A potato salad that can be served hot or cold, made with baked potatoes, shredded cheese, bacon, green onions, sour cream, and melted butter?!? Yep, Loaded Baked Potato Salad has all of your favorite ingredients of baked potatoes, only it’s made in a large batch to feed a crowd. It’s a great side item for a cookout, potluck, or BBQ and is always a big hit with my family and friends.
I make the loaded baked potato salad exactly like I’m making baked potatoes. While hot and fresh out of the oven, I split the potatoes and load them with butter, sour cream, salt, and pepper. I let all of that melt into the potatoes before giving them a rough chop. Then mix in the cheese, bacon, and chopped green onions. The resulting flavor is exactly what you want in a loaded baked potato. And the recipe allows you to make as many potatoes as you want, whether it’s for a party of 2 or 200.
I have a sponge with a rough scrubby side that I keep aside and use only for scrubbing potatoes and vegetables. You’d be surprised at how much more dirt you get off of the potatoes this way. You know what farmers use for fertilizer, right? I let the potatoes soak for approximately 15 minutes before giving them a good scrubbing.
I love this combination of tangy sour cream, cheddar cheese, and bacon. Mix that with the buttery potatoes and green onions and it doesn’t get much better. I leave the skins on to give the potato salad a little more texture and flavor. With my BBQ Bacon Beans, a good coleslaw, and this potato salad, your barbecues, and backyard cookouts will be the best in town!
Loaded Baked Potato Salad Ingredients
- Russet Potatoes: High starch potatoes that are light and fluffy when baked are what you want for this recipe. Yukon Gold potatoes are nice as well, they are a little less starchy. I keep the skins on but make sure to scrub them really well before baking.
- Cheddar Cheese: Shredded cheddar really brings home the point of the baked potato side of this recipe. It is a great addition, and the flavor is to die for.
- Bacon: Crispy bacon bits on baked potatoes is decadent yes, but oh so delicious in this loaded potato salad.
- Sour Cream and Butter: I love the combination of sweet butter and tangy sour cream. For me, it’s what makes a baked potato great. It’s why this Loaded Baked Potato Salad is so amazing.
- Salt and Black Pepper: Potatoes love salt and pepper.
- Green Onions: Crunchy, colorful, and a little pungent. Green onions are the perfect finishing touch to this recipe.
How To Prepare the Loaded Baked Potato Salad:
- Bake the Potatoes: Scrub the potatoes well, poke a few holes in the skin with a fork, and bake them. The oven or microwave works great for baking potatoes. In the summer, I typically make them in the microwave, so the oven doesn’t heat up the house. However, baked in the oven, with a little canola oil rubbed on the skin, the baked potatoes are the best! The nice crispy skin adds a nice texture to the baked potato salad.
- Add the Butter and Sour Cream: While the potatoes are hot, you want to prepare them as though you’re making a baked potato. Add the butter, salt, pepper, and sour cream and let it all melt together. Once cool, give the potatoes a rough chop and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the Shredded Cheddar, Bacon, and Green Onions: Add all of the remaining ingredients and give the loaded baked potato salad a good stir, however, don’t over mix, you want the potatoes to remain light and fluffy and a little chunky.
Here is my Loaded Baked Potato Salad recipe:
Loaded Baked Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 Large Russet Potatoes Baked, Scrub the skin well
- 1 Teaspoon Canola Oil Rub the potato skin if baking in the oven. If using a microwave, you can omit this ingredient.
- 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- 1/4 Cup Sour Cream
- 1/4 Pound Bacon 1/2-inch dice, crispy
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 Green Onions 1/4-inch dice
- 1/4 Cup Cheddar Cheese Shredded
Instructions
- Scrub the potato skins really well. Preheat oven to 350°F (or use the microwave and leave the oven off)
- If baking in the oven, rub the skin with canola oil and puncture the skin several times with a fork to allow moisture to escape. If microwaving, omit the oil. Bake at 350°F for approximately 1-hour, until the skin is slightly crispy and the flesh feels soft. Or, microwave based on your microwave's instructions.
- Dice the bacon and cook until crispy. Drain well.
- While hot split the potatoes open and add the salt, pepper, butter, and sour cream.
- Let the potatoes cool. Give them a rough 1-inch chop and add to a large mixing bowl.
- Add all remaining ingredients and gently mix them together. Leaving the potatoes light, fluffy, and a little chunky.
