Charred Onions Add A Key Flavor To Sunny Anderson's Potato Salad

Potato salad is a party favorite. Whether you prefer a mayo-based version of this classic or like to nosh on the vinegar-sauced German variety, this flavor-packed side is difficult to improve upon. However, difficult doesn't mean impossible and that's just what professional chef Sunny Anderson does with the addition of charred onions. This may sound like an unlikely flavor enhancer, but charred onions can add a unique and smoky taste to this dish. In fact, it is this simple step that can differentiate an innovative potato salad from the standard recipe that lines the table of a potluck or tailgate.

What you will love about Anderson's recipe, which she shared with Today, is how simple and streamlined it is. "The Kitchen" co-host understands being busy and says it is perfectly acceptable to use "steamable bagged potatoes" for your salad. She uses a simple mayo-based dressing and instead of having lots of chopped veggies or other additions, Anderson lets the charred onions do the talking.

These bulbous vegetables have many virtues, starting with how their taste changes when they are baked, fried, or charred. This is because they start to caramelize and when that happens, those natural sugars are going to sweeten the taste, making them richer while adding yet another layer of flavor that complements the potatoes. Not to mention, charred onions are also fragrant. This means they'll provide an enticing aroma that will surely appeal to potato salad aficionados. 

Putting this innovative twist on your potato salad with this addition also freshens up the overall consistency. Charring onions transform the texture in a good way, adding a little crunch to the soft, creamy potatoes. The smoky taste of the charred onion works perfectly in tandem with the mayo dressing Anderson uses to bring it all together, which will assure your potato salad is the first to be eaten at your next barbeque.