Since first publishing this recipe a little over a year ago, it has received over a half a million views, hundreds of comments, and people have written to me from all over the world telling me that it is now their favorite dish. And the best part is it is super simple to make!
I originally came up with this recipe when looking for a new side dish for BBQs. I am not a big fan of mayo and wanted something a little less “wet” and non-traditional. It has been a wild success and I’m not allowed to host any BBQ now without making this and doubling the recipe!
Fully Loaded Baked Potato Salad
One 5 pound bag medium Russet Potatoes
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 package of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 small onion, chopped
Chives, to taste
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Wash the potatoes and poke holes in them with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until fork tender.
2. Cool and cut the potatoes into bite sized chunks. I put them in a separate bowl and once they cooled enough I put them in the fridge to cool all the way. This gives them an excellent texture and prevents the dairy ingredients from getting hot or the cheese from melting. If you are serving this salad hot then you don’t need to cool the potatoes, just skip that step!
3. Mix the mayo and sour cream together in a bowl. Add to the potatoes, then add the onions, chives, and cheese. Salt and pepper to taste – I use a pepper grinder and a sea salt grinder for EVERYTHING so I never know exactly how much of either I put in. I think the taste is far superior to just using regular table salt and pepper.
4. Top with extra shredded cheese, bacon, and chives, and serve!
This is a simple and inexpensive side dish for any meal but especially great to take to a barbecue. My favorite part is that this is one of the regular ole recipes that anyone would make without realizing that it happens to be gluten free naturally. Those are my favorite! No special ingredients or expensive grocery stores, just regular food that I can eat along with everybody else. And it’s delish! 🙂
Check out my Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake for an awesome dessert!
thisismykeywest 
I love this recipie but am allergic to eggs so can not have mayo. would you increse sour cream or what other substitute would u recommend?
thanks for the feedback, cant wait to try this for a party next week.
I don’t do eggs either! I substitute more sour cream and no mayo for myself. It’s not quite the same but if you can’t have mayo you are probably used to that already.
My husband just recently developed a problem with boiled eggs. He re-eats them for hours after. So I have been looking for a new recipe to replace my old tried and true that I have used for 50 years. He can have the mayo, so won’t miss the tang that it gives but if I were you, I would add a little vinegar to give it that zip. I would use rice vinegar or if you don’t have that use cider vinegar. I always sprinkle it on the potatoes while they are warm for 2 reasons. One it soaks in and flavors the potatoes and two because it is moisture soaking into the potatoes, they don’t soak up all of the dressing and leave you with a dry salad. I think that this is my new go to. I am going to try it today.
Thanks for the tip! I can’t have vinegar personally but maybe others will be able to try it that way. Enjoy!!
What about using veganese? A vegan mayo?
I have not tried that but I would like to hear how it turns out.
As someone who isn’t a fan of mayo, I was hesitant to making this but it sounded so yummy! And I needed a dish to pass for the Father’s Day cookout. Whilst making the dish I thought that maybe sauteed onions may be tasty in the dish, just to take some of the bitter onion taste out. So I sauteed some and left a portion raw. After I cooled down the potatoes and started mixing all together, I pulled a sampling out and tasted with the two different onions. Long story short, the sauteed and raw onions ended up in the dish! YUM! It was a hit at the cookout. Had the the small amount that was leftover for dinner tonight! Thanks for sharing.
I personally prefer sautéed onions so that sounds fantastic! My husband and mom like them raw and crunchy so I get stuck with them that way every time. Maybe ill try sneaking them your way next time and see if it gets noticed… 😉
I’d use a mayo sub like Miracle Whip or ranch dressing, and personally I would use green onions or chives for that authentic baked potato flavor!
Those are great suggestions thank you for the comment. My original recipe used chives and I did not include them this time. They are definitely on the list for today’s batch! (Husband’s birthday request).
Miracle whip has eggs in it too. I’d use veganese if you can’t or don’t eat eggs.
I chop up celery, radish and olives really fine and add them!! But don’t use very much. It’s really good
Olives, yum!
Can you make this ahead of time? Like the day before?
Absolutely! I made it the day before Mother’s Day for that BBQ and I am making up a batch today for tomorrow’s camping trip. If you have time to cool the potatoes in the fridge before mixing everything together it makes for the perfect texture.
Sounds real good i will try this
This sounds so yummy!!! I can’t wait to try it.
a great kick is to add ranch dressing mix packet to the sour cream..it is very good that way…
Thanks for the tip!
Ok, 2 more questions…how many pounds of potatoes? And how many will it feed (1/2 cup servings)?
Thanks so much, cooking my bacon now! Can’t wait!
I’m sorry for the late response- we were up in the mountains camping! I made the salad for our trip and I used one 5 pound bag of potatoes. It served 7 people for 3 different meals with some leftover! You could definitely use less potatoes for a smaller batch.
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I made this Saturday for a barbecue. I sautéed the onions and added a packet of ranch dressing dry mix. I mixed in the bacon drippings (sounds gross but the result was a hit). Anyway, thank you for sharing the recipe. Welcome back from your trip!
The bacon drippings idea is fantastic! My husband and our roommate will be all over that.
I made this recipe and was actually disappointed when I tried it cold. It tasted weird to me, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. However, I heated it up to try it warm and it was delicious! I guess I just didn’t like it as a cold salad.
My mom preferred it warmed up as well, although she did like it cold too. Thanks for the comment!
I always cook my potatoes whole with the skin on. The skin peels off easily while they are still warm. The potatoes will be more like baked potatoes and hold their shape a lot better.
That’s a great tip! I leave the skins on and don’t ever peel them. I prefer the taste, texture, and health benefits of leaving the skin on. Some people don’t like it that way but I do 🙂 I just assume if anybody doesn’t want the skins on they’ll take it upon themselves to peel them when they make their own salad.
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Do you mix the bacon in or put it all on top? Do you recommend Idaho or Red potatoes? Thanks!
I mix most of the bacon in and save a little bit to sprinkle on top. Enjoy!
Where does the baked come in. It says nothing about baked.
Thank you! Looks fabulous!
Thank you for the comment!
Adding a tablespoon or two of the bacon drippings when mixing the mayo and sour cream adds an amazing flavor to the sauce too 🙂 if you like a little less tang from sour cream use mexican creama it’s fantastic too in there
Those are fantastic tips, thank you!
Saw your recipe on Pinterest. It looks delicious! Hope to make it soon.
Thank you for the comment. Make sure to make plenty, it never lasts long around here 🙂
I’m making this for the 4th of July – can’t wait to try it!
I will be serving this for the holiday as well! Thank you for checking it out 🙂
I make this exact recipe but use ranch instead of mayo and add green onions. It is seriously delicious!
Great idea!
I mix a RANCH pak in with sourcream and no mayo. We love it!
I’m hearing this a lot, sounds like a great idea!
Yummy
🙂
Hey so I just had a quick question. I’m making this tomorrow for a family cookout. I’m making almost 10lbs worth of salad do I just double your original recipe?? This looks amazing btw and I can’t wait to try it!! 🙂
How many people are you serving? The last time I made this I used an entire 5 lb bag of potatoes and increased the mayo and sour cream until I liked the consistency (my mom requested a slightly wetter version; I prefer drier). The 5 lb bag served 7 people for three meals and we still had some leftover! That was with heavy dinners too however.
Question! Did you use Mayo or Miracle Whip in your original recipe??
I used regular mayo. I have Celiac Disease so I use Best Foods mayo and Hormel bacon and then the recipe is gluten free!
Our local grocery has a Loaded Potato salad that I love. I have been searching for a recipie to make my own (much cheaper!) for several years. Thank you for ending my search!! This salad turned out amazing, and I can’t wait to share it today with the family!
I’m so glad! Thank you so much for the comment!
Its like a big family party where everyone brings a dish to pash so I’m gonna say like 40-50 people?? I’m not quite sure I just wanted to make sure I have enough. I’d rather make a lot then run out. 🙂
The general rule for catering is 1/4 lb. of potato salad per person. Some will eat more and some less so it will equal out. My recipe will make enough for about 20 people so I would at least double the recipe for your sized group Ashley. Use a 10 lb. bag of potatoes and 2 packages of bacon and increase the wet ingredients accordingly. I would be generous with the bacon and cheese as those are everybody’s favorite parts!
Maybe this is a little bit much but, what if you don’t have sour cream and can’t go to the store to buy some, can I just use mayo all the way?
You could certainly use mayo for the whole recipe- you will end up with more of a traditional potato salad taste rather than a baked potato taste. I am not a big mayo eater, as I have trouble with eggs, that is what inspired me to make a recipe with less of it. But you could certainly adapt the recipe any number of ways and see how you like it.
for those that are allergic to mayo…try veganaise. it is a vegan substitute for mayo, so no eggs. i myself do not use it, but, heard it is wonderful.
What a fantastic tip! Do you know of Veganaise is gluten free? I will have to check into this. Thanks so much for your input!
This recipe is awesome! I made it with lots of chopped green onions in place of a regular onion. I also cut back on the mayo & replaced it with ranch dressing. I will be making this forever! Everyone loved it !
Awesome! I added a bunch of green onions last time I made it as well and everyone loved it. Thank you for the comment!
I noticed during Easter that our local Walmart carried a “Loaded Baked Potato Salad” so I decided to try it out. We bought 2lbs for our annual get together & have been hooked ever since. I have tried it from other grocers & even Walmart’s in other states and it’s never been as good as that first batch we got Easter weekend. I’m so making this for our beach cookout next weekend. ❤ Thanks for sharing your recipe, as I found it on pintrest!
Fantastic let me know how it turns out!
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Awesome!
Thank you so much for including my recipe!
How much of the ranch packet do you use if you decide to use that instead of the mayo?
I haven’t tried the ranch packet idea, all of my food has to be gluten-free so I stay away from most of the packaged mixes and seasonings. Maybe start with half packet and taste it and you could always add more as you go?
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I add a cup of ranch dressing. Makes it creamier.
Thank you for the tip!
Made this for my last camping trip ans it was a hit! Even my picky 3yr old & 5yrold loved it. I have to admit I ate most of it myself. …cooking about another batch as I’m typing for another weekend camping trip 🙂
I’m so glad you tried and love it! We make it for all of our get-togethers now by popular request. 🙂
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I just made this for a large gathering…..raves and raves and more raves. Thank you for the idea and the recipe. I used 5 pounds of gold potatoes. I parboiled the whole potato and then rolled them in Olive oil and sprinkled with salt and finished cooking them in the oven, 350 degrees until fork tender.. Let them cool before cutting them into bite sized pieces…go from there. YUM YUM
So glad you enjoyed it!
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Looks yummy….but I’m not sure where the baking comes in? I’ve pinned it anyway but would love to know!
Hiya! Greetings from Scotland. This sounds good – going to give it a try. Possibly a daft question but why is called baked potato salad when the potatoes get boiled not baked in the oven?
This looks so yummy!!! I’m making it tmrw! I do have One quick question. You did not specify what kind of onion to use. I assumed maybe a yellow one but in the picture, it looks like a red onion. What kind did you use? Thx so much!:)
I have true with red, white, and yellow and it’s all good 🙂 it’s all a matter of personal taste 🙂
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Looks And Sounds So Good. I’ve Bought This From Von’s And They Also Put BLUE CHEESE crumbles In It.
Blue cheese sounds like an amazing addition! I’m allergic unfortunately but I bet it would be yummy.
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I am so excited about trying this recipe! I’ve always hated traditional potato salad and this looks like a perfect alternative. I’m bringing almost 20 lbs worth to a party this weekend! Thank you!
Thanks for the comment! This salad has been a huge hit for me. Not a fan of the very “wet” mayonnaisey salads, that’s where the inspiration for this came from. Let me know how you like it!
Just finished making 17lbs of this stuff….it is a HUGE hit! Finally a potato salad I like! I ended up sautéing the onions lightly in the bacon grease. Amazing.
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I just made this today, and wow was it delicious! My hubby normally loathes anything with sour cream, but even he gobbled it down! The leftovers are going to be great taking to work for lunch this week, it will be a great change from the normal stuff. I’ll definitely be making this again and again!
Fantastic!
Reblogged this on thisismykeywest and commented:
After a year, this recipe is as popular as ever! Being in the midst of BBQ season, I wanted to share it again 🙂
Great recipe
Thank you!
Hey just found ur recipe going to make this for our office party friday. Seen so many comments. What is the best way to make this. Ranch dressing and no mayo. And use the same amount of ranch as mayo I thinking peeling potatoes can I boil these instead of baking?? And how long did u bake them?
I prefer it just as in the recipe 🙂 I bake the potatoes for an hour but that will always depend on the size of your potatoes. Start at 350 for an hour and bake until fork tender.
I am not one to cook anything, ever. But I ran across this dish on Pinterest and with Thanksgiving looming near, I knew I would have to contribute something or my boyfriend’s family would think I was an undomesticated train wreck (and they could possibly be right). I decided to try it, as it seemed like something I could make pretty easily and it had the added advantage of being unique (in other words, not your typical potato salad). Turned out fabulous! Got rave reviews from all his family and several requests for the recipe! Will definitely be my go to recipe from here on out! Thanks for sharing!
Im so glad it wad a hit!