from scratch. Typically loaded with ingredients like mayonnaise, sour cream, and salt, potato salad tends to be fairly high in saturated fat and sodium. But when it's premade for mass consumption, it's a whole new ball game. Preservatives and artificial colors often enter the mix, along with other chemical additives. Luckily for you, we've taken the time to sort through some options on the market that you might want to steer clear of.
10. Member's Mark southern-style potato salad
Member's Mark is a Sam's Club brand that produces a wide variety of goods. It sells everything from chicken enchiladas and pasta salad to stuffed peppers and ranch dressing. The company also sells a 5-pound tub of southern-style potato salad, which is a big size that can cater to parties and larger gatherings. There are a few things that differentiate southern-style potato salad from other potato salad variations. For starters, southern-style potato salad typically includes mustard in the dressing for some extra tanginess. It also tends to feature hard-boiled eggs in the recipe for some added richness.
Member's Mark southern-style potato salad has a fairly long list of ingredients. The recipe mostly features Idaho potatoes, salad dressing, sugar, sweet relish, vinegar, and salt. This southern-style potato salad doesn't really feature the big chunks of hard-boiled eggs that other southern-style potato salads often do. Instead, the richness comes from the egg yolks used in the dressing in this recipe. The main issue here is the amount of sugar in the recipe — just a single serving accounts for nearly 20% of the daily recommended intake of sugar. Eating more than one serving can easily end up costing you over half of a day's amount of sugar — and that's without any other foods in the mix. Beyond the health implications of potentially consuming too much sugar, this stuff just tastes way too sweet. That said, there are still unhealthier options out there to watch out for.
9. Kroger southern-style potato salad
Kroger is a massive grocery chain with over 1,200 stores scattered across 16 states. Like many other grocery stores, Kroger has its own line of products that compete with other leading brands. The Kroger brand offers an eclectic assortment of food products like garlic bread, hash browns, and French onion dip. Kroger also sells southern-style potato salad.
Kroger's southern-style potato salad is made with a blend of ingredients that mostly includes potatoes, mayonnaise, sugar, pickle relish, bell peppers, and celery. Kroger's southern-style potato salad contains a little less sugar than Member's Mark southern-style potato salad, but it also contains even more saturated fat. For this reason, we rank this potato salad as a tad unhealthier. A better option would be Kroger's Egg Mustard potato salad, since it has a bit less sugar and sodium in the recipe.
No matter where you're shopping, the bottom line is that if you're going to eat store-bought potato salad, it's worth looking at the ingredients and comparing the saturated fat, sodium, and sugar content. Most prepared food will probably contain a lot of salt and sugar, but you can always opt for the brand that uses the lesser amount.
8. Hill Country Fare homestyle potato salad
Hill Country Fare is an in-store brand produced by H-E-B, a Texas-based supermarket company. Even though H-E-B exclusively operates in Texas, the company is known for tailoring each of its stores to the particular culture of its specific region. The company's strategic marketing has led to an explosion of fandom that's proved quite profitable for H-E-B, turning the four family members who own the chain into billionaires. H-E-B's Hill Country Fare brand sells a wide range of goods, including homestyle potato salad.
This potato salad contains artificial food dyes (Yellow 5) along with preservatives like potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate. Even though Yellow 5 was approved for use by the FDA back in 1969, some countries around the world have taken a more cautious approach than the United States. The European Union has deemed Yellow 5 and other artificial additives as unsafe and requires warning labels on all food products that contain it, according to Healthline.
Aside from the preservatives and artificial coloring, this potato salad also contains dehydrated bell peppers. While there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, why not just include fresh bell peppers in the recipe? This would add a touch of freshness and perhaps a bit more nutrition.
7. Publix southern-style potato salad
Publix is a popular grocery chain based in Florida with stores throughout the South. The company has become well-known over the years for its prepared foods and delicious deli, which makes top-notch rotisserie chicken and customized subs on freshly-baked bread among many other items. Near the deli, customers can find a variety of prepared side dishes like macaroni salad, coleslaw, and potato salad.
Publix makes a few different kinds of potato salads, including New York-style, Homestyle, and Southern-Style. Publix Southern-Style potato salad is mostly made with potatoes, mayonnaise, hard-cooked eggs, celery, pickle relish, and a seasoning mix that includes salt, sugar, spices, and preservatives. This potato salad contains fairly high levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. If you ate only an 8-ounce portion of this, it would account for about 30% of your recommended daily intake for all three categories. That's quite a sizable portion for just a side dish. But even beyond the saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol, the recipe contains calcium disodium EDTA. Calcium disodium EDTA is a common preservative that's used in many different applications, including products in food, cosmetics, and other industrial products. When used in food, calcium disodium EDTA is often applied in the recipe to help food retain its color and flavor. The FDA has deemed it safe to consume in certain limits. Part of the issue is that this preservative is not absorbed well in the digestive tract.
6. Meijer loaded smashed potato salad
Loaded potatoes are one of the most filling and delicious ways to enjoy them. When potatoes are loaded, that typically means they're topped with sour cream, bacon bits, and shredded cheese (at the very least). Sometimes, more ingredients enter the mix, like chives. Meijer successfully replicates all the flavors of a loaded baked potato in its loaded smashed potato salad. Tasty as it is, this ranking is less focused on deliciousness and more concerned with the quality of ingredients and their potential health impact.
The ingredients list on this product is quite long — which is never a good sign for something as simple as potato salad. The recipe seems to largely consist of potatoes, mayonnaise, sour cream, and various cheeses, including cheddar cheese, parmesan, and bleu cheese. At first glance, all of that may sound enticing and innocuous, but all of that dairy and starch comes with a price. Just a ½ cup of this stuff is nearly 25% of the saturated fat and sodium recommended for the day. The recipe also includes several artificial additives for color and various preservatives. Imitation bacon bits made with a blend that includes soy flour, vegetable protein, and more artificial color also make an appearance. It should be noted that the recipe also contains real bacon bits. The additional imitation bacon bits may just be a clever way of stretching out that smoky taste in a cheaper way.
5. Wegmans baked potato salad
Wegmans has more than 100 stores located across a variety of states including New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Delaware. The company has become known over the years for its delicious submarine-style sandwiches, extensive cheese selection, and various in-store dining options like sushi and Italian food. Wegmans also has its own brand of food products that it sells at its locations. Wegmans produces everything from pizza and lasagna noodles to BBQ ribs and potato salad. Wegmans sells a few different types of potato salad, including classic potato salad, mustard potato salad, and baked potato salad.
Wegmans' baked potato salad contains mayonnaise, potatoes, sour cream, uncured bacon, cheddar cheese, scallions, onions, and other spices. This potato salad is rich and flavorful and comes highly recommended by many customers. That said, it's also quite high in sodium and saturated fat. One serving accounts for nearly ¼ of the recommended daily intake for both categories. A lot of customers report that once you start eating this potato salad, it's pretty hard to stop — so there's a good chance you'll eat more than just a single serving, which will mean ingesting even higher levels of sodium and saturated fat. If you're willing to throw caution to the wind for the sake of flavor, this potato salad might be for you. But if you're trying to watch your sodium and saturated fat intake, it's probably best to resist temptation with this one.
4. Signature Cafe potato salad
Signature is an umbrella brand owned by Albertsons in its partnership with Safeway. Signature makes everything from croutons and spinach to maple syrup and country-style pork sausage. Signature also makes a few different salads to pair with meals, including cobb salad, chef salad, pasta salad, and potato salad. The company produces a handful of various styles of potato salad, such as classic-style, Amish-style, loaded potato, and deviled egg.
The main ingredients in Signature Cafe's deviled egg potato salad are mostly potatoes, hard-cooked eggs, mayonnaise, sugar, celery, mustard, sweet pickle relish, and onions. The combination of sodium and high cholesterol paired with various preservatives places this ranking toward the upper end of our list. Another potential issue here is that some customers have complained that the potatoes inside this potato salad aren't cooked consistently. In some batches, the potatoes don't seem to be cooked enough and retain a firm texture, while in others, they're overcooked and a bit too mushy. Consuming undercooked potatoes may result in some digestive issues like bloating and gas.
3. Market Pantry deviled egg potato salad
Market Pantry is a Target-owned brand that produces a diverse amount of goods. When shopping at Target, customers can view Market Pantry items such as hamburger buns, mozzarella cheese sticks, and Italian dressing. Market Pantry also sells classic and deviled egg potato salad.
Market Pantry's deviled egg potato salad is made with a mix that mostly includes potatoes, hard-cooked eggs, mayonnaise sugar, celery seed, mustard, sweet pickle relish, onions, vinegar, and various preservatives. The amount of cholesterol (35%) and sodium (28%) are both quite high per serving. The sugar alone accounts for 12% of the recommended daily dose of sugar. This potato salad beats out a lot of the other brands on this list since it's so high in cholesterol and sodium. It would be at least a little healthier if the sodium were dialed back a bit. Perhaps reducing the amount of egg and mayonnaise in the recipe would also cut back on the amount of cholesterol.
2. Freshness Guaranteed deviled egg potato salad
Up near the top of our unhealthiest potato salad ranking is this deviled egg potato salad by Freshness Guaranteed. Freshness Guaranteed is a cleverly-named brand that's owned by Walmart. The brand sells everything from fresh fruit and chicken salad to cupcakes and donuts. Freshness Guaranteed also sells deviled egg potato salad. You may have noticed a pattern here by now — the addition of deviled eggs to potato salad often makes the recipe even more unhealthy due to the extra salt and cholesterol from the hard-cooked eggs and dressing.
The combined totals for this recipe's sodium and cholesterol are what make it one of the worst offenders in this ranking. One serving (½ cup) accounts for 35% of the recommended cholesterol intake for the day. While the amount of sodium (660 mg) hits nearly 30% of the daily amount of sodium. There's just no getting around the fact that this potato salad is exceptionally fatty and salty, firmly landing it in the upper-tier of some of the most unhealthy options on the market. If you're health-conscious and trying to cut back on saturated fat and sodium, staying away from this pick would be a wise decision. Take the time to compare ingredients in other options in the deli area and try to choose something with lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium.
1. Reser's deviled egg potato salad
Taking the lamentable crown for unhealthiest potato salad is this deviled egg potato salad from Reser's. Reser's sells a lot of premade food products and side dishes, such as barbecue beans, mac and cheese, and various frozen burritos. Keep in mind: We're not saying that this potato salad or Reser's other products aren't tasty. We're just saying that in terms of a health-conscious diet, it might be better to steer clear.
The main reason that Reser's landed this spot as one of the unhealthiest potato salads on the market just comes down to numbers. One serving of this potato salad accounts for a heart-clenching 50% of the cholesterol you should consume in an entire day. The sodium is equally unsettling, clocking in at nearly 30%. Top that off with 15% of the saturated fat for the day, and this deviled egg potato salad is a no-go. Besides its concerning level of potentially artery-clogging ingredients, this potato salad has earned a nearly perfect 5-star rating on Safeway's website, which still makes it a tempting choice despite. At the end of the day, all of life's greatest joys come with some level of risk — and ultimately we have to decide for ourselves which ones are worth it.