Get ready to have your socks knocked off with this Smoked Potato Salad! Using the smoked baby potatoes and just a few ingredients, this is an unexpected mouth watering side dish.
Smoky, tender potatoes coated in a creamy mayonnaise mixture creates a dish that can’t be beat. Fire up the smoker and get those potatoes done as this dish is coming up for the next cookout.
🍽️ Why This Recipe Works
Five minutes prep time and eight simple ingredients. I love recipes that don’t force you to spend a lot of time preparing, and the fact that you probably already have all of the ingredients at home is a huge bonus!
Great for barbecues and parties. Everyone loves a good, classic potato salad and this is a smoky twist that will be hit of the gathering!
It has bacon in it! What else can you say? Anything made with bacon is a winner in my book!
🥔 Ingredients
Potatoes | You can actually use the Baby Medley like we did or try out fingerlings, cut up russets or red potatoes. Steer clear of the white potatoes.
Creamy Sauce | A combination of mayo and sour cream makes the perfect base for the sauce. It’s incredible and easy to work with.
Cheese | We love adding a little bit of cheese to take the potato salad to the next level. So good!
⏲️ Equipment and Tools
Vegetable Basket – A good quality, vented vegetable basket is the perfect tool for smoking these potatoes. The open holes allows the smoke to fully coat the potatoes.
Disposable Aluminum Pan – If you don’t have a vegetable basket, use a disposable aluminum pan instead. After using, throw it away.
Wood Chips – We used a simple apple wood for the smoking, but you can easily go bold with a hickory or mesquite. If you aren’t sure about the typical pairings of wood choices, refer to my free Wood Pairing Cheat Sheet.
Smoker – Use the smoker of your choice for this one. We always use our Big Green Egg when smoking but don’t hesitate to use Traeger, Masterbuilt, Pit Boss, Blaze or Weber. The only difference is in some of the smokers you are able to dial in the exact temperature you want it to stay at and some (like the BGE) you have to work it with the vents and charcoal.
🥘 Instructions
Start off by smoking some potatoes. The best part is you can make this even if you don’t own a dedicated smoker.
For a gas grill, simply use a smoker box to hold your smoking chips and then you can make this recipe with no problem. Alternatively, you can grill the potatoes instead of smoking them. It will still pick up the hint of smoke, which for a lot of folks, is just enough.
You can use our recipe on how to Smoke Fingerling Potatoes here or you can simply follow along. Both recipes have similar smoking instructions. This recipe takes it a step further to make a Loaded Smoked Potato Salad.
Step One: Heat up the grill to 350 degrees. Normally when smoking, I would keep the temperature at 225, but I am raising it up to make the smoking process faster as the potatoes really become quite infused with the smoke in just 40-50 minutes.
Step Two: Toss the potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper. I find the best way to do this and get the best coverage is to use a one gallon Ziploc Bag. Just dump it all in, shake it a little and the potatoes will be well-coated.
Step Three: Pour the potatoes into a disposable aluminum pan. We had a reusable vegetable basket and used that instead. We want to show there are many ways to reach the finish line here! You can also pull out the Beer Can Chicken basket as it can hold about ¾ of the potatoes from this recipe. Smoke the potatoes for 40-50 minutes or until fork tender. Bring the potatoes in and allow to cool.
Step Four: After the potatoes are cool, cut them in half, mix them with the mayonnaise, sour cream, chopped bacon, cheese, apple cider vinegar and chives. I would not salt or pepper the mixture until you taste test it, as the potatoes already have salt and pepper on them. Serve and enjoy! It is best if you can refrigerate it for a couple hours prior to serving to have ingredients meld together
🥡 Storage
If there are any leftovers, store in the refrigerator for up to five days in a sealed container.
When you smoke vegetables and then store them in the fridge, the smoky flavor will intensive over the next few days. That is another reason just to use a little bit of smoke while cooking these.
Make sure to cover these well in the refrigerator so the smoke flavor doesn’t take over everything else.
🍴 Meal Prep
Cut the potatoes and prepare them the day before. They will stay fresh in the refrigerator for a day after being cut.
Cook and chop the bacon. I typically cook the bacon on a sheet pan in the oven with a raise baking grid. Make these a few days in advance to save you time late.
Chop up the chives. Store them in a Ziploc bag in the fridge until you are ready to use them.
🥩 Serving Suggestions
I always think of eating potato salad on a paper plate standing around friends and family at a BBQ. In that light, consider making some of these other BBQ-friendly dishes that will complement the potato salad.
Your block party when you are serving Smoked Burgers, Frozen Burgers and Smoked Hot Dogs are perfect paired with this salad.
Family and friends will love you serving up this salad with poultry favorites:
🍠 Substitutions
Make your family’s traditional recipe and simply substitute with these smoked potatoes.
Add celery for a crispy texture. A Jalapeño will add some heat to the dish too!
If you go classic, it would be fun to add Smoked Eggs. Or think ahead and use smoked eggs in a traditional/classic potato salad.
Use the components of a German Potato Salad.
Substitute Greek Yogurt for the mayonnaise and sour cream. That will give you a tart flavor but it will save on calories.
Replace regular bacon with turkey bacon.
You can use any cheese you like. We used a Mexican Cheese today but this would be excellent with a mild or sharp cheddar. Even try Gouda – just keep the smoke mild as the potatoes are already robust!
❗ Expert Tips
Vegetables don’t contain the fat of meats to absorb the smoke so it will take in the smoke and HOLD it much faster and stronger than a rib roast or pork butt.
To offset that, partially cook the potatoes in the microwave BEFORE putting on the smoker. Then the smoke can ENHANCE the flavor and not take it over. Also, consider using the mildest wood chips like Alder, cherry, peach.
Try to have the potatoes be the same size so they cook evenly.
👨🍳 Recipe FAQs
This recipe doesn’t make a huge batch, so I doubt there will be much left over. If there is, one day in the refrigerator is going to be enough. On the second and third days, the smoke flavor kept becoming more powerful, and it may be a bit too intense. Hey, at least I’m honest here!
Yes, absolutely! You’ll have enough for around eight servings per batch, so you can simply make as many batches as needed. Crowds love it!
Find yourself out of apple cider vinegar? No problem, you can swap it for lemon juice or white vinegar. Both are good options.
Related Recipes
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Smoked Potato Salad
Equipment
- Grilling Vegetable Basket
Ingredients
- 28 oz Bag of Baby Potatoes
- ½ cup Mayonnaise
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- 3 tbsp Chives fresh, chopped
- 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- ¾ cup Cheese shredded
- 6 slices Bacon cooked, chopped
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Instructions
Smoke the Potatoes
- Heat up the grill to 350 degrees. Normally when smoking, I would keep the temperature at 225, but I am raising it up to make the smoking process faster as the potatoes really become quite infused with the smoke in just the 30-50 minutes.
- Toss the potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper in a gallon Ziploc Bag. You will get even coverage by shaking them in a bag. Just dump it all in, shake it a little and the potatoes will be perfectly coated and ready to go.
- Pour the potatoes into an aluminum disposable pan. Alternatively, you can use a reusable vegetable basket. We want to show there are many ways to reach the finish line here! You can also pull out the Beer Can Chicken basket as it can hold about ¾ of the potatoes from this recipe. Smoke the potatoes for 30-50 minutes or until fork tender. Bring the potatoes in and allow to cool.
Make the Smoked Potato Salad
- After the potatoes are cool, cut them in half.
- Mix them with the mayonnaise, sour cream, chopped bacon, cheese, apple cider vinegar and chives. I would not salt or pepper the mixture until you taste test it as the potatoes already have salt and pepper on them. Serve and enjoy! Like all other potato salad recipes, it is best if you can refrigerate it for a couple hours prior to serving to allow to have ingredients meld together.
Notes
Nutrition
