Ultimate Loaded Baked Potato Salad

With grilling season and summer gatherings right around the corner, I thought I'd share my recipe for one killer of a summertime side dish. Potato salad is pretty much a staple at most warm-weather get-togethers. {I actually love potato salad so much that I make it two or three times a month from spring until fall.} I've taken the traditional potato salad and given it one heck of a make-over. It's quite the upgrade actually. Here, we've, basically, got the working parts of a potluck favorite combined with everything we all love about a loaded baked potato.

The result of this marriage is something pretty darn amazing. I start with baking the potatoes instead of boiling them. Once removed from the oven and cut into chunks, the potatoes then get a good dousing of vinegar while they are still warm. (I use the vinegar trick for any potato salad recipe that I make. I think I learned it from watching Emeril years ago. He said that he considers potatoes "most vulnerable" while they are still hot and more easily "accepting" of the vinegar.)

For the dressing, a little sour cream is incorporated in with the mayo for the perfect tangy zip and to mimic those flavors found in loaded baked potatoes. Crispy bacon, lots of scallions (or chives) and shredded cheese get folded in for the perfect "bang" in this firecracker of a potato salad.

Yields 8 - 10 servings.

Ultimate Potato Salad

I've been the Family Potato Salad Maker for years. On both my side of the family and my husband's side, I'm the one who is asked to bring the potato salad to summer gatherings. This task bodes well for me since potato salad is one of my all-time favorite dishes ... so long as the potato salad is made right.

I'm severely and unapologetically picky about 'tater salad. I want nothing to do with any that comes close to resembling the kind found lurking behind the glass at most deli counters or the kind in those plastic pails next to the rotisserie chicken display at the supermarket. You know the ones. They are often slimy and heavily laden with pimentos.

And, I don't care for potato salad made with sweet relish or sweet pickles. Also, I cringe when the potatoes are not cooked long enough. And, I like the potatoes cut into itty, bitty cubes. Furthermore, I don't understand the logic behind boiled potatoes simply coated with a little mayo and mustard (a.k.a. bland potato salad ). I cherish a potato salad that is complex in flavor even though it is considered a simple side dish. It has to have the right vinegar-to-sugar ratio in the mix as it's all about balance to me. When everything comes together as it should, it's a beautiful (and scrumptious) thing!

See ... told ya I was picky.

Many friends and family members have requested my recipe through the years. The problem has always been that I'd never really measured anything. I just eye-balled everything as I went along. But, I have spent a lot of time recently working on nailing down the precise measurements and writing up an actual recipe for my tried-and-true potato salad. So, now I'm finally able to share it here with you.

There are a couple of key steps that I think really help make this recipe a true winner. Drizzling some vinegar over the potatoes while they are steaming hot (right after draining) is one of those key steps. Don't skip it. It makes a world of difference. And, mixing together the dressing with the potatoes, onions, celery and eggs while the potatoes are still warm is another key component to this recipe. The result is a super creamy, you'll-think-you-died-and-went-to-heaven potato salad that is sure to make you the rock star at your next summer party.