Looking for a unique and flavorful potato salad recipe? Look no further than our German Potato Salad Recipe! This dish is packed with delicious ingredients like bacon, onions, and potatoes, and it’s perfect for any occasion.
I’ve got the perfect German potato salad recipe for you. This dish is simple to make and will be a hit at your next potluck or BBQ! Serve this potato salad recipe at your next gathering and watch as it quickly disappears. The combination of flavors in this dish is sure to please everyone’s taste buds.
This potato salad recipe is so good. It ranks right up there with my loaded potato salad.
How Is German Potato Salad Different From The American Kind?
German potato salad is usually served warm and comprises boiled potatoes, bacon, and a vinegar-based dressing. Also involved are mustard, parsley, and onions. (Side note: Try this recipe with mustard if you want a little kick). American potato salad, though, is usually served cold and features a mayonnaise-based dressing. Along with the boiled potatoes are onions, celery, and hard-boiled eggs and is often garnished with herbs such as dill or parsley.
Why Is It Called A ‘German’ Potato Salad?
Good question! This article from NPR seems to think it’s because Germans in the 1800s were the first ones to mix boiled potatoes with vinegar and mustard — a combination of flavors the Teutons really took to. Americans adapted the recipe shortly after mayonnaise became popular in the 1930s.
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs potatoes (4 medium) cut into halves
- 3 slices bacon
- medium onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp celery seed
- 1 tsp salt and a dash pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup vinegar
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat 1″ salted water to boiling. Add potatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Cook until tender, 10 to 25 minutes. Drain and cool.
- In 10-inch skillet, cook bacon over medium heat, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet with slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.
- Cook and stir onion in bacon fat until tender.
- Stir in flour, sugar, salt, celery seed, and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly.
- Stir in water and vinegar. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Slice warm potatoes into hot mixture, crumble bacon in.
- Cook, stirring gently to coat potato slices, till hot and bubbly.
FAQs
You can use the leftover bacon fat on this recipe (reduce, reuse, recycle, right?), but let it cool completely before adding to the salad.
You can use apple cider vinegar as a substitute for white distilled vinegar if you like. You might need to adjust the amount of sugar that you use. The apple cider vinegar can add some sweetness due to the apples.
Consider adding fresh herbs to your German potato salad. This is a great way to pack in even more flavor and it can be done right before serving.
How To Store German Potato Salad
German potato salad will stay fresh for 3-4 days when stored correctly. Just be sure to store it before it sits out for longer than 2 hours. Also, it is important to keep the potato salad in the refrigerator and in an airtight container. You can either eat it cold or warm it up in the microwave (stirring regularly) or on the stove.
This recipe was first published in October 2013. It has been updated with new images and helpful tips. However, the delicious classic German potato salad recipe remains the same.
Check out some of my other favorite potato salads:
Traditional German Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds potatoes 4 medium cut into halves
- 3 slices bacon
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp celery seed
- dash pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup vinegar
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat 1″ salted water to boiling. Add potatoes, heat to boiling, reduce heat and cover. Cook until tender, 10 to 25 minutes. Drain and cool.
- In 10-inch skillet, cook bacon over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet with slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.
- Cook and stir onion in bacon fat until tender.
- Stir in flour, sugar, salt, celery seed, and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly.
- Stir in water and vinegar. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat.
- Slice warm potatoes into hot mixture, crumble bacon in.
- Cook, stirring gently to coat potato slices, till hot and bubbly.
Nutrition
I’ve never heard of that flavor vinegar. The potato salad looks awsesome!
I’ll have to try making this!
I’m really wanting to make this right now. It sounds and looks delicious and such a great alternative to traditional potato salad
I love potato salad, and LOVE using vinegar to cook with… so I’ll be trying this soon! YUM!
I’ve never seen the pepper version of vinegar and never thought about it being used to make potatoes. The recipes sounds amazing though
Gosh, you can use vinegar for so many uses. I really need to start using it more.
Thank you for this great post. I love potato anything! My grandfather was half German. I might have to make this for my mom now!
I LOVE german potato salad and I have not had it in so long. I think I will make some soon. Apple Cider Vinegar is awesome and has lots of uses, I have used it to clear up rashes and it works wonders.
This is different from the potato salad I have had before. I will be giving this a try.