German Potato Salad

You won’t miss the mayo in this tangy German Potato Salad! Red potatoes, bacon, red onion, fresh dill, and a vinegar based dressing all make for this delicious twist to traditional potato salad! 

Living in Germany for 4 years, I have had my taste of some delicious German Cuisine. Some of it is a little too heavy for me, but for the most part, German’s do food right. Potato dishes in Germany are by far my favorite. Whether you get roasted skillet potatoes, gratin potatoes, or a delicious potato salad; they know how to fix some potatoes!

I am excited to give you my recipe for a German Potato Salad. But first, a little confession time. I actually used to really dislike potato salad because it had my LEAST favorite ingredient ever. Mayonnaise. Just typing it makes me nauseous.

Our American version of potato salad is loaded with mayonnaise, and I have zero desire to eat it. Germans do something different. Their potato salad is loaded with the tangy flavor of vinegar and complete with some fresh herbs. I love having acidic elements in almost all of my food, and this zippy potato salad is a great example.

How to make German Potato Salad: 

Gather up your ingredients:

• red russet potatoes
• bacon
• rice vinegar
• chicken broth
• white wine vinegar
• avocado or olive oil
• dijon mustard
• red onion
• fresh dill

To start you’ll need some 3 lbs of red russet potatoes. You can keep the skins on or off. As you can see here, I did a mixture of both:

You’ll boil your potatoes, and start cooking up some crispy bacon at the same time. Once the bacon is finished cooking, set it aside to cool. You’ll chop up the fresh dill, red onion, and the bacon.

Now it’s time to work on the potatoes. Once they are soft, but still a little firm, you’ll remove the boiling water and dice them up.

This next part is important, so listen up. While the potatoes are still warm, add in the rice vinegar. This allows the potatoes to soak up some of the vinegar to give it the tangy flavor I was telling you about. Allow that to sit for a few minutes, then add the chicken stock.

Next, add the remaining ingredients with the exception of the dill. Dill gets tossed in last. You’ll refrigerate to cool down. This salad actually tastes better after it has set for awhile. If you can make it in the morning to serve at night, awesome. Or make it the night before. I always love the way it tastes the day after I make it!

Just a random side note: I know of several people who assume that German Potato Salad means potato salad served warm. I have never had potato salad in Germany this way. Maybe it happens in another region, but it is mostly served cold.

Hungry for More? Subscribe to get new recipes delivered straight to your inbox! And be sure to stay in touch on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

German Potato Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 4 -6 servings

Author Amy Rains

5 from 1 vote

Print

Ingredients

• 3 lbs red potatoes
• 6 pieces of bacon turkey bacon is fine also
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp sea salt + more to taste
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

Instructions

1. Begin by preparing your potatoes. Skin the potatoes or keep the skin on, I usually do half and half. Bring the potatoes to a boil and cook for approximately 25 minutes. You'll want the potatoes to be soft, but still a bit firm.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the bacon. Cook to your liking and crispiness, chop bacon into small pieces. Set aside to cool.
3. Once potatoes are finished, drain water and cut into quarters or small chunks (see picture above).
4. Immediately add rice wine vinegar, and mix well.
5. After 2 minutes, add chicken or vegetable stock and mix well.

6. In a small bowl, whisk together white wine vinegar, mustard, oil, and sea salt. Add to potatoes.

7. Stir in red onion and bacon. Top with fresh dill.

8. Let the salad cool for at least an hour before serving. Add more salt to taste if needed

Recipe Notes

This recipe can be made the day or night before. It actually tastes better the next day!