The Ultimate Red Skin Potato Salad with Bacon
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Potato salad is a summer staple. From summer cookouts and picnics to pool parties and potlucks, if you are having an outdoor gathering, it’s just not the same without a classic potato salad. And this easy red skin potato salad recipe is sure to be a huge hit with everyone!
This recipe is a Dined and Dashed Level 2 recipe, which means it takes 30 minutes or less to prepare and isn’t a challenge for an average weekday.
There are a lot of different ways to make potato salad, and a lot of different options for add-ins the give your potato salad that special touch. And sometimes, even though it’s a side dish, you want the potato salad to be the star of the show!
Best potatoes to use to make potato salad
The secret to great potato salad lies, of course, with the main ingredient – the potatoes. While you can make potato salad with Yukon golds or russet potatoes (it’s totally your personal preference), the best way to make the perfect potato salad for the best flavor is with red skinned potatoes.
Red potatoes are not as dry as the other kinds of potatoes, which makes for a more delicious potato salad. no one wants dry salad.
This delicious potato salad recipe uses simple ingredients to make the perfect side dish for your summer BBQ, family reunion, graduation and more! You may not even need a trip to the grocery store for a lot of these items.
Gather your ingredients for red skin potato salad
You can see a more detailed list with quantities in the recipe card below but before you start making this delicious redskin potato salad, make sure you have all the necessary ingredients.
- Red skin potatoes
- Hard-boiled eggs (some people just use the egg yolks)
- Crunchy Celery
- Mayo
- Sour cream
- Onion (can be green onions, white onions, red onion or yellow onions – depends on what you like)
- Cooked, crispy bacon
- Salt
Tools needed to make red skin potato salad
You don’t need much to make this redskin potato salad recipe, but you do need a few kitchen tools:
- Large pot of water to boil the potatoes
- Cutting board
- Potato peeler (although recommend keeping the skins on)
- Knife
- Small bowl
- Large bowl
How to prepare red skin potato salad recipe
If possible, cook your potatoes the day before and then put them in the fridge before cutting them. They will cut up better and be less likely to be mushy.
- Cut up the potatoes and dice the eggs and mix it all together.
- Keep chilled until ready to serve!
- You can probably adapt this recipe to make the potatoes in the instant pot if you prefer to do it that way. Let us know how it turns out if you do!
Pro tips for the best potato salad
The tips below will help make sure your serve the most memorable and delicious red skin potato salad!
- If possible cook the potatoes the day before you are going to cut them and chill them overnight for easier cutting and to prevent them from getting mushy.
- Always start potatoes in cold water. This will keep the outsides from cooking faster than the insides.
- If you can’t cook the potatoes the day ahead, make sure they are completely cooled before mixing in the mayo and sour cream.
- Experiment with the ingredients! You can add fresh dill or other fresh herbs, Dijon mustard, green bell pepper or even dill pickles. You could also swap out the sour cream and use Greek yogurt.
- If you can’t chill your potatoes overnight, you may want to toss then in a little bit of apple cider vinegar so the hot potatoes don’t react with the eggs.
For some more great tips check out: How to Pick the Best Potatoes for Potato Salad.
The Best Red Skin Potato Salad with Bacon
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. red potatoes always red – other kinds are too dry
- 2 eggs hard boiled
- ¼ cup celery diced into 1/8” pieces
- 1 cup mayonnaise NOT imitation type salad dressing
- ½ cup sour cream
- Onion optional
- Crisp bacon optional
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes, preferably the day before. Let them sit in the refrigerator overnight. They’re easier to peel, cut and mix when cold. When they’re warm they seem to fall apart and mush when mixing, and they absorb the mayo and sour cream.
- Cut cold potatoes into ½” cubes. We prefer to leave the skin on, but you can peel them first, if desired.
- Dice the hard boiled eggs.
- Mix all ingredients. Salt to taste.
- Serve and keep cold.
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If you made this recipe, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. Let us know if you made any substitutions and/or have any recommendations for us. Also, don’t miss a Dined and Dashed recipe – make sure you follow us on Pinterest.
