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Whether it's homemade or store-bought, potato salad can be a hit or miss. Considering there are usually only four main components in the dish — mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, and potatoes — the ratio of them is all the more important. If you add too much of one ingredient or not enough of the other, your potato salad can end up tasting funky. The good news is, there's an easy fix if you accidentally went overboard with the vinegar, or simply bought one from the store that's tangier than you prefer.
As Wiggly Wisdom shares, a vinegary potato salad can easily be salvaged with a bit of lemon zest. Just take a fine grater or zester to the rind, measure out about a half teaspoon of zest per two cups of potato salad, and mix it in. Orange and lime also work if you don't have any lemon on hand. The acid in the lemon zest balances out the acid in the vinegar, ultimately eliminating that harsh flavor.
Sugar can also counteract the taste of vinegar
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If you have some extra time on your hands, Our Everyday Life's method can work even better. The first step is to let your potato salad sit in the refrigerator for as long as possible. In doing so, the potatoes will absorb the vinegar, and you'll be able to pour out the excess that collects at the bottom of the bowl. After this, you'll want to gradually add sugar by the teaspoon, mixing and tasting as you go. Sweetener also works, but make sure to start with an eighth teaspoon of it instead.
The addition of a sweet element should be enough to neutralize the extra vinegar, but if the flavor is still off, Taste of Home recommends using baking soda. Baking soda has the effect of making vinegar more alkaline, and all you need is a pinch of it — too much of it will contribute to an unpleasant taste. If all else fails, you can also opt for more potatoes, but lemon zest and sugar are the best places to start.
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