This Loaded Baked Potato Salad is so good, it could easily be the star of the show. With sour cream, cheese, bacon, and fresh green onion, it's your favorite restaurant experience turned into the perfect summery side dish.
You know I love to use this space to wax lyrical about life, but I'm so excited to talk about today's recipe, I almost don't know what to say. I guess that's the lesson today, though. Make sure you create things that really excite you. Whether it's potato salad, a hand-knitted scarf, or a massive art installation, fill your life with more things that light you up.
Somewhere along the line, we were taught that suffering is noble, that if we toil in this life, we'll be rewarded in the next. You know who that serves? The people with all the power that are profiting off your toil and misery. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating rampant greed and gluttony. I'm just asking, are we really creating more love and joy if we're never experiencing any pleasure? If something is freaking awesome, and it's available to you without hurting anyone, go for it with no regrets or apologies.
What makes Loaded Baked Potato Salad so awesome?
This Loaded Baked Potato Salad definitely gets me excited. My intention was to serve it with these Gourmet Waffle Burgers (or any burger), but the truth is, I loved it so much, I didn't want to fill up on anything else. The potatoes are tender, and the dressing is loaded with sour cream to give it a punch of acidity. Then there's the cheddar cheese, the burst of freshness from green onions or chives (whatever you can get), and a touch of heat from lots of freshly ground black pepper. But without a doubt, the thing that puts it all over the top is the crispy bacon. Need I say more?
This is going to be the star of every summer potluck and backyard barbecue you attend this year. It really needs to be made ahead, so even if you're the host, it's a no stress side dish on the day of. Also, if you want to make a batch of this and keep it in your fridge and sneak a big bowl for lunch for a couple of days, I wouldn't dare try and stop you. You'll never want to stop eating it.
Magical Properties of Potatoes
Potato correspondences are pretty easy to guess. This starchy, comforting food that grows underground is tied to the root chakra and the element of earth and carries the energy of grounding and stability. It can also be used in protective spells and to absorb negative energy from a person or space. You may not have guessed that potatoes are ruled by the moon and Virgo and carry receptive or feminine energy. It makes sense when you consider that they're full of water.
For more on the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.
Ingredients
Here's everything you'll need for this dish. All the details are in the recipe card below.
- Baby potatoes
- Bacon - that's streaky bacon for my UK friends, preferably smoked
- Sour cream - go for full fat
- Mayonnaise
- Salt & pepper
- Garlic powder - or granules
- Green onion - or chives
- Cheddar cheese
Tips for making Loaded Baked Potato Salad
This recipe does have a few components that need to be prepared separately, but you can do all of them while the potatoes are cooking. Be sure to start your potatoes in cold water so that they cook evenly. The trick is to cook them until they're tender but not mushy. For me, that's usually around 25 minutes. The better job you do of chopping them all the same size, the easier this will be.
While your potatoes are boiling, fry up your chopped bacon until crispy. Then drain it on a paper towel-lined plate.
While that's doing it's thing, you can make your dressing in a mixing bowl that will hold all your potatoes later. Simply whisk together the sour cream, mayo, and seasonings, plus most of your chopped green onions (save some for the top at the end). Once that's all combined, just pop it back in the fridge until you're ready to bring everything together.
Once your potatoes are drained, you can add them to the bowl with the dressing, along with the crispy bacon. Give it all a good stir, then park it in the fridge for a few hours to chill. When you're ready to serve, stir in the cheddar cheese. You want to wait to add that when the potato salad is cold so it doesn't melt. Add another sprinkling of flaky sea salt, a few more grinds of black pepper, and a scattering of green onion. It's freakin' awesome.
FAQ
I'm not a food scientist, so I don't have a definitive answer, but it should last a few days. My general rule of thumb is that if there's nothing growing on it or it doesn't smell bad, it's fine. Do keep this salad chilled to keep any bacteria from growing. If you're serving this at a summer outdoor party, either keep it on ice or return it to the fridge after serving if you have leftovers.
Absolutely. The whole dish needs to be made at least a few hours ahead, but if you want to do just the potatoes even further ahead, that's absolutley fine.
This Loaded Baked Potato Salad is sure to bring you pleasure and joy. Don't hold back. Dig in!
Looking for more awesome potato salad ideas? Try this Za'atar Potato Salad or some Bacon & Egg Potato Salad.
PrintLoaded Baked Potato Salad
This Loaded Baked Potato Salad is so good, it could easily be the star of the show. With sour cream, cheese, bacon, and fresh green onion, it's your favorite restaurant experience turned into the perfect summery side dish.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Boiled
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 kilo (about 2 pounds) baby potatoes, quartered
- 5 ounces bacon
- 1 cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 green onions, chopped
- ⅔ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Chop your potatoes into bite size chunks. This may be in half, quarters, or even smaller depending on how baby your baby potatoes actually are. Add them to a big pot, and cover them with cold water. Add a fat pinch of salt, slap a lid on, and cook your potatoes over medium high heat for about 25 minutes or until they can be pierced with a fork. You want them tender but not mushy. Drain the potatoes.
- While your potatoes are cooking, chop or scissor your bacon into a large skillet and cook up the pieces until their crisp. Drain your bacon on a paper towel lined plate.
- As your bacon is working in the pan, you can also get your dressing ready. In a large mixing bowl that you can fit your potatoes in later, whisk together the sour cream, mayo, salt, pepper, garlic powder and chopped green onions.
- Once your potatoes are drained, add them to the sour cream mixture along with your bacon pieces. Give everything a gentle fold to coat everything in the dressing. The dressing will get thinned out from the heat from the potatoes, but don't worry, it will all come back together in the fridge. Put some plastic wrap or a lid on your bowl, and stash it in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours.
- Before serving, stir in the shredded cheddar. Serve cold.
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