Bacon Potato Salad — 🥓🥔🎉 This no mayo potato salad is studded with crispy bacon pieces and coated in a tangy vinegar dressing. It’s ready in just 30 minutes and the whole family will love it! Perfect for picnics, potlucks, casual entertaining, and the perfect EASY side dish!
Table of Contents
This isn’t your grandma’s potato salad. You know, the one that’s loaded with gloppy mayo, mushy potatoes, and hard-boiled eggs? Not even close.
First, there’s bacon, which makes it an instant crowd pleaser.
Second, there’s no mayo so it feels lighter, and as a bonus you don’t have to worry about it as much at warm outdoor potlucks, picnics, and events.
To keep it fresher and to boost the flavor profile while incorporating texture and crunch, there’s fresh sweet corn, spinach, parsley, red onion, and a touch of garlic. I love seeing the green because it feels healthy, and I remember my mom making spinach salads with warm bacon dressing — it’s a natural pairing!
Bacon Potato Salad Ingredients
This potato salad recipe with bacon is my go-to in the warmer months when I need a quick and easy side for a potluck or party. Gather the following basic ingredients:
- Baby potatoes
- Bacon
- Red onion
- Garlic
- Sweet corn
- Spinach
- Fresh parsley
- Olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- Granulated sugar
- Salt and pepper
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Potato Salad with Bacon
This is an easy potato salad to make, and you can serve it warm or chill it. Either way it’s a great side and will be sure to disappear whenever you make it!
Let’s quickly review how the no-mayo potato salad comes together:
- Boil the potatoes until fork tender — be careful not to overcook them! Drain and rinse the potatoes with cold water to prevent them from cooking further.
- While the potatoes are cooking, make the bacon. You can make the bacon as crisp as you’d like. When the bacon is cooked to your liking, transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate and crumble it once it’s cool enough to handle.
- In that same skillet you cooked the bacon in, sauté the onion and garlic until tender.
- Then, whisk together the potato salad dressing in a small bowl.
- Dice the cooked potatoes and add to a large bowl along with the remaining potato salad ingredients.
- Toss gently to combine and add more salt and pepper as needed.
FAQs
For this easy potato salad recipe, I used baby gold potatoes. They required around 15 minutes to boil until fork tender. Your cook time may vary slightly depending on how large your potatoes are and which variety your purchase.
If this is your first time making potato salad with bacon, I recommend checking the potatoes every 3 minutes after they’ve been boiling for 10 minutes. This way you won’t accidentally overcook them!
This is a super versatile recipe! You could swap frozen corn for fresh, arugula for spinach, cilantro for parsley, green onion for red, and so forth. It’s a flexible recipe based on what flavors you enjoy most.
Yes! If you want to quickly toss this dish together in the morning for a lunchtime gathering (or simply are short on time most days!), you’re welcome to boil the potatoes and chill them in the fridge until ready to use.
For this bacon potato salad recipe, I recommend using baby gold potatoes (aka Yukon Gold potatoes). Generally speaking, you want a small potato with a thin skin.
There’s no need to so long as you use baby gold or Yukon Gold potatoes. The skin is thin enough to eat, plus it adds a subtle texture and nutrients.
Storage and Make-Ahead Instructions
Storage: Potato salad will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Make ahead: You can make this bacon potato salad up to 4 days before serving it. If you do make this ahead of time, be sure to give it a good toss before serving to help redistribute all of that yummy dressing!
What to Serve with Bacon Potato Salad
Recipe Video
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Potato Salad with Bacon
Ingredients
Bacon Potato Salad
- 2 pounds baby gold potatoes
- 2 teaspoons salt, for the boiling water
- 1 pound bacon
- one small/medium red onion, diced small
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced or pressed
- 1 medium/large ear fresh sweet corn with kernels cut off, 3/4 cup frozen corn may be substituted
- 1 to 2 cups fresh baby spinach, loosely measured
- ½ cup fresh parsley, regular or Italian flat-leaf, finely chopped
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- To a large pot, add the potatoes, cover with water, add 2 teaspoons salt, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and allow potatoes to simmer for about 15 minutes, or until done and fork-tender. Drain and rinse potatoes under cold water to stop the cooking process; set aside. While potatoes cook, make the bacon.
- To a large skillet, add the bacon and cook over medium heat until done and as crisp as desired, about 10 minutes, flip intermittently. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and when it’s cool enough, crumble it; set aside.
- To the skillet with the bacon fat, add the onion and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes or until tender, stir intermittently.
- In the last minute of cooking, add the garlic, stir, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Take skillet off the heat and set aside.
- To a very large bowl, add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, and whisk to combine; set aside.
- Halve or quarter the potatoes depending on their size and add to the large bowl. Add the crumbled bacon, red onion and garlic (use a slotted spoon to remove because there will be excess bacon fat in the skillet; discard oil in a small container – don’t pour it down the drain), corn, spinach, parsley, and toss well to combine.
- Taste potato salad and make any necessary adjustments, i.e. more salt, pepper, sugar, dash of extra mustard or vinegar, etc.
- Serve immediately if desired or cover and refrigerate until chilled. Potato salad will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Video
Notes
- Recipe adapted from Woman’s Day
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Potluck Salad Recipes:
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Warm German Potato Salad — A classic potato salad made with tender red potatoes, bacon, onions, and a tangy vinegar dressing! This no-mayo potato salad is a family favorite side dish that’s perfect for parties, picnics, and potlucks!!
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Grape Broccoli Bacon Salad — My FAVORITE recipe for the classic salad with a tangy dressing that everyone LOVES!! Flavor and texture galore in this EASY salad that’s perfect for parties, picnics, and potlucks!!
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Originally posted June 13, 2016 and reposted May 31, 2021 and August 16, 2024 with updated text.
Great
great
Can you tell me how many servings this yields? I see 10 cups, but unsure how many 10 cups will feed? 10 people?
It would depend what else you’re serving this with. If this is the ONLY thing you’re serving, likely no. But with other things, probably fine. I mean who eats more than 1 cup of potato salad if there are other options being served. You’d have to be really a potato salad lover to eat more IMO but only you know your guests’ appetites.
very similar to GERMAN POTATO SALAD……
This is a great compliment to any BBQ item, Gloria! I make a similar potato salad but I do not put egg in mine. Not that I have anything against eggs, I’ve just never made a potato salad with them. This salad is perfect!
Do you think I could sub cauliflower for potatoes in this to make it more keto friendly?
Maybe! I think that sounds good actually I would just make sure the cauliflower is not too overcooked or it will fall apart and then it will be more like a cauli mash than a potato salad.
Wow this is osm, thanks to share your recipe, i will make to try this for my loving family.
Made this yesterday and it was SO SO GOOD!
I only had white wine vinegar which was a fine substitute.
Also added celery for more crunch, half of which I sautéed with the onion (left a bit of onion raw too). Used 3 lbs of potatoes so I doubled the dressing. Big hit!
Glad this was a big hit and turned out so well!
Have not yet tried the recipe, but want to make you aware that when you try to print it, the included ads obstruct the instructions, making you go back to view it on line and write in what you missed.
Yes! It is a really great alternative to the mayo-egg mixture for potato salad, and it does have great flavor! Just the correct amount of dressing for a small bag of potatoes.
I used red skins as that is all they had at the store and I used turkey bacon. Still was good. I will definately make this again!
This was really great! We had it by itself for dinner and I am hoping it tastes just as good cold for lunch tomorrow.
I added chives, thyme and cherry tomatoes from my garden as well as some roasted pumpkin.
Love the dressing as well!
Thanks for the five star review and glad it worked out great for you!
Outstanding, your measurement of the dressing is spot on. My husband detests over powering vinegar taste, this was perfect blend of flavors.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this was spot on for you both!
So excited to make this for a special bbq at the weekend. Only problem is that I detest corn. Can you suggest an alternative? Thank you!
Just omit it then.
We only had baby red potatoes, so I used those in the recipe and it was delicious!!! Tonight, I am going to make your Club Sandwich BLT Pasta. Thank you for the wonderful recipes!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it turned out great with baby reds! Enjoy the Club Sandwich BLT Pasta and LMK how it goes!
Big hit. Made a half recipe and omitted spinach. Great flavor
Glad it was a big hit!
That should read “couldn’t stop eating it” 😄