The Sweet And Spicy Seasoning That Gives Potato Salad An Extra Kick

Potato salad is a versatile dish that you can take in creamy or oil-based directions, adding spicy, tangy, or smoky notes with common ingredients like paprika, pickle relish, scallions, and diced peppers. If you're looking for a new upgrade, jerk seasoning is the blend that'll give potato salad a unique flavor and an extra kick.

A highly complex and vibrant blend of aromatics, chilies, spices, and herbs, Jerk seasoning packs a powerful punch of spice, heat, and savoriness normally destined as a spice rub or marinade for proteins like this jerk chicken recipe or this jerk marinated grilled tofu recipe. A dash of sugar or a sweet citrus-like orange juice is a typical pairing that balances the heat while complementing all the spices. Jerk seasoning pairs wonderfully with the savory earthiness of potatoes as evidenced by the many jerk roasted potato wedge recipes that already exist. Plus, potatoes are certainly hearty enough to stand up to jerk seasoning's robust complexity.

Just as easily as you'd add a jerk seasoning blend to a sweet citrus juice or blend of oil and vinegar, you can add it to an oil or mayonnaise-based potato salad dressing. Compared to oil, mayonnaise is better in helping cool the heat of jerk seasoning, but there are other tweaks and pairings to make any jerk potato salad shine.

Jerk seasoning will bring a wealth of new flavors to your potato salad, and you can add it to many of our recipes of this kind without making many adjustments. It'll taste delicious paired with the sweet and tangy mixture of mayo, relish, and mustard in this recipe for classic Southern potato salad. That said, you can swap the relish for julienned jicama and diced red onion for a more Jamaican rendition. You can also add jerk seasoning to this oil and vinegar-based French potato salad. After all, it usually blends with oil and vinegar in a typical marinade. If you don't want to make your own blend of spices, you can always buy a jar or packet of Jerk seasoning from your local grocery store.

You can tweak potato salad recipes to play up the flavors of jerk seasoning. For potato salad recipes that use lemon juice, you can swap in lime juice for a little more tropical flavor. Dice up red bell pepper or habanero if scotch bonnet chilies aren't available. Throw in some chopped bacon for a crispy crunchy element that'll soak up and complement the spices in jerk seasoning with smoky umami. Since jerk seasoning is sweet and spicy, you can play up the sweetness by swapping in chunks of sweet potatoes.