Try this Loaded Baked Potato Salad recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 11.7697575095568 g
- Cholesterol 51.722250014432 mg
- Fat 27.3999925139131 g
- Fiber 0.0665249981990392 g
- Protein 9.08429250072501 g
- Saturated Fat 10.1966768360684 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (95g)
- Sodium 555.778000270325 mg
- Sugar 11.7032325113578 g
- Trans Fat 1.31860266730197 g
- Calories 325 calories
Step-by-step
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the potatoes and cook until fork tender, about 7 to 12 minutes. Before you drain the potatoes, prepare a large bowl filled with ice water. Drain the potatoes, then add the potatoes immediately to the bowl of ice water and let sit until the potatoes have cooled completely. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile add the mayo, sour cream, hot sauce, green onions, bacon, salt and pepper in a large bowl and whisk until combined. Gently stir in the potatoes and cheddar cheese until coated and combined.
- Chill salad, covered, in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!
Traditional potato salad relies on vinegar and mustard for acidity, whereas this loaded version builds its profile on dairy fats, cured pork, and sharp cheddar. Quartering the baby red potatoes before boiling maximizes surface area absorption for salt. Salting the boiling water heavily seasons the interior of the potato chunks as gelatinization occurs. Smaller potato pieces cook faster and more evenly than large russet cubes.
Scaling this recipe requires attention to thermal mass and pot dimensions. Doubling the batch means using a wider pot rather than a deeper one to ensure the boiling water returns to a rapid boil quickly once the tubers are added. Overcrowding the pot drops the water temperature too long, leading to waterlogged exteriors and firm centers.
Plunging cooked potatoes into an ice water bath halts residual carryover cooking instantly. This abrupt thermal shock prevents the starches from breaking down into a mealy texture. Chill the assembled dish for at least two hours before serving so the fat molecules in the mayonnaise and sour cream firm up around the potatoes.
Executing this efficiently in a home kitchen comes down to parallel processing. Whisk the dressing components in the mixing bowl while the water heats up on the burner. That preparation overlap keeps total active labor under thirty minutes.
