Bacon Cheeseburger Potato Salad
A potato salad with all the flavors of a bacon cheeseburger? Sign me up! I love thousand island dressing on a burger, but honestly I love it on anything. We all know that is pretty much what “secret sauce” is right? This potato salad was my excuse to drench some potatoes with thousand island and call it a day.
The inspiration for this recipe
I was thinking about making some new twists on potato salad with the long weekend coming up because that is what people want this time of the year. And by people I mean me! When I thought of doing a bacon cheeseburger potato salad, I was worried it was going to be already overdone. After a few quick searches, I actually realized there wasn’t too many recipes out there, and none I specifically wanted to make, so I set out to make my version.
Make the secret sauce
I made this thousand island / secret sauce amped up in a way that would bring some potato salad flavors to the mix. Mayo first, then lime juice, minced shallot and pickle, relish, mustard, ketchup, grated garlic, hot sauce, and paprika.
Make the bacon cheeseburger potato salad
After the potatoes boil, add in the dressing. I also added a little reserved bacon fat! Then add in the bacon, beef, pickles, tomato, and onion. There will be more ingredients to add, but you need to let this cool fully first.
Add the cold ingredients
Once the bacon cheeseburger potato salad has cooled you can add the baby kale and cheddar. Wait hold up a minute. YOU PUT KALE IN POTATO SALAD?!?!?!?! Yes I did. I wanted something to be the “lettuce” of this cheeseburger. You could also use arugula or spinach if you wanted. Or you can skip it all together.
Serving the bacon cheeseburger potato salad
A little paprika to finish and that is all you need! You could always taste and adjust seasonings. Potatoes can be really bland and need a lot of flavor so don’t be afraid to add more garlic, salt, pickles, or whatever you desire!
This would be so good with some grilled chicken. Or you could serve the potato salad with bacon cheeseburgers and have a whole cheeseburger themed meal!
For me, I just ate it by itself for dinner.
Twists on bacon cheeseburger potato salad
I mentioned you could swap the kale or leave it out. You could also change the ingredients based on what you love on a cheeseburger. I was thinking of doing caramelized onions but in the end I left them out.
This potato salad is more inspired by a German potato salad, where I normally do more of a Southern style potato salad. This is a great recipe for a German potato salad if you want to learn more.
For more potato salad goodness, check out my sriracha banana pepper potato salad, gnocchi pasta salad, or these potato salad deviled eggs!
Bacon Cheeseburger Potato Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- 3/4 cup mayo
- 1 lime juice
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 1 small shalot minced
- 3 pickle chips minced
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 2 tablespoons sweet relish
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salad
- 4 strips thick cut bacon
- 1/3 pound ground beef
- 1.5 pounds small red potatoes cleaned and quartered
- 2 vine ripened tomatoes diced
- 1/4 small red onion sliced thin and chopped
- 1 whole pickle diced
- 1 cup baby kale, arugula, or spinach chopped
- 4 ounces sharp cheddar diced into small cubes
Instructions
- Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Stir in a pinch of salt. Cover and set aside until ready to use.
- In a large frying pan, cook the bacon. Cook over medium heat to brown on both sides. Cook until crispy and remove from the pan. Allow to cool on a paper towel. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon fat. Leave about a tablespoon in the pan to cook the beef in, and discard the rest.
- Cook the beef, breaking it up as much as you can. Really cook it to brown on all sides. It will seem a bit dried out and overcooked, that is good!
- After the bacon has cooled, chop it up.
- Add the potatoes to a pot of heavily salted water and put it on the stove. Bring to a simmer and lightly boil for about 30 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Strain the potatoes and add them to a bowl. Stir in the reserved bacon fat. Stir in the dressing to coat the potatoes. Stir in the beef and bacon. Stir in the tomatoes, onion, and pickles.
- Cover the potatoes and store in the fridge until fully cooled, about 2 hours.
- Stir in the greens and cheese before serving. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed because potatoes can be bland. If you need to boost the flavors, you can add a little more salt, grated garlic, or pickle juice.