Loaded Baked Potato Salad
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With a sneaky shortcut, my quick and easy loaded baked potato salad recipe is so full of flavor, with crispy bacon, boiled egg, mayo, mustard, and sweet pickle relish.
I have my Mama to thank for inspiring this loaded baked potato salad recipe. You see, she asked me to come up with a quicker way to make potato salad because she was always having overnight guests show up last minute “needing potato salad with dinner.” This made me scratch my head because, you know, what guests show up demanding potato salad?! But I didn’t question my Mama and instead created this loaded baked potato salad… with a couple of sneaky shortcuts.
First, we’re not going to use boiled potatoes. Yes, really! Instead, my big shortcut is to use frozen Southern hash browns, which boil up so much faster. Then we mix these little cubed potatoes with so many deliciously flavorful ingredients and condiments, like crumbled bacon bits, chopped boiled egg, shredded cheddar cheese, sweet pickle relish, mayonnaise, and mustard. How tasty does that sound? Quick and easy loaded baked potato salad – sound good?
And if you’re looking for other potato salad recipes, you must try my German potato salad and mashed potato salad. Alright, let’s get mixin’!
Recipe Ingredients
- Southern hash browns (or any cubed hash browns)
- Crisp cooked bacon
- Chopped boiled eggs
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Sweet pickle relish
- Mayonnaise
- Mustard
- Salt and black pepper to taste
How to Make Loaded Baked Potato Salad
Place cubed hash browns in a large pot and cover with water.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Once potatoes reach a boil, boil them for two to three minutes.
Drain potatoes in a colander.
Place cooked potatoes in a large bowl.
Dump your shredded cheese over your warm potatoes…
And give that a little stir.
Now add relish, mustard, and mayo to this …
And give another little stir.
Add in bacon and eggs…
And salt and pepper to taste.
Give another little stir.
Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before serving.
Storage
Store leftover potato salad covered in plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
- Now if you REALLY wanna make it in a hurry, leave out the bacon and boiled eggs or make them the day ahead of time. But this whole recipe is assuming you’re pressed for time so that kinda defeats the point. Bacon and boiled eggs are really good in it though!
- Here are some variations to make this loaded baked potato salad work for you:
- Add chopped green onion or freshly chopped chives.
- Use whatever mustard you have on hand. Yellow mustard, honey mustard, and Dijon mustard would all work.
- For extra creaminess, add 3/4 cup of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
- Substitute the bacon for turkey bacon.
- Use sweet pickle relish, diced sweet pickles, or just diced dill pickles.
- Add extra tang with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, or lemon juice.
- Substitute the cheddar cheese for sharp cheddar cheese or something completely different like crumbled blue cheese or goat cheese.
- Add a touch of heat with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
- Add extra crunch with a cup of chopped celery.
Recipe FAQs
Can you make loaded baked potato salad ahead of time?
Absolutely! This potato salad will last in the fridge for up to 5 days, so you can make it multiple days in advance and let those flavors marry together in the fridge.
What do you serve with loaded potato salad?
Homemade potato salad can easily be the start of the show as a side dish, so I recommend serving it with a more simple main meal, such as:
- Grilled Chicken Tenders (No Grill Needed)
- Chicken Planks (Like Chicken Fingers, Only Better)
- Crock Pot Beef Ribs
- Butter Roasted Chicken Recipe
- 3-Ingredient Ritz Cracker Chicken
- Maple Glazed Pork Chops
- Slow-Roasted Beef Brisket in the Oven
Check out these other potato recipes:
Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes (Freezer Friendly)
Sweet Potato Skins With Candied Bacon and a Spicy Basil Cream Sauce
Loaded Sweet Potatoes With Marshmallows
Ingredients
- 1 32-ounce package frozen Southern hash browns
- 3 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped
- 5 bacon strips, cooked crispy and crumbled
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1/3 cup sweet pickle relish or diced sweet pickles
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place cubed hash browns in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once potatoes reach a boil, boil them for two to three minutes and then drain in a colander.1 32-ounce package frozen Southern hash browns
- Place in a large bowl and stir in the cheese. Add mayo, mustard, and relish, and stir again. Add in bacon, eggs, salt, and pepper. Stir.3 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped, 5 bacon strips, cooked crispy and crumbled, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons yellow mustard, 1/3 cup sweet pickle relish or diced sweet pickles, salt and pepper to taste
- Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.
In cooking, as in all the arts, simplicity is the sign of perfection.
Submitted by Kolene. Submit your quote here.
I absolutely LOVE the idea of using the frozen hash browns! We love potato salad, but I hardly ever make it because I hate dealing with the potatoes!! I always add cooked, crumbled bacon to my potato salad (when I DO make it), though. Then, I saute a handful or so of chopped onions in the bacon drippings, pat with paper towels to absorb the grease, and then stir them in. So YUMMY!! And I want to thank Bobbie (above comment) for the hint of adding a bit of food coloring when hard-boiling eggs to have on hand in the fridge; that is a great suggestion!
what a great idea… I will have to start my eggs earlier, since I always boiled them with my taters… and they were always cooked perfect and never green.. hate green boiled eggs.
I love your emails but you make me hungry every time I read them.. going to have to save them for after supper reading. LOL.
thanks for all the good ideas!!
Boiling the eggs with the potatoes is a good idea too!
I would have never thought about boiling the eggs with the potatoes! Thanks for a GREAT tip!
Wow, I never even thought of that! I’m definitely going to use this recipe when I get the hunger for potato salad and I don’t want to spend all the time using whole potatoes. Thanks, Christy! <3
Oh my goodness! I swear you are reading my mind before every post!! I have been hankering for potato salad, but I don’t have any potatoes! I am so praying to the good Lord above that Walmart in the midwest sells southern style hash browns!
My husband and son are at Cub Scouts Day Camp and I know they are going to love this potato salad when they get home!
Thanks Christy . . . hope you didn’t pick up an accent when you visited New York! Glad you had a great time.
This is just how I make our potato salad except I use dill pickle relish an sometimes o’brien potatoes if I’m feelin’ sassy.
Hash browns are a quick start to potato soup too! That’s our go-to dish when someone is sick at our house. My 6 year old calls it sickpotato soup. Also delish with bacon…(if you aren’t the sick person.)
That looks really delicious and how clever to use the frozen taters. I’d have to add a little onion, though.
But you are going to HAVE to find out the rest of the story about guests who demand potato salad. That is like to keep me up at night wondering.
Awesome!!! I never would have thought to use frozen hash browns either! I was making potato salad once for a church potluck, and I overcooked the potatoes a bit. They got too mushy and mashed potato-like as I added everything in, and I ended up adding some canned, cubed potatoes from the pantry. It worked in a pinch, and my hubby still tells friends about my “mashed potato salad”, and how good it turned out!
I will definitely try cheese and bacon in the future, as both are loved in my house. And I also use the prepackaged real bacon bits that are sold in bags or jars at the store. Another good time saver. 🙂
Our School lunchroom used mashed(cream) potatoes to potato salad. Just added boiled egg, salad pickles and mayo. I do this if I have leftover creamed potatoes.
*to make potato salad.