This is a simple warm potato salad that makes a great side dish. In this recipe, red potatoes are boiled until tender. Then they’re combined with onions, bacon and a sweet and tangy sauce.
It’s a deliciously-different potato side dish that is sure to become a favorite. Serve the warm potato salad with pork schnitzel or these beer brats for a great German-style meal. Enjoy!
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To make this warm potato salad you will need
2 pounds Red Potatoes, we used 6 medium sized potatoes
6 Bacon Slices, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 medium Onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Flour, all purpose
½ teaspoon Salt, to season the sauce plus ½ tablespoon Salt, for the water to boil the potatoes and to taste for the finished dish
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
¾ cup Water
¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 tablespoon Parsley, chopped
Prep Work
The prep work for this side dish is pretty easy. Measure everything out, slice the onions, chop the parsley, cut the bacon and peel the potatoes.
Here’s a little tip for cutting the bacon. Instead of getting a cutting board all messy, cut the bacon with kitchen shears. Get a few strips together and snip them right into a bowl. Easy and neat!
For the potatoes, we like to peel around it, leaving the pieces on the ends intact. I like the color it adds to the potato salad. Plus, keeping some of the peel adds nutrients.
Boil the potatoes
Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover them completely with cold water by a couple of inches. Place the pot over high heat and bring the water to a full boil.
When the water is boiling vigorously, add ½ tablespoon of salt to the water.
Boil the potatoes anywhere from 15-25 minutes depending on their size. Boil them until just tender; a fork or knife should slide in and out of the potato with little, to no resistance.
Don’t overcook the potatoes for this dish. If they’re too tender they’ll break apart when sliced and won’t hold their shape for the potato salad.
Drain the potatoes and let them dry
Drain the potatoes completely using a large strainer. To dry the potatoes really well, place them back in the pot and place the pot on the same burner used to cook them.
Make sure the burner is off, but still hot. Give the pot a shake every few seconds, the residual heat will dry the potatoes in no time.
Let the potatoes cool for at least 10-15 minutes.
While the potatoes cook and cool
Add the chopped bacon to a skillet and place it over medium heat. Cook the bacon until it’s crispy. It will take about 10-15 minutes.
Stir the bacon only occasionally at first. But when it gets going, you will have to stir more often to keep it from burning.
Take the pan off the heat and remove the bacon using a slotted spoon. Place the crispy bacon on a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
Reserve at least 2-3 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.
If you’re using the same skillet that the bacon was cooked in to make the potato salad, wipe it clean or wash it before starting.
I like to use a non-stick skillet from this point forward. I don’t wan’t to risk the potatoes sticking and breaking.
Slice the potatoes
Now the bacon is ready, and the potatoes should be cool enough to slice.
Cut the potatoes into roughly ½ inch thick rounds. Don’t cut the potatoes too thin, they’ll break apart. We want nice hearty potato pieces, not smashed potatoes.
Make the warm potato salad
Alright, now we’re ready to put it all together!
Heat 2-3 tbsp. of the reserved bacon drippings in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the onions.
Cook the onions gently for 3-4 minutes until they start to soften, stirring frequently.
Next, lower the heat to medium-low. Stir in the flour, ½ teaspoon of salt and pepper. Cook the flour mixture for about 1 minute, stirring almost constantly.
Slowly, add the water and vinegar to the flour mixture. Stir the mixture until well combined.
Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes until the liquid starts to thicken, stirring occasionally. Then add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved.
Finally, add the crispy bacon and the sliced potatoes to the skillet. Fold the potatoes over flipping them as you work your way around the skillet to coat them with the sauce and bacon pieces.
Try to be very gentle so the potato slices stay mostly intact. I like to use a rubber spatula; it’s much easier on the potatoes than a wooden spoon or regular spatula.
Continue working the potatoes and coating with the sauce for about 5 minutes until everything is warmed through.
Season, Garnish and Serve
Taste the potato salad and add salt, if needed. As a reference, we added ½ teaspoon of salt to our warm potato salad.
Sprinkle the potatoes with the chopped parsley and toss a couple more times to combine.
Here we pair the warm potato salad with a golden-browned beer brat. It’s really easy to make and delicious!
Need more side dish inspiration? Check out these easy and delicious recipes:
Green Beans and Bacon – an amazing flavor combination!
Mushroom Rice Pilaf – so satisfying, it can stand in as the main dish.
Yellow Rice – a classic that’s even better made at home.
Warm Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Red Potatoes half peeled
- 6 Bacon Slices cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 medium Onion thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon Flour all purpose
- ½ teaspoon Salt plus, ½ tablespoon of salt for the water to cook the potatoes and to taste for the finished dish
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ¾ cup Water
- ¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Parsley chopped
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes all the way around and leave a piece of the peel on the ends.
- Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover them completely with cold water by a couple of inches.
- Place the pot over high heat and bring the water to a full boil. When the water is boiling vigorously, add ½ tablespoon of salt.
- Boil the potatoes anywhere from 15-25 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Cook them until they are tender but not falling apart.
- Drain the potatoes completely using a large strainer.
- Let the potatoes cool for at least 10-15 minutes. When they’re cool enough to handle, slice them into roughly ½ inch thick rounds.
While the potatoes cook and cool
- Add the chopped bacon to a skillet and place over medium heat. Cook the bacon until it’s crispy, about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the bacon from the pan using a slotted spoon and place on a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
- Reserve at least 2-3 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.
If you are using the same skillet used to cook the bacon, wipe it clean or wash before starting the next steps.
- Heat 2-3 tbsp. of the bacon drippings in a large, deep, non-stick skillet over medium heat.
- Add the onions and cook gently for 3-4 minutes, until they start to soften, stirring frequently.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and stir in the flour, salt and pepper. Cook the flour mixture for about 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Slowly, add the water and vinegar to the flour mixture and stir well until combined.
- Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken, stirring occasionally.
- Add the sugar and stir until it’s dissolved.
- Add the crispy bacon and the sliced potatoes to the skillet. Gently toss or fold the potatoes over to coat with the sauce and bacon.
- Continue tossing and folding until all the ingredients are combined and warmed through, about 5 minutes.
- Taste the potato salad and add salt, if needed. As a reference, we added ½ teaspoon of salt to our potatoes.
- Sprinkle the potato salad with the chopped parsley and toss a couple more times.
- Serve the potato salad warm.
