Bring baked potatoes to your weekly dinner menu with this loaded baked potato salad. It is the perfect pairing with the simplest dinner or as a side to a decadent main.
If you love loaded baked potatoes but feel like they’re too much for a weeknight dinner this loaded baked potato salad is the perfect alternative.
We use all the same simple ingredients to create a versatile side dish. You can leave out ingredients you don’t like and add others that suit your fancy. The options are endless.
You might wonder why you would make a baked potato salad when you could just have baked potatoes. Well, the answer for me is simple and twofold.
Firstly, everyone knows that russet potatoes are best for baking, but I never have these on hand.
Secondly, it’s much easier to have just a taste of this delicious loaded baked potato salad and save the rest for later. It’s probably just me but when I make a baked potato, I have to eat the whole thing, it just doesn’t seem right to “save” the rest for later. It also feels weird to eat a baked potato cold. Somehow the potato salad fixes these problems for me.
Give it a try and see for yourself if this potato salad will satisfy your baked potato craving.
Preparing Loaded Baked Potato Salad
Ingredients
Mini potatoes: Mini potatoes are recommended in this recipe because you want the potatoes encased in their skin for the best results. The skin adds flavour and keeps the flesh from drying out.
Butter: Butter is churned milk or cream and is high in fat. It is solidified when refrigerated, holds a semi-soft, spreadable consistency at room temperature, or can be liquefied when heated.
Cheddar cheese: I like to use old cheddar in this recipe to add a bold flavour to complement the potatoes. Medium cheddar will work great as well.
Bacon: Bacon is salt cure pork from different cuts of the back. It is typically sold in slices. There are also non-pork alternatives such as turkey bacon that can also be used.
Sour cream: Sour cream is made from cream from dairy milk. Lactic acid bacteria is added to sweet cream creating a thick, tangy and creamy substance.
Chives: Chives are part of the same family of plants as onions, garlic and leeks and are edible flowering plants. This herb is used in many cuisines around the world usually raw thanks to its mild flavour. Chives are high in vitamin C and contain some magnesium and iron, among other nutrients.
How to Make Loaded Baked Potato Salad
There isn’t much to this salad. A few different pieces to prepare and a few minutes of waiting for the potatoes to cool.
So let’s get started with Preheating the oven to 450°F.
Cook the potatoes
The reason we are using mini potatoes, or baby potatoes, is to get that delicious flavour of the skin in every bite. Also, dicing a baked potato may prove to be a bit crumbly.
Then wash the mini
potatoes and add them to a 9×13 glass baking dish.
Next, melt the butter in the microwave and pour it over the potatoes. Add ½ tsp coarsely ground salt and toss to coat well.
Once the oven is preheated bake the potatoes for 20 minutes.
Once the potatoes are cooked, let them cool for about 20 minutes or until you can handle them safely. Cut them into halves or quarters, depending on the size of the potatoes and add them to a large bowl.
Make bacon bits
While the potatoes are baking, dice the bacon into ¼ inch pieces and add to a pan.
Cook until crisp. I like the bacon to be extra crispy in this recipe to add the perfect contrast to the potatoes. Once cooked, removed from the pan and place onto a paper towel.
Prepare the uncooked ingredients
Now, grate the cheese on a fine grater and roughly chop the chives. Keep the cheese in the fridge until you need to use it.
Make the Salad
Add the cheese, bacon, chives, sour cream, salt and pepper and toss everything to combine well.
Substitutions
Bacon: I use pork bacon for this recipe but you can use any kind of bacon you like. The key is to make sure the pieces are crispy and big enough to add a balance of texture to the potatoes.
Sour Cream: You can use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream but it will be slightly more tart. You can also take this salad up a level and use our G&K Ranch Dressing instead to add even more flavour.
Chives: If you prefer a stronger flavour, you can use the greens of green onions instead of chives. These will add a lovely freshness to the potato salad.
Serving Loaded Baked Potato Salad
This side dish is perfect for a simple lunch or an exquisite dinner main. We enjoy this loaded baked potato salad with a simple BLT just as much as we do with a striploin steak.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it better to bake or boil potatoes for potato salad?
Depending on the flavour profile that you are looking for either one could work well. You have more control over the potatoes when you boil them since checking on them is that much easier. Also, when baking potatoes they do dry out a bit more, especially if they’re overbaked.
We bake the potatoes for this recipe because we quite literally want to make baked potatoes. Baking gives the skin a crispier texture and allows us to infuse some more flavour.
Do you let potatoes cool before making potato salad?
Always let the potatoes cool before handling them to prevent burning. As the potatoes cool they will also hold their shape better than when they are hot or warm. If you are mixing the potatoes in a salad with ingredients that shouldn’t be heated, like cheese that you don’t want to melt, letting them cool fully is definitely the way to go.
What type of potato is best for potato salad?
You can use any type of potato for potato salad. Russet potatoes will be a bit drier than yellow flesh potatoes. We use mini, or baby potatoes for this recipe to that we can have the flavour of the skin in every bite.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions. And if you like this recipe be sure to leave us a five-star rating below.
Are you looking for dinner ideas? Check out our recipes:
Loaded Baked Potato Salad Recipe
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Knife
- 9x13 baking dish
- Large pan (11-inch)
Ingredients
- 900 g mini potatoes
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ tsp coarse salt
- 100 g cheddar cheese
- 280 g bacon roughly 4 thick-cut slices
- 60 ml sour cream
- 5 g chives
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- Coarsely ground salt and pepper about 1/8 tsp each
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Then wash the mini potatoes and add them to a 9x13 glass baking dish.900 g mini potatoes
- Next, melt the butter in the microwave and pour it over the potatoes. Add ½ tsp coarsely ground salt and toss to coat well.2 tbsp butter, ½ tsp coarse salt
- Once the oven is preheated bake the potatoes for 20 minutes.
- While the potatoes are baking, dice the bacon into ¼ inch pieces and add to a pan. Cook until crisp. I like the bacon to be extra crispy in this recipe to add the perfect contrast to the potatoes. Once cooked, removed from the pan and place onto a paper towel.280 g bacon
- Now, grate the cheese on a fine grater and roughly chop the chives. Keep the cheese in the fridge until you need to use it.100 g cheddar cheese, 5 g chives
- Once the potatoes are cooked, let them cook for about 20 minutes. Cut them into halves or quarters, depending the size of the potatoes and add them to a large bowl.
- Add the cheese, bacon, chives, sour cream, salt and pepper and toss everything to combine well.900 g mini potatoes, 100 g cheddar cheese, 280 g bacon, 60 ml sour cream, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ground black pepper, Coarsely ground salt and pepper
- Serve with your favourite main.
