Old Fashioned German Potato Salad has perfectly crispy bacon, red onion, and is dressed with a dijon vinegar dressing. Bonus: it can be served either hot or cold! You’re going to love it!
Potato salad is an essential component to any family bbq. As kids, we never really understood what was supposed to be so alluring about potato salad. Cold potatoes coated in mayo? No thank you. We should have known better when the adults never made us add it to our plate, yet always went back for seconds themselves. By the time we finally got around to trying it for the first time, we had already wasted far too many potato salad eating years! Oh well, we are certainly making up for lost time now! However, our true love of potato salad didn’t start with that mayonnaise-loaded stuff we grew up with, but with German potato salad. German potato salad typically refers to Southern German style, and we are all about it. Forgo the mayo and enjoy this dijon vinegar dressing-based potato salad!
German Potato Salad vs: American Potato Salad:
In a Southern German Potato Salad, the dressing is made from bacon drippings and vinegar. In an American Potato Salad, the dressing is largely mayonnaise based. They are both equally delicious!
What is German Potato Salad called in German?
Kartoffelsalat is the name of German Potato Salad in the German language.
Potato Options:
You can use a wide variety of potatoes for this recipe as long as it has a thin skin that is pleasant to eat. Popular options besides the listed red potatoes include Yukon Gold, Yellow, Fingerling and New/Baby) potatoes.
Serving Options:
German Potato Salad can be served either warm or cold. It’s a matter of personal preference, and it is delicious either way.
Storage Instructions:
When chilling, you can simply cover the bowl in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. For longer term storage, this salad should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Since it can be enjoyed cold, no reheating is required.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious German inspired recipes:
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
been trying to find a good recipe this is very good and reminds me of the German restaurant that I used to get it at
Made this recipe at our firehall to serve with smoked brisket, ribs, and chicken, along with slaw. I had to 5x the recipe to feed so many, but the guys absolutely tore it up. It was delicious. I was a little concerned of greasiness due to using so much bacon along with the olive oil, but it turned out fine. I could see adding some of the other items mentioned by other reviewers like celery and/or eggs, but i would cook the original recipe first to give yourself a baseline. You van always tweak the recipe when you make it the second time. Again, this was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!
Going to try it like this
Looks sooo much more healthy and better than the sour cream/ mayo based version. Especially if Lactose sensitive. My only concern is, it has way too much grease from the bacon.
Can u add more tang more vinager or mustard after you mix it. Just did not have enough favor for me
I doubled the dressing but I left the olive oil out completely and it was delicious another variation that we used to do is chop a few pickles in it and put a little bit of pickle juice in. I don’t know if that’s just our family or if that’s the Schwartzwald variation.
I’m with you, I like a good tang to my potato salad as well. A good tip when making any type of potato salad is to toss the piping hot potatoes with some straight vinegar (extra from what a recipe calls for) immediately after you drain them from the water. The heat helps the potatoes absorb the vinegar and makes for a much more flavourable end product.
I quoted this because I live alone. The flavor Is reminiscent of good days past. I love it. I found it better right after it’s made either warm or room temperature. Is the 100% I added some chopped celery for a little crunch. I would also probably put some slice tag either stirred into it or on top because that’s what my mother always did. I didn’t do it this time and it was excellent the way it was. 24-hour if I left out the bacon and substituted more oil instead, I would have to do something else for flavor. Perhaps some Italian seasoning Would skewered more toward an Italian potato salad. I could try that.
Will leaving out the sugar change the dressing significantly? I don’t like my potato salads tasting sweet.
You can leave it out.
I love German Potato Salad and have always wanted to try and make it from scratch. This recipes looks really good and I can not wait to try it.
YUM! German Potato Salad was one of my favorite things to eat growing up. Can’t wait to try this one!
Can you substitute something for the bacon and grease? I’m on a low fat diet due having my gullbladder removed.
The bacon is a significant portion of the flavor in this recipe. You’d have to skip it all together.
Rachel,
I agree with you about bacon. My mom’s brocolli salad calls for bacon and it is not worth making without it!
I made it once w/o bacon because I was told to do so as a vegetarian was coming to the party. She never showed up and I took the leftover home and put bacon in it!
?
William
My mother is from Munich. She has never, ever used bacon in her salat. She does put in a couple of hard boiled eggs, tho, just on top, quartered for presentation. She also uses green onions instead of red, and just uses oil and vinegar. There are ways to get around the bacon.
My Mom is from Munich also and I agree with everything you said. Can you provide your Mutti’s recipe.
my mother was from Stuttgart and that’s how she made it. And never red potatoes; always russett.
Turkey bacon cooked in the olive oil?