Classic Potato Salad – Perfect Side for BBQs and Summer Dinners
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Whip up this classic potato salad – a creamy and crowd-pleasing side dish perfect for BBQs, picnics, or easy summer weeknight dinners!

Classic potato salad is always a hit at BBQs—it’s easy to make and can serve a lot of people on a tight budget.
It’s also an easy make-ahead side, along with a green salad, for easy weeknight summer meals. Cook a few marinated skewers in the sandwich press, and you can have the family meal on the table in under 15 minutes!
I like to add bacon, but you can totally leave it out for a vegetarian option or just to reduce the cost. We served this with ham at Christmas time and ham and bacon seemed overkill to me, so left it out for that meal.
Ingredients
Using a combination of inexpensive ingredients and pantry staples, this potato salad is easy to whip up on a whim.
The total cost for the recipe using Woolworths prices (Jan 2025) and using 1kg of potatoes is $8.95, which is $1.12 per serving if serving 8 people as a side.
Ingredients
potatoes
eggs
bacon (optional)
mayonnaise
sour cream
lemon juice (optional)
spring onions/chives
How to Make Potato Salad – Step By Step
Step 1 – Boil the potatoes and eggs
You can do this in the same pot! Add the potatoes to cold water and bring to the boil. Gently add the eggs using a spoon and set the timer for 8 minutes.
Test the potatoes and if done, drain everything once the timer goes off. OR, if the potatoes aren’t quite ready, remove the eggs and continue to cook the potato if it’s not quite ready.
Place the eggs in cold water after boiling so they don’t continue to cook. Once cool enough to handle, peel and chop the eggs.
Step 2 – Fry the bacon
Fry the chopped bacon in a frying pan until crispy.
I like to fry the bacon from a cold pan – it helps to render the fat, creating crispy bacon.
Step 3 – Make the dressing
Combine the dressing ingredients, tasting as you go. Add extra salt (not too much, the bacon is salty too) or some extra lemon to get the right amount of tang for your taste!
Step 4 – Combine
In a large bowl, gently toss all the ingredients in the dressing to coat. Mix the spring onion/chives in with all the other ingredients, but you can also keep a little aside to sprinkle over the top as a garnish.
Serve straight away (slightly warm) or chill for later.
Scaling
This recipe is super-easy to double or halve.
When entertaining, I estimate about one small to medium potato per person and adjust the remaining quantities to match.
It doesn’t really matter if you use 2 eggs or 4, 2 rashers of bacon or 1, or more, or none, it’s a flexible recipe that doesn’t demand exact measurements.
And if you like your salad smothered in dressing, simply double or triple the dressing and keep the remaining quantities the same.
In fact, if I whip this up for an easy weeknight side, then I don’t tend to measure anyway, just throw a few spuds and eggs in, and eyeball the dressing.
Variations
For a change of flavour, I like to add some dry ranch dressing mix to the mayo mixture.
Dry ranch dressing mix is common in the US, not so much in Australia. You can buy a Mingle brand version at Woolies (watch for half-price specials), Gewurzhaus (online), or make your own with dried dill and parsley. Here’s a recipe—I just leave out the dried buttermilk powder, because I couldn’t find it in Oz.
If you want a non-creamy potato salad, you can substitute the mayo and sour cream with a basic vinaigrette made from olive oil, white wine vinegar or lemon juice, and mustard.
Making Ahead and Storing Leftovers
This recipe can be made the day before – great for low-stress entertaining.
Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days after you make it (so 2 days if made the day before your event). But if you’re serving this side
If you are serving this at a BBQ, don’t forget the 2-hour, 4-hour food safety rule (link to the Australian Government’s Food Standards printable PDF).
If the salad is out of the fridge for under 2 hours, leftovers can be refrigerated for later. 2-4 hours and it’s ok to use straight away, but can’t go back in the fridge. Over 4 hours out of the fridge, and it should be thrown away. So keep an eye on the time to reduce waste.
Serving Suggestions
Serve as a side alongside a green salad (I like to serve with my roast pumpkin salad).
Great with BBQ meats, pulled pork, Christmas ham, easy-bake honey-soy chicken wings, or skewers.
Classic Potato Salad
Whip up this classic potato salad – a creamy and crowd-pleasing side dish perfect for BBQs, picnics, or easy summer weeknight dinners!
Ingredients
- 1kg of washed potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces*
- 4 eggs
- 2 rashers of bacon or 4 slices of prosciutto, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. whole egg mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp. sour cream
- 1 tsp. lemon juice (optional, adds a bit of extra tang)
- handful of finely chopped spring onion (green part) or chives
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the potatoes to cold water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, slowly lower the eggs into the water using a spoon, and boil for 8 minutes.
- Test the potatoes with a fork, and if done (if they are tender through), drain everything, putting the eggs in cold water to stop the cooking process. If the potatoes aren't quite done, remove the eggs with a spoon and add to the cold water and continue to cook the potatoes until tender.
- When cool enough to handle, peel the eggs and roughly chop.
- In the meantime, add the chopped bacon or prosciutto to a cold frying pan. Turn on to medium heat, and cook until the fat has rendered and the bacon/prosciutto is crispy to your liking.
- Combine the mayo, sour cream, and lemon if using, along with some salt and pepper to taste. Set aside a small amount of spring onion to sprinkle over the top, the rest can be mixed through the salad.
- Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and gently toss to coat in the dressing. Sprinkle with the remaining spring onion/chives and serve.
Notes
Skin-on or skin-off - your choice. I like skin on, it's quicker, easier, more nutritious, and I like the taste. But feel free to peel the potatoes before boiling if you prefer.
For a variation, I like to add some dry ranch dressing mix to the mayo/sour cream combo. This is easy to find in the US, but not in Australia - I use the Gewurzhaus brand, but you can also try the Mingle brand from Woolworths.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 246Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 115mgSodium: 634mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 14g
Nutritional information is calculated automatically using the Nutritionix database. Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on factors such as precision of measurements, brands, ingredient freshness, serving size or the source of nutrition data. We strive to keep the information as accurate as possible but make no warranties regarding its accuracy. We encourage readers to make their own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Try steaming your potatoes instead of boiling them. There is no chance of water logging them then. Not saying you do, just when ever I boil spuds they end up only good for mashing. Excellent recipe, very gourmet!
Great tip! I do tend to over boil my spuds.
When cooking dinner I usually boil the potatoes and steam the greans in the steamer above the spuds – save washing another pot and putting on another burner (we don’t own a microwave).
This is one I must write in my book, will use alot! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Rachel, glad you like it!