Potato salad is a staple for any summer gathering. I am giving you two different ways to make this delicious potato dish that won’t disappoint -Classic and BBQ!
I usually find that they taste better the longer they sit, it’s the perfect dish to make ahead of time. If you’re hosting or going to a BBQ this weekend, these potato salads are must have.
Classic Potato Salad
Classic potato salad is always a favorite. It’s flavors are reliable and it never fails to deliver a little nostalgia with each bite.
Whether you grew up with homemade or store bought, traditional potato salad will always be the perfect combination of tangy and creamy.
My classic potato salad recipe uses all of the standard ingredients you would expect in a potato salad. However, there is one exception – I substitute mayo with plain yogurt. If you’re looking for an extra zing in your salad, you can also trade up and use plain greek yogurt.
BBQ Potato Salad
BBQ Potato Salad is the love child of a loaded baked potato and a backyard BBQ.
It has the comfort flavors of salted potatoes, bacon, and cheddar cheese tossed with tangy BBQ sauce and fire- roasted corn on the cob.
Perfect if you’re looking for something fun and different for your backyard BBQ.
Before jumping into the recipe, I want to share a little info on my thought process for why/how I chose my potatoes and their prep styles.
White Potatoes: Everyone is familiar with the white potato so I decided to use it for the classic potato salad. It’s typically used for mashed potatoes, and I’m sure it’s the easiest to find in the grocery store. White potatoes have a high-starch level which means if you don’t want it to be creamy or sticky you should rinse the top layer of starch off before cooking.
During my prep for the classic potatoes, I left the skin on and I cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch pieces (it’s important that they all be a similar size for even cooking). After they were diced, I soaked them in cold water until I was ready to cook. This helps them not turn brown AND it helps to remove the outer layer of starch. Once they were rinsed, I submerged them in clean cold water with salt.
Red Potatoes: For my BBQ potato salad, I used red potatoes. These potatoes are more waxy and keep their shape easier than the white potatoes once they are heated. I picked these because I liked the way they looked with the rest of the ingredients for this dish. Since these potatoes are smaller in size, I cooked them whole.
You can switch or swap the potatoes in these recipes.
Potato Skins: The skin of the potato is packed with fiber and minerals. I decided to leave on the skins for my salads, but it’s your choice.
Potatoes <3 Salt: Potatoes LOVE salt. You need to use a lot of salt for the flavor of the potato to be highlighted – this goes for any potato dish. For these potato salads I cooked the 5 pound bag with 3 tablespoons of salt.
Have you ever been to a restaurant (any of the popular chain restaurants) and ordered a baked potato, and the potato skin is usually crusted in salt (kind of like a margarita glass)? It’s so delicious. I wanted to achieve a little of that in my BBQ potato salad, you won’t have the crunchy salt but the potatoes will be seasoned well.
Backyard Potato Salad – 2 Ways
Ingredients
Classic Potato Salad
- 5 lbs White Potatoes
- 3 TBSP Salt
- 4 Hard Boiled Eggs (see instructions for link to my hard boiled egg recipe)
- 2 Stalks Celery – small diced (about 1/2 cup diced)
- ½ cup Dill Pickles – small diced (about 1/2 of a 16oz jar)
- ¼ cup Stone Ground Mustard
- 1 cup Plain Yogurt
- 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- ½ tsp Pepper
- 1 TBSP Fresh Dill
BBQ Potato Salad
- 5 lbs Red Potatoes
- 5 TBSP Salt
- 3 Corn on the Cob – shucked (You can also use canned roasted corn)
- 1 cup Your favorite BBQ Sauce
- ¼ cup Mayonnaise
- 1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese (about 4 oz)
- 5 slices Cooked Bacon – roughly chopped
- 2 stalks Celery – small diced (about 1/2 cup diced)
- 1 handful Cherry Tomatoes – sliced in halves
- 3 Stalks Green Onions – divided
Instructions
Classic Potato Salad
- Chop the potatoes into 1/4 inch cubes (they need to be similar in size to cook evenly). Place them in a large bowl with cold water. Strain the potatoes and dump in a large pot. Cover the potatoes with cold water and 3 TBSP of salt. Bring the water up to a boil. Once there is a boil cook until the potatoes are fork tender, meaning that it can be poked easily with a fork and then slide off on it's own. About 10-15 minutes once you reach a boil.
- While the potatoes are cooking, you can make your four hard boiled eggs by following these instructions.
- You can also dice your celery and pickles. Try to cut them so that they are all the same size, aim for a small dice, about an 1/8 of an inch cube. Roughly chop your fresh dill.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, strain them and let them cool down enough to handle. You want them to still be warm.
- In a large bowl add the warm potatoes, celery, pickles, mustard, yogurt, apple cider vinegar, pepper and fresh dill. Toss with a spoon until combined. Make sure to get the potatoes on the bottom of the bowl.
- Peel and quarter your hard boiled eggs and serve them on top of your classic potato salad.
BBQ Potato Salad
- In a large pot add your potatoes (whole) and add cold water so that the potatoes are fully submerged. Add in 5 TBSP of salt. Bring the water up to a boil. Once there is a boil cook until the potatoes are fork tender, meaning that it can be poked easily with a fork and then slide off on it's own. About 10-15 minutes once you reach a boil.
- While the potatoes are cooking, you can fire roast your corn on the cob. Over your gas stove range or grill hold your corn over the flame until it starts to char. It might make popcorn sounds but it's not actually popping the corn. Turn the corn as the char marks start to appear. This should take about 8-10 minutes. *you can also you a small can of roasted corn or regular yellow corn. Make sure to drain the juice before adding it to the potato salad.
- Thinly slice the green onions. You will want to thinly slice the white bottoms and set aside. Then thinly slice the green tops for garnish.
- When the corn is cool, chop into 1-2 inch pieces.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, strain them and let them cool down enough to handle. You want them to still be warm. Cut the potatoes in quarters so that they are bite size.
- In a large bowl add the warm potatoes, chopped corn on the cob, BBQ sauce, mayonnaise, cheese, bacon, celery, cherry tomatoes and the whites of the green onion. Toss with a spoon until combined. Make sure to get the potatoes on the bottom of the bowl. Garnish with thinly sliced green onion. *Taste your potato salad, depending on your BBQ sauce, you might want some additional tanginess, if that is the case, add in apple cider vinegar 1/2 tsp at a time and a pinch of salt.
Notes
This can easily be paired with my Easy Summer Cucumber and Tomato Salad.
Another triumph! Served this at a friends bbq and everyone loved it!! Keep your delicious recipes coming.