Baked Potato Salad is a cookout favorite! This salad has all the flavors of a loaded baked potato packed into a simple summer side dish.
I have no shortage of potato and pasta salad recipes for all my summer parties! I love making this Baked Potato Salad because it’s so easy and everyone loves it! Toss fluffy baked Russet potatoes in mayo and sour cream dressing with cheese, chives, and of course bacon.
Everyone loves a creamy potato salad recipe, and this is forever a family fav! Making baked potatoes for a crowd can be tough, but this fully loaded baked potato salad is so easy. Whip it up for your next barbecue or pool party.
You only need a few pantry staples to make the best potato salad recipe. Ditch the deli side dish and make your own with just a few steps. You’ll never buy it at the grocery store again after you try this recipe.
Ingredients
RUSSET POTATOES: I love these fluffy potatoes! I normally use yellow potatoes, but I recommend the king of baked potatoes for this recipe.
BACON: It’s just not a fully loaded baked potato salad without crumbled bacon! You can use bacon bits in a pinch, but I love to crumble freshly fried bacon. Save a little as a garnish, too!
DRESSING: I do equal parts mayo and sour cream to make the creamiest baked potato salad recipe. Plus cheddar cheese, of course!
Don’t forget the salt and pepper! Potatoes need a little more salt than other veggies, so be sure to taste along the way.
How to Make Baked Potato Salad
STEP ONE: Bake the potatoes! Most recipes use boiled potatoes, but I love the fluffy texture you get from baking them. After the potatoes are baked, chop them into bite-sized chunks and put them into a bowl. I remove some of the skin before chopping, but not all of it. You can if you want! Chill the baked potato chunks.
STEP TWO: Then, cook the bacon in a large skillet until it’s crispy. Set the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate and once it’s cooled crumble the bacon into small pieces.
STEP THREE: Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, chives, salt, pepper, and bacon together in a large bowl.
STEP FOUR: Add the chilled potatoes and stir to coat. Garnish with more chives, cheese, and bacon, and serve cold!
Tips for Success
- I love this loaded baked potato salad with burgers, hot dogs, or grilled chicken! There’s no cookout where this yummy, creamy side dish isn’t welcome.
- This is a great prep ahead recipe for parties. You can bake, chop, and chill the potatoes up to 1 day in advance. Keep the covered in the fridge until your ready to mix the potato salad together.
- This potato salad will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
What Kind of Potatoes for Potato Salad Are Best?
For this baked potato potato salad, I always use Russet potatoes. However, they’re not commonly used in potato salad recipes. They tend to break down a bit more, which is part of why you want to chill them before mixing everything together.
When you want a classic potato salad, go for the yellow potatoes! They’re super soft and fluffy. You can also use red potatoes! They’re popular for German potato salads when you want a waxier potato.
Is It Better to Peel Potatoes Before Boiling for Potato Salad?
If you don’t like potato skin, it’s definitely easier to peel potatoes when they’re raw versus cooked.
I love to eat the potato skin since it contains B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, calcium, potassium, and other nutrients. And people say potatoes aren’t healthy!
For this baked potato salad recipe, I bake the potatoes with the skin on and peel some of it off when I chop. But you do you!
More Amazing Summer Side Dishes
- Classic Macaroni Salad
- Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad
- Parmesan Cilantro Corn
- Fully Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes
- Easy Black Bean Salad
*This post originally posted on 08/30/2012.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds russet potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound bacon
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup cheddar cheese shredded
- ¼ cup fresh chives chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Use a fork to pierce the potatoes all over. Then rub the outside of each potato with olive oil and season generously with salt. Place onto a baking sheet.
- Bake the potatoes for 1 hour, or until fork-tender. Remove from the oven.
- When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, chop them into bite-sized chunks. (If preferred, you can remove some of the skins before chopping.) Place the chopped potatoes into a large bowl and pop that into the refrigerator until chilled through, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- While the potatoes chill, cook the bacon. Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add strips of bacon until the skillet is full and cook until crispy, flipping as needed. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining bacon. Once the bacon has cooled, chop or crumble it into small pieces.
- Add the mayo, sour cream, cheese, crumbled bacon, chives in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Add the potatoes and stir again until are evenly coated in the dressing.
- Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to your taste. Garnish the top with some extra cheese, bacon, and chives if desired. Serve chilled.
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