Not just another potato salad….. The secret step in this Potato Salad is pouring French Dressing over the cooked potatoes while they are still warm so the potatoes absorb the vinaigrette flavour.
For a lighter dressing option, try a No-Mayo Creamy Potato Salad Dressing made with yogurt, or this No-Mayo Red Potato Salad with Charred Corn and Bacon!
A Potato Salad you’ll make again and again…
This recipe is from the mother of a good friend, and thus I originally named this recipe in her honour, calling it Mrs Brodie’s Potato Salad.
The very first time I heard how Mrs Brodie makes her potato salad, I instantly knew that this was one that would stand out from the crowd of thousands – millions – of potato salad recipes “out there” in the world wide web.
The thing that makes this potato salad so special is pouring French Salad Dressing over the hot boiled potatoes. By doing this while the potatoes are hot, they absorb the French Salad Dressing flavour rather than just coating them.
Combined with the creamy mayonnaise dressing, salty bacon, and fresh bursts of celery, cucumber and onion, every mouthful is The Perfect Bite.
Potato Salad Dressing
The other thing I really like about this Bacon Potato Salad is the dressing. It isn’t just mayonnaise, it is lightened up a bit with sour cream plus it has a mild kick from Horseradish Cream.
Mrs Brodie’s recipe calls for Horseradish Relish which is stronger. However, this is quite hard to find here in Australia so I substituted with Horseradish Cream.
For a healthier option, try a No-Mayo Potato Salad Dressing. It’s made with yogurt and it’s terrific!
When I first saw this recipe I thought the raw onion in it would be too sharp but you can’t taste onion at all once it has melded in with the Potato Salad Dressing. It balances out the creaminess of the dressing and you can hardly tell there is onion in it.
This potato salad will last 4 to 5 days in the fridge, and it just gets better. I highly recommend making it the day before if you can, or at the very least a few hours before serving to give the flavours a chance to develop.
I hope this does Mrs Brodie’s recipe justice. I’m sure she’d love to hear any feedback – I’ll definitely pass them on! – Nagi x
MORE SUMMER SALADS to take to gatherings
- Italian Pasta Salad
- Coleslaw
- Pearl Couscous Salad <– personal fave!
- Wild Rice Salad <– reader fave!
-
Everybody’s favourite Macaroni Salad
- 12 Minute Sun Dried Tomato Couscous Salad
-
Browse all Pasta Salads and Rice Salad
And More Potato Sides
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Lemon Potato Salad – a terrific mayo free option!
-
Truly Crunchy Roast Potatoes (and I mean seriously crunchy!)
-
Crispy SMASHED Potatoes – a crowd favourite!
-
See all Potato recipes
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Bacon Potato Salad
Ingredients
Potato Salad
- 4 bacon rashes , finely diced
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 kg / 2 lb potatoes , peeled and cut into 2cm / 3/4" cubes (see notes for potato type)
- 1/2 cup French Dressing - homemade (see below) or store bought
- 1/2 cup cucumber , finely diced (deseed the cucumber i.e. remove the watering centre)
- 1 small brown onion , finely diced (about 2/3 cup)
- 2 medium celery sticks , finely sliced on the diagonal (about 1 1/2 cups)
Potato Salad Dressing
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp horseradish cream (or horseradish relish)
- Salt and pepper
French Dressing
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp water
- 1/4 cup olive oil (4 tbsp)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 garlic clove , crushed
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the French Dressing ingredients in a jar and shake until well combined.
- Combine the Potato Salad Dressing ingredients and mix well.
- Heat 1 tsp oil in non stick pan over high heat. Sauté bacon until crisp, remove from pan and place on paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Put the potatoes in, bring back up to boil then cook the potatoes for 5 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes then place in a large bowl. Immediately pour the French Dressing over the potatoes and very gently toss to coat all the potatoes.
- Once the potatoes have cooled, add the remaining Potato Salad ingredients and pour over the Potato Salad Dressing.
- Toss gently to combine. Set aside for at least a few hours, preferably overnight, before serving to give the flavours a chance to develop. Store covered in the fridge.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
I made this for Christmas lunch. The smell of the French dressing hitting the hot potatoes is divine!
This recipe will go on my list of favourites.
Hubby just sampled some I made for dinner tonight and he was amazed. We added a touch of hot english mustard to it for extra bite. Christmas food is not boring thanks to you Nagi Just the best! Heading for a Green salad Dressing on your web page now. So looking forward to dinner. Did your Lemon cream fish fillets as well.
I kept trying your recipes Nagi! They’re my to go recipes. I told my daughter whenever I tried a new recipe, that if Nagi’s recipe, we can be sure that it’s going to be good 🙂 Thanks much!
This recipe is a definite winner at our house. Didn’t have any celery ($7 bunch is a bit pricy) so added bullhorn capsicum instead. Bonus that the kids like it as well
Loved this potato salad Nagi, made with the no-mayonnaise yoghurt dressing. Delicious. Had to make it for a large crowd, so tripled everything but found that I didn’t need triple dressing, double would probably do.. I now have some left-over to use this weekend for ourselves! :-)) Thanks for your never-fail recipes.
Good to know, thank you. I’m making this as a triple batch today! 😊
Hi Nagi, I’m going to make this for my son’s 21st party. If I make it the day before, would you leave it out for a few hours to come to room temp? Cheers
I’m really loving this salad. I was looking for something other than my usual potato salad and did a search on your website because I’m a fan of your recipes. This is definitely an improvement on my potato salad. I misread the first ingredient and thought it said Bacon Radishes……lol! I was thinking to myself I’ve never heard of bacon flavored radishes. I’ve never used cucumber in my potato salad before, it’s not a common ingredient in American potato salad. Not that unusual though considering that we tend to either put dill or sweet pickles in American potato salad. Which is just the pickled form of cucumber. Thank you for this recipe, it’s definitely going to be a keeper!
You have the best ideas, this was delicious!!
I’m always amazed by your recipes and how you research and edit other recipes to be your own, so much great advice in the notes too.
Following your lead, I adjusted the add ins to this recipe to suit our tastes… instead of cucumber I added cheddar cheese, boiled eggs, sweet pickles, shallots, fresh red radishes. All chopped small.
You inspire me!
Potato Salad https://imgur.com/gallery/0Th4C7f
Pouring the dressing over the warm potatoes and then adding sour cream and horseradish to the mayonnaise….why did I not do either of these before. Game changer!
It’s all in the details, Debbie! N x
Made this potato salad for a baby shower & it was a hit!
Hi N,
I made this potato salad recipe for Christmas Day, as well as the coleslaw and caprese salad. I did the duck fat potato as well, when I told my son all the recipes were yours, he was so excited!! My family loved all of it! Thank you so much for sharing with us, best wishes from your your fan club in the Hills district 😊
Signed up just to say that this was a giant hit at the family Christmas lunch! My mother said it didn’t even taste homemade which is a giant complement haha. Thanks heaps Nagi, happy holidays to all
Making this yet again! love it. Definitely my “go to” recipe. In regards to the availability of Horseradish, there is a very good South Australian Horseradish which is from the Langhorne Creek Wine growing region, its the Newman’s brand (Original Red label) and is easy to get here in SA. Keep an eye out for it in other states, amazing product. Thanks Nagi!
Hi Nagi i just made this along with your garden salad and your chicken schnitzel and you have made me into a dinner demigod to my family ….thankyou so much mate for your awesome recipes ….every one i do is a hit !
Whew that’s a lot to live up to!!!! N x
I have made many potato salads and honestly this one was one of the best! The French dressing steps takes it to a whole new level!
Would it be suitable in (Australian) school lunchboxes?
And how long can the salad be stored in the fridge before it’s no good?
really tasty simple salad the kids love it as well many thanks for your efforts.
Very easy to follow had to substitute a few items as I didn’t have the original so I used 1kg baby white potatos , 1 brown onion diced , 1 medium choped carrot instead of celery, diced ham instead of bacon ,Italian dressing instead of French , 2 hard boiled eggs and store bought potato salad dressing turned out delicious my housemates and i loved it so much they we had 2 servings in ove meal 😋😋😋
I made this a couple of days ago to go with Nagis salmon patties (which I totally screwed up so I won’t comment on them lol) and it was really nice. I accidentally forgot to add in the bacon (it was an off day clearly) so I think it wasn’t as nice as it could have been but it was still really good. The French dressing really elevated the flavour and I really loved the pops of freshness from the celery and cucumber. Such a great idea! Will make again for sure.
Made this a couple of times it was the best potatoes salad I’ve had!