The best potato salad loaded with crisp bacon and blue cheese. A perfect side for summer potlucks, picnics, cookouts, and BBQs. Since there are no eggs or mayonnaise, this is a great picnic food idea.
Make a double batch, and it disappears quickly, maybe it's all that crispy bacon on top...
Bacon Potato Salad Top Tips
Years ago while running late to an outdoor concert picnic, I grabbed a small container of a similar potato salad from a local gourmet market.
It was so incredible, I couldn't stop eating it that night. And yes, I ate most of the container. I came home and made it many times, over many years, until it became my version of the best potato salad recipe. Over the years, it became one of my go-to July 4th recipes.
- Blue cheese: Bacon and crumbled blue cheese make this potato salad creamy and so full of flavor. It is a classic flavor combo, but you can leave out either the blue cheese or bacon.
- Make-Ahead: A great bacon potato salad to make the day before you need it and becomes even better the next day.
- Garnish: Reserve some crispy bacon to sprinkle on the top. Add some finely minced fresh chives or parsley too for a pretty garnish.
- Dressing: Substitute ranch dressing for the blue cheese dressing and use a grated cheese like cheddar or one you like. You can also swap in Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
- Potatoes: Red potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, or russets will all work in this recipe.
- Crunch: The crisp crunchy celery is so clean and fresh against the creamy texture. And the parsley adds a clean fresh flavor.
- No Egg or Mayonnaise: Since there is NO EGG or MAYO, this is a safer potato salad for hot summer days at picnics. Eggs and Mayo should not be at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
How To Make Bacon Potato Salad
Potato Salad
- 5 pounds Yukon potatoes (peeled and cubed)
- 8 strips of bacon (crumbled)
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 2 cups sliced green onions
- 2 cups sliced celery
- 2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup blue cheese salad dressing or swap in ranch dressing
- ¼ cup sour cream
- Cook 8 strips of bacon until crispy. Set aside.
- Add all the dressing ingredients into a large mixing bowl; apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, sea salt, pepper, olive oil, blue cheese salad dressing, and sour cream, whisking after adding each one.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Peel and cube your potatoes, and add to the boiling water. Boil potatoes for about 20-25 minutes, until a piece is fork-tender when pierced. Drain water from potatoes, or remove with a slotted spoon into the large bowl with the dressing.
- Next, add crispy bacon pieces, crumbled blue cheese, chopped parsley, sliced green onions, chopped celery, and thyme leaves.
- The warm potatoes will help melt the blue cheese and absorb the dressing. Toss well and store in a sealed container in the fridge, gets even better by the next day so it's perfect to make ahead.
PRO TIP: You can garnish with some additional crispy crumbled bacon and a little parsley, and green onions to make it really pretty.
Try a pre-cooked bacon brand. Since it is half cooked, it prepares easily without the mess and crisps up beautifully in the microwave on paper plates. Costco Kirkland brand is great, but they are easy to find in any grocery store.
Or bake bacon on a rack over a cookie sheet in the oven.
Or saute bacon in a heavy skillet until crisp, this is messier but gets the job done.
Drain on paper towels after cooking by your method to keep the bacon crisp.
And receive a free guide on How To Build A Charcuterie Board as our thank you!
More Cookout Side Dishes
These summer side dishes and BBQ sides like Easy Pasta Salad, 7 Layer Salad, Watermelon Salad, Macaroni Pasta Salad, or Cowboy Baked Beans are the recipes everyone will be talking about at your next party!
An easy classic side dish, Coleslaw with an EASY Mason jar dressing made in 15 minutes including slicing cabbage with no mayo!
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Bacon Potato Salad
Ingredients
Potato Salad
- 5 pounds Yukon potatoes (peeled and cubed)
- 8 strips bacon (crumbled)
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 2 cups sliced green onions
- 2 cups sliced celery
- 2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Dressing
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup blue cheese salad dressing or swap in ranch dressing
- ¼ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Cook 8 strips of bacon until crispy. Set aside.
- Add all the dressing ingredients into a large mixing bowl; apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, sea salt, pepper, olive oil, blue cheese salad dressing, and sour cream, whisking after adding each one.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Peel and cube your potatoes, and add into the boiling water. Boil potatoes for about 20-25 minutes, until a piece is fork tender when pierced. Drain water from potatoes, or remove with a slotted spoon into the large bowl with the dressing.
- Next, add crispy bacon pieces, crumbled blue cheese, chopped parsley, sliced green onions, chopped celery, and thyme leaves.
- The warm potatoes will help melt the blue cheese and absorb the dressing. Toss well and store in a sealed container in fridge, gets even better by the next day so it's perfect to make ahead.
Notes
How To Get Crispy Bacon
- Try a pre-cooked bacon brand Since it is half cooked, it prepares easily without the mess and crisps up beautifully in the microwave on paper plates. (I use Costco Kirkland brand, but they are easy to find in the grocery store.)
- Or bake bacon on a rack over a cookie sheet in the oven
- Or saute bacon in a heavy skillet until crisp, this is messier but gets the job done.
Garnish
- Reserve some crispy bacon to sprinkle on the top. Add some finely minced fresh chives or parsley too for a pretty garnish.
Tips
- The crumbled blue cheese makes this potato salad SO creamy and so full of flavor, but is certainly optional!
- Make-Ahead: A great bacon potato salad to make the day before you need it and becomes even better the next day.
- Dressing: Substitute ranch dressing for the blue cheese dressing and use a grated cheese like cheddar or one you like. You can also swap in Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
- Potatoes: Red potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, or russets will all work in this recipe.
- Blue cheese: With bacon is an excellent flavor combo, but you can leave out either the blue cheese or bacon.
- No Egg or Mayonnaise: Since there is NO EGG or MAYO, this is a safer potato salad for hot summer days at picnics. Eggs and Mayo should not be at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
Everything looks so yummy and the designs are well thought of. How clever! I will try to make these for the weekend. LOL!
I absolutely love potato salad and have never seen it made this way. I am definitely going to be giving this a try!
Do Becca, it is one of those recipes we have every July 4th! I bought a container years ago at a local grocery deli counter (ate almost the whole potato salad container) and decided to make a recipe of my own! We love it... hope you make it.
What a delicious salad for the 4th of July! I would love it if a guest brought it to our picnic! Your puppy is adorable!
Awwww you saw my little Sassy girl, (she looks so divaish) but is really a big personality! I have lost count how many times I have made this potato salad...its is so good.
Oh, that's so clever! I love the inclusion of blue cheese to make it truly red, white and blue. Potato salad is a summer party staple for me and I can't imagine not making it.
Thanks Tamara, I had this potato salad many years ago (and almost ate the whole tub myself) came home and wrote a recipe for it, we LOVE it!
This potato salad was very satisfying. I really liked the blue cheese and celery in it. We served the bacon on the side for my vegetarian coworkers. Needless to say there was none leftover to take home.