Bacon Potato Salad

Last Updated July 31st, 2023 at 05:11 pm by Lisa

The best potato salad loaded with crisp bacon and blue cheese. A perfect side dish for summer potlucks, picnics, cookouts, and BBQs. Since there are no eggs or mayonnaise, this is a great picnic food idea. And goes great with everything from grilled burgers to steak, ribs, hot dogs, and so much more.

Make a double batch of this no mayo potato salad, and it disappears quickly. Maybe it's all that crispy bacon on top...

Potato Salad Recipe With Bacon

This recipe is a classic potato salad, with a red, white, and blue twist! The red is bacon, the white is potatoes, and the blue is blue cheese. But all these ingredients can be mixed up as you please, and this potato salad no eggs version keeps things simple, but you can add eggs of course and other things, read on for those ideas.

Loaded Potato Salad Ingredients

• 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 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

Dressing Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoon sea salt (kosher 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

Potato Salad With Bacon Instructions

1. Cook 8 strips of bacon until crispy. Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a 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.
3. Meanwhile, 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.
4. Next, add crispy bacon pieces, crumbled blue cheese, chopped parsley, sliced green onions, chopped celery, and thyme leaves.
5. The warm potatoes will help melt the blue cheese and absorb the dressing. Toss well and give your potato bacon salad a good stir, then 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 potato salad recipes with some additional crispy crumbled bacon and a little parsley, and green onions to make it really pretty.

Years ago while running late to an outdoor concert picnic,  I grabbed a small container of a similar bacon potato salad recipe from a local gourmet market.

The potato salad bacon with blue cheese was so incredible and full of deep flavors, 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!

Bacon Potato Salad Recipes Ingredient Notes

• 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. Add any grated cheese you love!
• Make-Ahead: A great bacon potato salad to make the day before you need it and becomes even better the next day. (Like everything!)
• Garnish: Reserve some crispy bacon to sprinkle on the top. Add some finely minced fresh chives or parsley too for a pretty garnish.
• Blue Cheese Dressing: Substitute Ranch Dressing or use a ranch seasoning packet mixed with milk or even buttermilk for the blue cheese dressing and use a grated cheddar cheese like a sharp cheddar cheese or one you like for a bacon ranch potatoes salad! You can also swap in Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
• Potatoes: Red potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, or russet potatoes 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 with pop of green.
• Potato Salad Recipe No Eggs / Potato Salad No Mayo: 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.
• Variations: You can add Diced Chicken in potato salad recipes with bacon instead. Then add Buffalo chicken hot sauce dressing for a wonderful twist! Bake the potatoes instead of boiling them. Then scoop them out into a bowl for a loaded baked potato salad!

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, No Mayo Coleslaw with an EASY Mason jar dressing made in 15 minutes including slicing cabbage with no mayo!