This bacon potato salad combines crispy bacon pieces, delicious potatoes, and a light and flavorful mustard vinaigrette. It's perfect for barbecues, potlucks, or a quick and tasty dinner at home!
This bacon potato salad is packed with tasty and flavorful ingredients that turn plain potatoes into a delicious dish that can easily feed a crowd!
It's actually similar to some of my other potato salad recipes (definitely make sure to check out my authentic German potato salad recipe and dill pickle potato salad recipe!) as it has a light vinegar-based dressing and delicious herbs.
And since I absolutely love potato salads and bacon, I figured that it was time to create a potato salad that has crispy bacon bits! It's just as delicious and light as my other potato salads with the addition of flavorful and crispy bacon.
So if this sounds like something you'd enjoy, be sure to give this recipe a try!
Bacon Potato Salad Ingredients
To make this bacon potato salad you'll need the following ingredients:
- Potatoes: It's best to use yellow potatoes like Yukon Gold to make potato salads. They hold their shape very well and don't fall apart easily.
- Bacon: You'll also need bacon. If you want to make this recipe pork-free, you can use turkey bacon.
- Onion: Yellow onions are needed to add flavor to the salad. So be sure to use them. As they are sautéed they don't taste too strong and pungent in this recipe.
- Parsley: Parsley is my herb of choice for this potato salad. It perfectly complements the potatoes, bacon, and dressing. But if you don't like parsley, you can use another herb.
- White wine vinegar: White wine vinegar is used as the base of the dressing. You could also use white balsamic vinegar or another type of white vinegar that you like to make salad dressings.
- Olive oil: Olive oil is another key ingredient for the dressing. Make sure to use extra virgin olive oil.
- Dijon mustard: Dijon mustard is used to make the dressing taste flavorful and delicious. Even if you usually wouldn't eat mustard, I highly recommend adding it to the vinaigrette. It's not very noticeable but makes the potato salad taste great.
- Maple syrup: Maple syrup balances the vinaigrette and makes it easier to emulsify. So be sure to not skip it, you really don't need a lot.
How to make this bacon potato salad
Cook the potatoes. First, place the potatoes in a pot and fill it with hot water. Cover the pot, bring the water to a boil, add some salt, reduce to a simmer, and let the potatoes cook for 20-25 minutes until fork-tender.
Prepare the vinaigrette. In the meantime, add all vinaigrette ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until combined. Set the dressing aside.
Pan-fry the bacon. Next, place the bacon pieces in a pan and pan-fry them over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan.
Sauté the onion. Now add the diced onion to the same pan and sauté until translucent. Add some salt after about one minute and continue to sauté.
Prepare the potatoes. Once the potatoes are cooked and cooled off slightly, peel and cut them into cubes. Place them in a large bowl.
Combine. Add the vinaigrette, crispy bacon, sautéed onion, and chopped parsley to the potatoes. Toss until combined. Let the potato salad sit for a few minutes.
Adjust the seasoning. Check if you want to add more vinegar, salt, or black pepper.
Serve. Serve the potato salad immediately as that's when it tastes best. Enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- Use yellow potatoes to make potato salad. They simply are the best for salads as they hold their shape and don't become dry and crumbly.
- Don't worry if it seems like you added too much vinegar. You actually need to use a little bit more as the potatoes soak it in. If you don't add enough, the potato salad may taste too bland.
- Serve the potato salad immediately as it tastes best when served warm. The salad can become too dry if it sits for too long in the refrigerator. So I recommend serving it immediately. If you want to serve it later, you can check out my German potato salad recipe and prepare the dressing in a similar way as it has more liquid that won't be soaked in fully.
Variations
- Add vegetables to the salad. You can definitely add a little bit of lettuce or other vegetables of your choice to this salad. I personally love romaine lettuce or sliced radishes.
- Add other or more herbs to this bacon potato salad. Dill and chives are two other herbs that I love to use whenever I make potato salads.
How to serve bacon potato salad
- Prepare a separate salad with vegetables. A side salad with simple ingredients such as lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber would be a great addition to add more vegetables to your meal.
- Serve this bacon potato salad alongside grilled or baked meat. This potato salad is perfect for barbecues! You could also serve it alongside air fryer chicken breast, air fryer cajun wings, or parmesan-crusted chicken for a delicious dinner!
- Prepare juicy meat patties that complement this potato salad. I highly recommend making German frikadellen when you make this bacon potato salad. You could also make chicken patties or tuna patties.
- Pan-fry delicious Bratwürstchen that can be served alongside this salad. They are simply delicious and go super well with potato salads!
Frequently Asked Question
Most of the time potatoes turn out mushy in potato salads because starchy and crumbly potatoes were used (like Russet potatoes). You want to make sure that you use waxy potatoes like Yukon Gold when making potato salads.
I would recommend checking out my German potato salad or dill pickle potato salad for an option that tastes just as delicious (and even better) after it has been stored in the refrigerator. You can definitely add bacon to German potato salad! This bacon potato salad can become a little too dry if it's stored for too long. I'd recommend serving it immediately.
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 3-4 days.
More quick and delicious potato salad recipes
If you love to make potato salads, I highly recommend checking out the following recipes. They are all super simple and taste absolutely amazing!
- Dill Pickle Potato Salad
- Turkish-Style Dill Potato Salad
- German Potato Salad
- Herbed Mustard Potato Salad
- Lemon Potato Salad
Bacon Potato Salad
Ingredients
Potato Salad Ingredients
- 1 pound potatoes
- 8 slices bacon cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ yellow onion diced
- 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Vinaigrette Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- First, place the potatoes in a pot and add some hot water until the potatoes are covered. Cover the pot, bring the water to a boil, add some salt, then reduce to a simmer and cook the potatoes for 20-25 minutes until fork-tender.1 pound potatoes
- In the meantime, whisk together the dressing until the ingredients are combined. Then set it aside.1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon maple syrup, salt and pepper
- Next, place the bacon pieces in a pan and pan-fry over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan.8 slices bacon
- Add the yellow onion to the same pan and sauté until translucent and slightly browned around the edges. Season with some salt after around 1 minute.½ yellow onion
- Once the potatoes are cooked and have cooled off a little, peel and cut them into cubes. Place them in a large bowl.
- Add the dressing, crispy bacon, sautéed onion, and chopped parsley. Toss and let the dressing soak in for a few minutes. Add more white wine vinegar, salt, or black pepper to taste.3 tablespoons chopped parsley
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
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