This red skin potato salad recipe is the perfect addition to any lunch or dinner spread. Made with crispy bacon, crunchy celery, tangy dill pickle, and a creamy mayo and mustard dressing, it’s a family-friendly crowd-pleaser that’s great for cookouts, and just happens to be gluten free. Plus, it can be partially prepped ahead of time to make your life easier!
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Whenever I serve this salad at a get-together, at least one person asks for the recipe.
That’s how good this red skin potato salad is.
I won’t deny that it probably has something to do with the bacon in it, because bacon often does make everything better.
But it also has a great crunch from the pickle and celery.
And while it’s made with mayo (which has egg in it), it can be made egg free using vegan mayo.
This bacon potato salad is gluten free though, and easily made Whole30 by using compatible ingredients. Just pay attention to the labels.
I like to serve this with some gluten free burgers , and maybe some fruit, like grilled pineapple.
But regardless what you serve it with, get ready to be asked for this recipe. It’s about to be the hit of the cookout.
Grab these ingredients
(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.)
There is a lot of room to customize this recipe – use whatever brand of bacon or mayo or yellow mustard you like. Just make sure it’s all gluten-free (or compatible if doing a Whole30).
- Red potatoes – you can use regular red potatoes or baby red potatoes.
- Bacon – you can use whatever bacon you like, I prefer a thicker smoked bacon for this recipe.
- Celery – this recipe has just a bit of celery, enough to make a crunch. If you’re a celery fan, you can always add more.
- Mayonnaise – I like an avocado oil mayo like Primal Kitchen mayo, but any mayo will do.
- Yellow mustard – any yellow mustard works. You could also just a dijon it you want a slightly different flavor profile.
- Apple cider vinegar – this is my preferred vinegar for this salad as it’s not as sharp as white vinegar but not as sweet as balsamic vinegar. If you are out of apple cider vinegar you could substitute white wine vinegar instead.
- Dill pickle – I picked dill pickle for this recipe, but any pickle you like is good here. Similar to the celery, if you like more pickle in your potato salad feel free to add more.
- Kosher salt – Diamond Crystal kosher salt is what’s used in this recipe, mostly to salt the water the potatoes boil in, but also a bit in the potato salad itself. If you are using a different type of salt (kosher or otherwise), you’ll want to use this salt conversion chart from Epicurious to determine how much salt to use.
How to make the best red skin potato salad
(Note: please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the complete written instructions.)
Are red potatoes better for potato salad?
Red potatoes are great for potato salad as they are waxier than Yukon gold or russet potatoes, which are starchier and tend to be mushier when boiled. This makes the red potatoes easier to cook and cut into pieces that stay together in the potato salad.
Tips for this bacon red potato salad
- Make sure your potatoes aren’t turning green. While you can eat potatoes that have turned green, the USDA recommends peeling the green parts off. Since this recipe keeps the skin on the potatoes, you want potatoes that have been stored properly and aren’t green.
- This recipe calls for the bacon to be cooked in the oven, but you can also cook your bacon on a Traeger or other wood pellet grill. To see how to do this, check out this recipe for Traeger bacon.
- To prep this salad ahead of time (either the morning of or night before), cook the potatoes and let them cool, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also make the mayo mixture and store it in an airtight container as well. The bacon can be cooked ahead of time, though fresh bacon is best as it is crunchier.
- The potato salad will keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 days in an airtight container. The bacon will soften a bit but the potato salad will still taste good.
What’s good with potato salad?
Truly, just about anything is good with potato salad! See some of the suggestions below if you’re looking for either main or side dish ideas.
- One of the classic pairings is hamburgers, and these paleo burgers would be great.
- Try another meat dish if you’re looking for a main, like smoked pork chops or something fun like meatloaf muffins!
- If you want another side dish, try a crunchy salad like this pineapple coleslaw or grill up some veggies – grilled zucchini is a quick and easy option.
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Red Skin Potato Salad with Bacon
Equipment
- A rimmed sheet pan
- A hot pad
- 2 large plates
- A large mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 2.125 tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (2 tbsp + ⅛ tsp, with more to taste)
- 32 oz small red potatoes
- 12 ounces smoked bacon
- 2 celery stalks
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 oz dill pickle
Instructions
- Fill a large pot two-thirds of the way full with water – make sure it’s enough to cover the potatoes, but not so much that the water will spill over once it’s boiling with the potatoes in it. Add 2 tbps of Diamond Crystal kosher salt in with the water, then set the pot, with a lid on it, over high heat on a stove top to boil.
- While waiting for the water to boil, prep the potatoes by washing any dirt off of them with water. If your potatoes are on the larger side consider cutting them into halves or thirds using a sharp knife and a cutting board – ideally you want each potato or piece of potato to be between 1.5 and 2.5 inches wide. You may have some smaller potatoes and that’s okay.
- At this point the water probably isn’t boiled yet, so set aside the potatoes and start cooking the bacon. You can cook the bacon on a Traeger grill or in the oven. Follow the link in the notes section to read how to make Traeger bacon, or read on to learn how to make bacon in an oven.
- Line a rimmed sheet pan with foil. Remove the bacon from the packaging and lay the strips out in a single layer on top of the foil. Place the sheet pan in a cold oven, close the oven door, then turn the oven on to 400 degrees F. Cook the bacon until it’s at your desired crispness, typically between 17 and 22 minutes depending on how thick your bacon is and how long your oven takes to warm up.
- By the time the bacon is in the oven, the pot of salted water should be boiling. Use tongs to carefully place the potatoes in the pot and cook them for 5 minutes to start. If your potatoes are on the smaller side they may only need 5 minutes to cook, but the larger ones could take up to 20 minutes to cook. After the first 5 minutes are up, take a sharp knife and poke the smaller potatoes to test for doneness. If the knife goes in to the center of the potato with minimal resistance, use a pair of tongs to remove the potato from the boiling water and set them on a large plate to cool. Keep boiling all of the potatoes until they are soft but not completely mushy.
- The bacon should be done around the same time as the last of the potatoes. When the bacon is done cooking, remove the pan from the oven (be sure and use a hot pad or oven glove) and use a pair of tongs to remove the bacon and set it on the paper towel-lined plate to soak up the bacon grease. Let it rest for a couple of minutes to cool, then use the knife and cutting board to chop it into small pieces. You can do this by stacking several strips of bacon on top of each other and cutting them into small strips, then repeating until all the bacon is cut. Place the cut bacon into a large mixing bowl.
- Once the potatoes are cool, cut them into bite-sized chunks (around half an inch thick) and place those chunks into the mixing bowl with the bacon.
- Prep the rest of the potato salad by dicing both the celery and the pickle using the knife and cutting board and adding both into the mixing bowl. Measure out the mayo, yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar, and ⅛ tsp of Diamond Crystal kosher salt into a small bowl, then stir with a whisk to combine thoroughly. Scoop the mayo mixture into the mixing bowl with the bacon and veggies and gently stir with a large spoon to coat all of the ingredients with the mayo mixture. Taste the potato salad and add more kosher salt if desired, stirring to combine. Serve immediately, or cover and place in the fridge to serve later.
Notes
- Make sure your potatoes aren’t turning green. While you can eat potatoes that have turned green, the USDA recommends peeling the green parts off. Since this recipe keeps the skin on the potatoes, you want potatoes that have been stored properly and aren’t green.
- This recipe calls for the bacon to be cooked in the oven, but you can also cook your bacon on a Traeger or other wood pellet grill. To see how to do this, check out this recipe for Traeger bacon.
- The potato salad will keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 days in an airtight container. The bacon will soften a bit but the potato salad will still taste good.
- To prep this salad ahead of time (either the morning of or night before), cook the potatoes and let them cool, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also make the mayo mixture and store it in an airtight container as well. The bacon can be cooked ahead of time, though fresh bacon is best as it is crunchier.
- This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal kosher salt. This type of salt is less salty by volume than other kosher salts. If you have a different type of salt, consult this article from Epicurious to figure out how much salt to use.
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