The Best German Potato Salad
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If you love German potato salad as much as I do, the first bite of this will bring tears of joy to your eyes. With crispy bacon and potatoes tossed in a scrumptious bacon and onion gravy (or dressing), this really is the BEST German potato salad!
So, I first found this recipe in one of my Grandmama’s old cookbooks that I inherited and tweaked it a little bit to come up with this heavenly warm German potato salad. The secret is all in the dressing. You see, it’s absolutely infused with flavor because the base is bacon. Did you know that bacon drippings are the most flavorful grease there is? Well, you take those bacon drippings and then you sauté some onions in it, then you add a little bit of this and that, flour to thicken it, some vinegar to splash it up a bit, and you basically end up with bacon gravy, but we’re calling it dressing in this post.
Before we dive in, I want to share another tip so you make the best German potato salad recipe EVER. Pay attention to the timing of when to pour the bacon gravy over the potatoes. See, when your potatoes are warm, they are absorbent. If you wait until they cool to pour your dressing over, they have formed a starchy film over them and they won’t soak it up, so it will just coat the outside. If you pour it while they are still warm, though, they’ll actually absorb part of the dressing and become infused with the flavor.
With crispy crumbled bacon and tender potatoes tossed in a delectably tangy bacon onion gravy, I just know y’all are going to love this potato salad as much as me. It’s a great side dish to bring to your next barbecue or potluck, but I’ve also included lots of serving suggestions below. Now, have a hanky handy, cos it’s time to make the best German potato salad you’ve ever tasted 😉.
What You’ll Need to Make the Best German Potato Salad:
Ingredients:
- Red potatoes
- Bacon (we use turkey bacon now and it’s still just as delicious).
- Sugar
- Flour
- Onion
- Salt
- Pepper
- Apple cider vinegar
How to Make The Best German Potato Salad
Wash your potatoes and then put them all in a pot (don’t peel them), cover them with water, and bring that to a boil over medium-high heat. You’re going to want to boil these until they are fork tender. I boil mine for about 20 minutes or so.
Drain your potatoes and then pour them into a large bowl to let them cool for just a few minutes so they can be handled without burning your hands.
Fry the bacon. Use your favorite brand and type!
**After you get the bacon cooked, remove it to a paper towel-lined plate, but don’t do anything with all of that lovely in your skillet. If you don’t have a lot of grease due to using turkey bacon or another lower-fat variation, add a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil.
When it’s cooled, chop the bacon into bits for the best German potato salad.
After you remove your bacon, add your chopped onion to that skillet and sautée over medium heat, stirring often until your little onion bits are all translucent and golden. Once your onions are lightly brown, remove the skillet from the heat.
Stir in the water, vinegar, sugar, flour, and salt and pepper to taste (I start with 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper).
Return to heat and bring just to a boil (over medium heat) while stirring constantly. Once it comes to a boil, boil for one minute, while still stirring. It should look like this!
Remove the dressing from the stove eye or burner. Carefully slice your potatoes and place them in a bowl.
**They will break up a little bit and that is okay. Just do the best you can to carefully slice them and make an attempt at keeping them intact and their skin on.
Put the chopped bacon pieces in the bowl with the chopped potatoes.
Now, pour all of that warm thick dressing over them.
Stir carefully and well to coat all of your slices. This is the key, and doing it while the potatoes are warm makes a world of difference in the flavor of your potato salad.
Last step: serve this best German potato salad warm.
And… eat the potato salad. Eat all the potato salad.
Storage for the Best German Potato Salad:
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat, either bring to room temperature or gently warm in the microwave. Otherwise, you can totally serve it cold as well.
Recipe Notes
- Substitute almond flour and gluten-free bacon to make this a gluten-free recipe.
- Garnish your potato salad with chopped green onion and fresh dill, chives, or fresh parsley. It’s also not traditional, but you can garnish with some parmesan cheese too.
- While I prefer red potatoes, you can also use new potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes. Just try to avoid russet potatoes!
- For additional flavor, add 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic to the vinegarette.
- Substitute the white onion for red onion if you like.
- For a vegetarian potato salad, simply omit the bacon.
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with German potato salad?
Serve this warm potato salad as a side dish alongside roast or barbecue meats. Think grilled chicken tenders, roast chicken, chicken schnitzel (try my chicken fried steak recipe or crispy breaded pork chops), or even beef brisket.
What is the difference between American potato salad and German potato salad?
The biggest difference between these two potato salads is the dressing. American potato salad includes a mayonnaise-based dressing and is served cold. Meanwhile, German potato salad is best served warm and includes a bacon and vinegar-based dressing. But spoiler, both salads originated in America. German potato salad was inspired by early German immigrants.
You may enjoy these other delicious potato recipes:
Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes Recipe
Sweet Potato Skins With Candied Bacon and a Spicy Basil Cream Sauce
Kielbasa Skillet with Potatoes
Ingredients
- 6-8 medium red potatoes
- 5-6 turkey bacon slices
- 1 chopped onion
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3-5 tablespoons flour
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes whole, without peeling, until fork tender. Drain and allow to cool until you can handle them. Slice as thin as you can into a large bowl. Set aside.6-8 medium red potatoes
- In a large skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve the bacon grease in the skillet. Crumble bacon on top of the potatoes in the bowl.5-6 turkey bacon slices
- Saute onions in bacon grease over medium heat until tender. Remove skillet from heat and stir in the water, vinegar, sugar, and flour (add flour a little at a time to your liking, you can always add a little more later). Also, add salt and pepper to taste (I start with 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper).1 chopped onion, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 cup water, 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, 3-5 tablespoons flour, salt and pepper to taste
- Return to heat and bring just to a boil while stirring constantly. Boil for one minute, while still stirring. Remove from heat and pour over the bacon and potatoes. Carefully stir until well coated and serve warm.
I have never been a fan of German potato salad. But this recipe is a must try for me. One of my daughters is visiting next week and wants to go saltwater fishing off St Georges. We will catch some redfish or buy some smoked mullet. ha ha Either way, this will be a perfect time to give it a try. No need for luck this time, I always catch fish.
Ya right Balti, find out where they sell real good smoked mullet, ha-ha! Have a good week end, Helga.
Will probably make this recipe tonight since I have all the ingredients on hand.
Actually, we just bought Wright’s bacon the other day at Publix where it was $2 off, plus we had a $1 coupon! I cooked some for breakfast this morning (it was very good) and as I poured the grease into my grease can I told my husband this was my pot of gold. I had previously used all my bacon drippings and I know what you mean by using it for seasoning.
At our local Wal Mart the other day, right after your tea recipe was posted, the shelf with that brand of vinegar was empty. You must have a big following here.
I’ve enjoy your recipes almost from the beginning of your posts and I do have all of your cookbooks and have given copies to my daughter and granddaughters.
Christy: your German Potato Salad sounds very nice. I can’t have potatoes, so I make mine with pasta. If you add 1/2 cup of vinegar to your water when you cook the potatoes, it will not only flavor them, but it will slow down the breakdown of the pectin in the potatoes so you will have a firmer, and not mushy slice of potato.
You can take 1 cucumber, peel, cut in half lengthwise, deseed and slice it in 1/4″ slices and marinate it in 2 T. sugar, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 t. dried dill and 1/2 t. salt for half an hour. Drain, and add to your potato salad with the dressing and bacon.
I was skeptical about adding cucumbers, but they are fantastic and I don’t make my salad without them now.
My stomach considers dill weed to be totally poisonous so instead of using that, I add 2T of dill pickle juice. Dill seed does not set off the same red alert in my stomach, and I get the nice taste of dill.
Yum!!!!
Christy – You need to figure out how to make Ol Heidelberg’s German slaw…pretty please 🙂 🙂 🙂
Good morning Christy!
SO glad someone finally brought up my favorite potato salad!
There’s a lot of German heritage in our family tree- we’ve been making this stuff for generations.
I love making it for folks because most have never tasted it. 🙂
My favorite secret?
Double the bacon, and double the dressing.
We like our salad a little more on the moister side. =D
And never, ever make just one recipe of this stuff- you’ll wish you’d made more!
I always make a double (so a quadruple of the bacon and dressing).
I usually bake my bacon a pound at a time in the oven in a 13 x 18 cake pan because I’m usually making this for a family gathering or pot luck event.
Any extra bacon can be refrigerated or even frozen for adding to another recipe or rounding out some eggs or pancakes for breakfast. That’s IF you have any “extra” bacon left over.
That stuff disappears faster than anything I’ve ever seen… 😉
Hi Christy, there must be as many german potato recipes as there are southern barbeque recipes. Both my parents came from Germany and the only way we had potato salad was made with cooked potatoes, tossed with chopped onions and a little oil and a dressing made with vinegar or lemon juice amd salt and pepper. It was always served at room temperature. In the summer cucumbers were added and in the winter often chopped pickled herring. I guess you had to grow up with that one. Really like your posts and have a Happy Easter.
Oh what I would give to sit at the table during one of your family meals! I’d even try pickled herring 😉 Happy Easter to you, too!
Mary, I think I’d find your recipe healthier & easier to make, but am going to try both yours and hers. Was trying to think of a flour substitute or at least a healthier one. Tweak! Tweak! Tweak! 🙂
Try arrowroot would only need 2tsp.
Yum. I know what I’m making next time we have burgers for supper. I bet this would be amazing with a good homemade hamburger and some spicy baked beans.