Potato Salad with Bacon

This delicious potato salad is loaded with bacon and is made without eggs or mayonnaise. It has an easy to make maple/honey mustard dressing that your family will love! This recipe pairs so well with my mexican street corn dip and some hotdogs and hamburgers and will truly complete your next BBQ.

Potato Salad without Eggs

Growing up, I dreamed of a potato salad without eggs. My family’s traditional recipe always included hard boiled eggs, but that was definitely an acquired taste and texture for me. I like hard boiled eggs now, especially in a cobb salad, but I still prefer my potato salad without it.

Plus, I really wanted to make this potato salad with ingredients I thought would be ok sitting outside for a while in the summer. Eggs, and also mayonnaise, are not ingredients that I really feel comfortable putting on a patio table for a few hours in the summer heat, so everything you see in this recipe can sit out for a little bit.

German Potato Salad

I remember seeing and trying my first potato salad without eggs in my early 20s and I was so excited. I didn’t know some families make potato salad without eggs, because I had never seen that before. And the best part was that this potato salad had bacon! I love bacon so I knew this type of potato salad was for me.

I learned that this style of potato salad is called a German Potato Salad and ever since then I knew that this was the type of potato salad I liked.

Potato Salad without Mayo

I actually like mayonnaise but I think my dressing below is better for sitting out in the summer heat during a BBQ, Picnic, or Summertime get together.

My recipe below uses yukon gold potatoes, which are my favorite type of potatoes. I also add crispy thick cut bacon, sauteed shallots, spinach, and a homemade maple mustard dressing which includes olive oil, red wine vinegar, yellow mustard, maple syrup, and a little salt and pepper.

Substitutions:

Potatoes – you can use any type of potatoes, but I love the thin golden skin of Yukon Gold Potatoes. You can use the really small once and cut them in half, or you can use the bigger ones and cut them into 1″ pieces.

Bacon – I use pork bacon. You can also use turkey bacon or chopped up salami. Just note that the fat content will be different if you use leaner meats and it will change the flavor profile.

Shallots – I love shallots because they are the perfect combination of garlic and onion. I love how delicate they feel too, so it isn’t like you are biting into an aggressive piece of red onion. They are easy to cut and they cook up very fast, so they make a great addition to this recipe.

Spinach – Using spinach in this dish gives a great pop of green color. In my opinion, kale is not a good substitute unless you are positive everyone eating this dish loves kale.

Maple Syrup – You can use honey, but maple syrup is tastier and mixes easier in my opinion.

Yellow Mustard – You can also use dijon mustard.

Ingredients for Potato Salad with Bacon

• 2 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes
• 1 lb Bacon
• 3 cloves Garlic minced
• 1 large Shallot diced
• 3 cups Fresh Spinach
• 2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• chopped green onions – optional

Potato Salad Dressing

• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 3 tbsp Yellow Mustard
• 3 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 1.5 tbsp Maple Syrup
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Boil a large pot of water and add 2 tsp of sea salt
• Once your water is boiling, add your whole potatoes to the pot and let them boil on medium high heat for 15 minutes. Test one potato by removing it from the water and cutting it in half. You do not want it to be too soft, but you want the potato to be cooked through.
• While the potatoes are boiling, cut your raw bacon into 1″ strips and add it to a large saute pan on medium heat. Cook until all pieces are crisp and then add them to a paper towel lined bowl to drain some of the fat.
• Keep 1 tbsp of bacon fat in the pan so that you can cook your garlic, shallot and spinach in it
• Add your diced shallots to the pan and once they are starting to brown, add your minced garlic. Give it a few stirs and then turn the heat to low and add your fresh spinach.
• Add a very light sprinkle of salt to your spinach just to bring out the natural flavor.
• Once your potatoes are finished cooking, drain them, wash them with cold water, and either halve or quarter them depending on their size.
• Add the potatoes to a large bowl, followed by the bacon, shallots, and spinach.

Potato Salad Dressing

• Add all ingredients to a small bowl and mix them.
• Pour all over the potato salad and mix!