The Best Potato Salad in the World!

This potato salad is doused in a creamy dressing and loaded with bacon. What’s not to love?!

I mean realistically yes, there are countless ‘my potato salad is the best’ recipes on the internet, but throwing one more into the mix can’t hurt right? Plus, this truly is the best potato salad in the world 🤪

Baby Potato Salad

In my opinion the best kind of potato salad is one made with baby potatoes. By slicing them into small rounds you get these perfect mini disks which not only look great in a potato salad, but they also hold their shape really well. There’s nothing worse than a potato salad that’s verging on mashed potato because the potatoes have gone soft and mushy!

Cold Water

Whilst it takes a little extra time, you really want to boil the potatoes starting from cold water. This ensures the potato cooks through much more evenly. Also ensure you properly salt the water – nothing worse than a bland potato salad!

Steam Dry

Again, whilst it takes extra time, you really want to make sure as much moisture comes out of the potato as possible. This also gives time for the potatoes to properly cool, which is important otherwise you’ll end up with a warm gloopy dressing. Some recipes suggest rinsing the potato in cold water, but in my opinion this adds unwanted moisture and removes starchy flavour.

Can you cook potatoes ahead of time for potato salad?

Yep! Just allow to completely cool then tightly store in the fridge for a couple of days until needed.

Process shots: add potato to chopping board (photo 1), slice into rounds (photo 2), add to pot (photo 3), add cold water & salt and boil until for tender (photo 4).

Creamy Potato Salad Dressing

There’s a few different ways you can make the dressing, but here’s how I construct mine:

• Base – The bulk of the dressing is mayonnaise, but I also like to add some sour cream for some extra creaminess!
• Acidity – This helps liven up the dressing. Here I use lemon juice, and whilst it’s not technically ‘acidity’ I like a dollop of dijon mustard for some background heat.
• Herbs – I love adding chives and parsley, both gotta be fresh!
• Seasoning – Keep it simple with salt, white pepper and sugar. I highly recommend using white pepper over black, it offers more of a classic flavour and a gentle hit of heat.

Can I make the dressing ahead of time?

Yep! This will also help the flavours marry together. Just tightly cover in the fridge for a couple of days until needed.

Process shots: add dressing ingredients to small mixing bowl (photo 1), stir to combine (photo 2).

Potato Salad

When it comes to the salad itself I tend to keep it fairly simple. Here’s the 3 ingredients I highly recommend adding:

• Hard-Boiled Egg – A classic addition to potato salad. Egg salad and potato salad often share similar ingredients so mixing the two works perfectly.
• Bacon – Need I justify this!?
• Red Onion – Adds a nice pop of colour, a bit of texture and a hit of flavour to compliment the chives. Can sub green/spring onion for a more subtle flavour.

You’ll notice there’s a fair bit of dressing when you add it all together, but potatoes are like sponges so some of it will get soaked up!

Can I make potato salad ahead of time?

Yep, just tightly cover in the fridge until needed. I find it keeps well from 3-5days.

Process shots: add potatoes to large mixing bowl (photo 1), add onion, egg and bacon (photo 2), pour in dressing and toss to combine (photo 3).

Serving Potato Salad

You can serve it up right away or give it a stint in the fridge. You’ll notice the dressing reduces slightly as it rests, so just give it a stir before you serve if you’ve let it rest.

Why does my potato salad get watery?

Most likely because the potatoes weren’t fully dry, meaning they were still holding on to some water. As they fully cool the steam gets trapped in the salad and produces water in the bottom of the bowl.

After another easy salad side for your sandwich? Check out my Roasted Vegetable Salad and Creamy Coleslaw!

Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this potato salad shall we?!

How to make the BEST Potato Salad (Full Recipe & Video)

The Best Potato Salad in the World

This potato salad is doused in a creamy dressing and loaded with bacon. What's not to love?!

5 from 5 votes

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Course: Pot Luck, Side Dish

Cuisine: Universal

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Steam Dry: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings (click & slide): 6

Calories per serving: 520kcal

Author: Chris

Cost per serving: £2 / $2.50

Equipment

• Large Pot & Colander (for boiling potatoes)
• Small Mixing Bowl & Spatula (for dressing)
• Large Mixing Bowl (for salad)
• Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
• Small Pot & Tray (to cook eggs/bacon)

Ingredients

Potato Salad

• 2lb / 1kg Baby Potatoes, sliced into ~1/4” rounds
• 5-7oz / 150-200g Bacon, cooked, cooled & chopped (weight is raw bacon)
• 3 Hard-Boiled Eggs, diced (see notes)
• 1/2 small Red Onion, finely diced
• 1 tsp Salt

Creamy Dressing

• 1 cup / 240g Mayo
• 1/4 cup / 60g Sour Cream
• 1 heaped tbsp EACH: Fresh Chives, Fresh Parsley, finely diced
• 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 Lemon, juice only
• 1/2 tsp EACH: Sugar, Salt, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp White Pepper, or to taste

Instructions

• Potatoes: Place potato slices in a pot of cold water with 1 tsp salt. Bring to boil and cook until fork tender. Just be vigilant and don't over cook them or they’ll turn mushy. Drain (don’t rinse) and leave to steam dry and completely cool. Now is a good time to prep the eggs & bacon.
• Dressing: In a small mixing bowl combine mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, mustard, chives, parsley, sugar, salt and white pepper.
• Potato Salad: In a larger mixing bowl combine the potatoes with egg, bacon, red onion and dressing. Gently toss until everything is evenly distributed.
• Serve: Cover and pop in the fridge to allow the flavours to marry, or serve up right away!

Quick Demo

Notes

a) Hard-Boiled Eggs - Use your preferred method. If you need guidance here's how I do mine:

Place eggs in a small pot and cover with cold water. Turn the heat to high and leave until you get a rolling boil. As soon as the eggs start dancing, turn off the heat, pop on the lid and leave on the hob for 10mins. After 10 mins, spoon eggs into a bowl of ice water (or just very cold). This will stop the cooking process. After, peel and dice eggs.

b) Make Ahead - You can tightly store in the fridge and it'll last between 3-5days. Just give it a stir before you serve up and stir through a dollop or mayo/sour cream if you need to add a bit more creaminess back in (potato will soak up some of the dressing).

c) Subs/Additions - If you want to load this up with more goodies then celery and dill pickles both work nicely. You can finish with some pinches of smoked paprika. You can also sub the red onion for spring onion for a slightly lighter flavour.

d) Calories - whole recipe divided by 6 using 5oz bacon:

Your Private Notes:

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Nutrition:

Nutrition Facts

The Best Potato Salad in the World

Amount Per Serving

Calories 520 Calories from Fat 366

% Daily Value*

Fat 40.64g63%

Saturated Fat 5.791g36%

Trans Fat 0.069g

Polyunsaturated Fat 16.867g

Monounsaturated Fat 7.554g

Cholesterol 112mg37%

Sodium 809mg35%

Potassium 834mg24%

Carbohydrates 29.22g10%

Fiber 3.6g15%

Sugar 2.64g3%

Protein 10.05g20%

Vitamin A 213IU4%

Vitamin C 32.2mg39%

Calcium 53mg5%

Iron 1.75mg10%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

*Nutrition is based on the absence of salt unless stated as a measurement in the ingredients. Cost is worked out based on ingredients bought from UK supermarkets, then divided by the number of servings. In both instances these values are just for guidance. Please check out my FAQ Page for more info.

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