Ready in under 30 minutes, this Classic Potato Salad with Bacon is perfect for all of your summer barbecues and cookouts! It’s creamy, tangy, and a little smoky with the help of crispy bacon. Prep this side dish ahead of time to serve with your favorite grilled meat!
Why I Love This Potato Salad (Even Though I Hate Mayo)
Classic Potato Salad. Creamy, tangy, mayo-y with boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs.
Considering that I actually have said over and over (and I remind you every time I make a potato salad recipe like this Creamy Italian Potato Salad or this Warm Maple Bacon Potato Salad or this BBQ Bacon Potato Salad) that I hate mayonnaise, you’d think I’d be right there on board. Except that, for some reason, I love classic potato salad.
There is just something about having a big bowl of potato salad in the fridge during the summer, and just grilling some meat for dinner every night. It’s so easy, and, I know here in Manitoba, when summer comes we’re ready to soak up every last ray of sunshine.
I wanted to make a classic potato salad recipe to add to my collection here this summer, but I just had to jazz it up a little. So bacon. The salty, smoky flavor is so good it makes my eyes roll back in my head. I’m sure you’ll love it too!
Ingredients for Classic Potato Salad with Bacon
- Potatoes: I like using small, thin-skinned potatoes with a creamy interior. So good!
- Boiled eggs: You’ll want to hard-boil your eggs and then let them cool completely before dicing them up for the salad.
- Mayonnaise: I like to use light mayonnaise. Miracle Whip would also work well!
- Broth: Vegetable or chicken broth is best so the flavor doesn’t overpower the salad. Use water if you don’t have any.
- White vinegar: If you don’t have this, you can use lemon juice or apple cider vinegar instead.
- Green onions: Make sure you thinly slice these guys!
- Bacon: I prefer thick-cut, but any type of bacon will work here.
Additional Ways to Jazz Up Your Potato Salad
If you like a bit of a kick, mix in some hot sauce, sriracha, or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Fresh herbs like dill, parsley, or chives can add a nice freshness, while different mustards like Dijon or whole grain can switch up the taste. You can also play around with other veggies like diced bell peppers or corn, or try different types of potatoes like red or Yukon Gold for a different texture and flavor.
Tips and Tricks for Making this Classic Potato Salad:
- This is a great make ahead side dish! We’ll keep it in the fridge for up to 4-5 days and it’s just as good as the first day.
- There’s one kind of potato salad I can’t do and that’s mashed potato salad (insert that face your child makes — you know the one). Cook your potatoes and then chill them, and cut them when they’re cold to avoid just mashing them up. Big chunks or little chunks, that’s up to you 🙂
- If you’re looking to healthify this potato salad a little more, feel free to swap out half the mayo with plain 0% Greek yogurt. I don’t think it’d be a noticeable difference but you’ll get a little more protein and likely less calories.
- Also, you can skip the bacon. Not that I recommend doing that, but if you’re looking to cut out calories somewhere, skipping the bacon will save you about 100 calories per serving if you use thick-sliced bacon (see recipe below for a detailed breakdown with and without bacon).
Storing Your Classic Potato Salad
This potato salad will keep in the fridge for up to 4-5 days and will taste just as delicious. You can whip up a big batch on Sunday and have it ready as a simple side dish for the rest of the week!
Serving Suggestions
Potato salad is a summer must-have for me! It’s the perfect side for so many classic cookout meals. I love to serve it with my BBQ Grilled Turkey Burgers or Grilled Pork Tenderloin, and of course, no summer plate is complete without some Instant Pot Baked Beans and perfectly boiled Corn on the Cob.
Tell me: what are your favorite cold salads to eat in the summer with your grilled goods?? I’d love to hear!
Tell me: what are your favorite cold salads to eat in the summer with your grilled goods?? I’d love to hear!
Classic Potato Salad with Bacon Recipe + VIDEO
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 1.5lb bag potatoes
- 4 Hard boiled eggs, cold, chopped
- 1 cup light mayonnaise, or Miracle Whip
- ¼ cup vegetable or chicken broth, or water
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3 Green onions, thinly sliced
- 4 Strips thick-cut bacon, cooked until crispy, crumbled
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a large pot with water covering them. Bring to a boil and cook for 12-15 minutes, until tender. Drain and cool completely in the refrigerator. Once cool, chop into small pieces.
- In a large bowl, combine potatoes, eggs, mayonnaise, broth, vinegar, salt, pepper, green onions and bacon. Stir until completely combined and adjust seasonings as desired.
- Cover, refrigerate until chilled and serve.
Notes
**Nutrition information without bacon: 245 calories, 14g fat, 2g sat. fat, 763mg sodium, 7g protein (all else is the same).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Davina says
This recipe is so versatile you can add things like peas corn chicken delicious 🤤
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Davina!
Jean Morgan says
I thought my husband was the only one who will not eat mayonnaise!! He adores deviled eggs. I tell him it’s just mustard, and name the other ingredients but never say mayonnaise. Like you if it’s put on a sandwich he refuses to eat it. I’m going to tell him it’s a girl who despises mayo also and just put a little mustard to hide it.
Ashley Fehr says
Haha, that’s good thinking!
AJ says
I was surprised to see that it can keep 4-5 days in the fridge with mayo and eggs. Seems a bit long for food safety?
I need to make this to take on an Rv trip!
Ashley Fehr says
Mayo keeps for weeks in the fridge, and hard boiled eggs can be refrigerate for 1 week.
Brenda HARTER says
Tried your recipe yesterday exactly as you wrote it and it is perfect! Thank you!
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Brenda!
Carol G says
I found your recipe a while ago and saved it to my favorites. Let me tell you I wish I would’ve made it as soon as I found it because I made it today and what an amazing potatoe salad!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad you liked it!
Lisa McCloughan says
Super delicious! Had some left over bacon strips and it was the perfect use for them. I used some Dijon in place of the vinegar. Excellent! Thank you for sharing!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Lisa! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Marie Lawson says
Trying it tomorrow on my company. I’ll let you know the results.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Marie!
ColleenB. says
Oh, I can’t stand smahed potato salad either….yuck.
I do cook my potato in chunks just until fork tender; drain and then let cool. Potatoes cook faster when cut into chunks right away. I do add a little yellow mustard to my mayo mixture.
Thanks 4 sharing the recipe. Think I will be making this come next month when we have our barn raising gathering; 15 plus people to feed. I’m so looking forward to this
Ashley Fehr says
That’s a great idea to cut them before cooking! I hope you enjoy it Colleen!