Southern Style Potato Salad

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Southern Style Potato Salad combines baby red potatoes with bacon, hard boiled eggs, and plenty of veggies.

A bowl with Potato salad with chives, paprika, and bacon.

Summer is almost here and that means it’s BBQ and picnic season!  I don’t know about you but whenever I think of picnics I think of grilled food, delicious salads and sides, and plenty of desserts.

Since my husband takes care of the grilling in the house and I have many, many dessert recipes to choose from, I’m happy to share one of our favorite side dishes with you today.

The first side dish I think of when I think summer is potato salad.  I love potato salad…when it’s good.   I don’t love when it’s drowning in mayonnaise or made with sub-par potatoes.

I guess I’m a bit picky when it comes to my potato salad.   I like it with fresh potatoes, lots of veggies, bacon, and plenty of seasonings.   While I do put mayonnaise in the potato salad, it isn’t overwhelming and I add enough mustard and vinegar to balance it out.

A small bowl of potato salad with a large bowl behind it.

Ingredients:

  • baby red potatoes (you can also use regular red potatoes and cut them smaller)
  • bacon
  • celery
  • bell pepper (use your favorite color, I usually go with green or yellow)
  • onion (I prefer a sweet onion but use what you like)
  • garlic cloves (fresh are best but you can use already chopped)
  • mayonnaise
  • brown mustard (or you can use half the amount of Dijon)
  • white vinegar
  • celery seed (this is optional but it adds a lot of flavor)
  • salt and pepper
  • hard boiled eggs
  • paprika

The first and most important part of making potato salad is choosing the potatoes.  While I’m a fan of Russet potatoes, I think potato salad calls for red skinned potatoes.  They are smaller, easier to use in potato salads, and I love the added color it gives to a salad.

I used two pounds of red skinned potatoes in my salad.  I then added celery, onion, garlic, and green peppers.  I think the vegetables add color, flavor, and a nice crunch to the potato salad.

Can I add other vegetables to my potato salad?

Of course!   Use your favorite vegetables and as much of them as you’d like.  In addition to celery, onions, and bell peppers some good ideas are cucumbers, pickles, radishes, or carrots.

A bowl of red skinned potatoes, a bowl of hard boiled eggs, and a bowl of bacon with a potato stuffie on top.

Of course no potato salad is completely finished without bacon and eggs (sounds like I’m ready for breakfast!)  But really, hard boiled eggs and bacon round out this southern style potato salad.

Do I have to add the bacon?

If you are looking to make a Southern Style Potato Salad then the easy answer is yes.  In addition to adding the actual bacon you will cook the veggies in the bacon grease to give them added flavor as well.  If you don’t want to add bacon then you should probably find another potato salad recipe.

More Potato Salad Recipes:

I whipped this potato salad up in no time but had an awfully hard time waiting for it to cool before I could eat it.  It was so good, quite possibly the best potato salad I’ve made to date.  I can’t wait to take it to my family’s summer party!

How do I store the potato salad?

The potato salad needs to be refrigerated.  Keep it in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  Sometimes I need to add a bit of mayonnaise to the potato salad because it starts getting dry sitting for a while.

Pin Image:   A bowl of Southern Potato Salad, Text Title, a bowl with dressing in it.

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Southern Style Potato Salad

Southern Style Potato Salad

Yield: serves 8
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 lb. red skinned Idaho® potatoes
  • 4 slices bacon
  • 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 large onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3/4 c. light mayonnaise
  • 2 T. brown mustard
  • 1 T. white vinegar
  • 1 t. celery seed
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1 t. black pepper
  • 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
  • 2 t. paprika (for garnish)

Instructions

  1. Cut the potatoes into 1 inch pieces. Place them in a medium saucepan and cover with water.
  2. Bring the water to a boil and cool over medium high heat for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and set aside.
  3. Heat the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook 3-4 minutes per side or until browned. Remove from pan and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain. Crumble and set aside.
  4. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat from the pan. Add the celery, bell pepper, onions, and garlic to the bacon fat and saute for 1 minute, just long enough for them vegetables to pick up the bacon flavor.
  5. Remove from heat and immediately pour the vegetables into a large bowl. Add in the mayonnaise, brown mustard, white vinegar, celery seed, salt, pepper, and eggs. Mix well to combine.
  6. Add the potatoes and the bacon to the vegetables and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
  7. Before serving sprinkle with paprika.

Notes

Source: Adapted from Spiced

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 229Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 657mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 3gSugar: 3gProtein: 8g

  A bowl of potato salad with a Spuddy Buddy Stuffed Potato next to it.

 

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22 Comments

  1. This potato salad would definitely be a hit at any potluck…I’m going to put it on my must make list. It looks fabulous!

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