Most folks seem to prefer cold, creamy, mayonnaise-y style potato salads. I like them too. But I occasionally get a hankering for a warm potato salad, particularly when served with grilled sausages and meats. The concept is extremely simple… start with several boiled potatoes straight out of the hot water. Heat up a large saucepan and add some olive oil, lots of chopped pancetta or bacon (not the very sweet kind) and let that caramelize, add sliced red onions and or shallots/leeks and when these are wilted enough, add the boiled potatoes, cubing them first into bite size pieces and leaving the skin on. Add more olive oil, lots of salt and cracked black pepper, and some vinegar, sherry or even balsamic if you like and mix this all up. The hot potatoes will absorb a lot of the flavor so copious amounts of seasoning are required. Serve warm. Any extras can be stored in the fridge and microwaved the next day. Perfect with sausages, steaks and ribs. Super easy to make, always a crowd favorite. Starchy, salty, faintly vinegary… I served these with the ribs in the previous post.
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Yes, the piping hot potatoes absorb all the flavors and what you have is tasty potato salad that is I would say leaning more towards the version of German Potato Salad than Uncle Sam. Potatoes on pork with pork ribs. That is really a lot of porky porky happy days! Where are the international beer from German side, American side, Chinese, Japanese aside from our very own San Miguel Beer? Happy Potato Day!
This is another way of serving our good-old mashed potatoes. If you don’t feel like smashing the potatoes using a fork, a smasher or even better if you have a potatoe riser, this is a good alternative! I love garlic, so when I boil my potatoes I actually add 1 or 2 whole cloves of garlic in the pot, so the flavour gets absorb and at the same time it’s not too everpowering. My other secret ingrdient is some grated nutmeg!
You’re right, MM! This is a good alternative for the good old-fashioned potato salad loaded with mayo. If I know we are having a picnic in the height of summer at the park or beach, I bring this kind of potato salad and I can breathe knowing no one will succumb to illness. I usually tone down the balsamic though and bring a bottle of olive oil and balsamic so people can adjust it to their taste. Any leftovers…I mash it up, add MORE CARAMELIZED ONIONS or LEEKS, grated cheddar cheese and voila!…I have my filling for my homemade perogies!!!
Your potato salad reminds me of my grandmother’s recipe (she was of german descent) . Although we didn’t add the caramelized onions… must do that! Thanks! I used to make it often but since this whole “less carbs” thing came into play I realize after reading this post I have not made it in years! I also enjoy a good coleslaw with grilled meats as well.
Is there any particular type of potato that works best for this warm potato salad?
Wonderful flavors without the mayo. I don’t like too much mayo or creamy dressings on my food these days and your recipe is such a better alternative. Will try this recipe with some roasted chicken this weekend. :)
I loved potato salad but I always feel guilty after eating it because of the mayo I mixed with it. This will be the best alternative. MM, I always think of the bacon as the sweet/oily one, any particular brand for the not so sweet! I had learned from my nutritionist friend from San Diego that the Canadian bacon have more lean meat meaning having less cholesterol. Would it be the not so sweet ? Thanks again MM.
this version is the only kind of potato salad i like. can’t stand the countryish potato salad with mayo…somehow reminds me of paula deen and sandra lee.
known for its buttery taste, the yukon gold variety would be ideal for this dish.
Great post Marketman.
My version of German Potato Salad omits the vinegar and brings back the mayo (with minced parsley). I also add some raw chopped celery for some crunch.
Hello New Yorker…Your best bet to use for this yummy potato salad would be the waxy types like the Yukon Gold, Banana Fingerling, the red ones like Norland or Red Pontiac. The Russian Blue ones would do as well. Every spring I plant at least 4 different varieties yielding a rainbow of colors. So when they get to nugget size, I do this kind of potato salad come July and I don’t peel them…just give it nice scrub, halve the potato nuggets, season with salt and pepper and olive oil and AGAIN ROAST in the oven….pretty to look at with yellow flesh Yukons, red skinned RED PONTIACS and Russian Blues on the platter.
Loved this recipe but I think I’ll add mine with raisins for added texture and a burst of sweetness on every bite.
Yummy! and so easy to make! Thanks Marketman!I am a fan of potatoes and i’ll be glad to add this to my recipes. A welcome change from the cold potato salad and mashed potato.
I had this the other night with roast chicken. Good with sausages too. Sometimes we do it with sour cream (omit the vinegar), a little bacon, and chopped onion. In Finland, they like to add gherkins to this.
This is great, as I’m really into that whole cold potato salad thing.. with potatoes, I always prefer them warm.. and I don’t like that much mayonnaise as well so this is just my kind of potato salad..
I meant NOT into cold potato salad..
This looks really good! I will definitely try this recipe.
Thanks Mr. MM :)
My cousin made her version of German potato salad for last Christmas Eve’s noche buena — pretty much like this one, but she added some capers. Yum, it was wiped out! I like it much better than the cold, mayo version.
thanks for the recipe MM!I’ve been wanting to do something like this. Offtopic: have you tried preparing panna cotta? Hope you can feature that one soon!Many thanks!
carina, yes, I have had panna cotta, but I haven’t made one yet. Katrina, hmmm, capers, that sounds interesting… especially if served with some smoked fish or something… Michelle, yes, chopped gherkins would be nice. Madeline, yes canadian bacon would be leaner… New yorker, other commenters above have given good suggestions, Yukon Golds or other fancy ones, but in Manila, I use whatever I can get, and they tend to be a little mushy compared to some Western ones.
Betty Q, thanks for the suggestions regarding the type(s) of potato to use. I can’t wait for spring/summer to roll around and I can check out what the local greenmarkets have to offer – maybe I’ll spot some of the varieties (are they heirloom?) you mentioned. But for now I think I’ll try this with the banana fingerlings.
Hi New Yorker…I don’t think they’re heirloom varieties. I could be wrong..sorry! But if you’d like to try growing them …they’re the most easiest thing to grow…don’t need much space. I’ve grown them in buckets at home. Soil, compost and composted manure (steer manure preferably) is all you need in the bucket…NO LIME! Don’t use mushroom manure though as this kind of manure has a bit of lime in it I think. If you spot a variety called ALL RED…it is sooo cool! It’s a red skinned potato with RED FLESH! Try planting Banana Fingerling…it’s a very high yielding potato. Save one and wait for it to sprout. Then plant away!
I also put CAPERS with mine, sooooo yummy!
Hi Marketman! I made something similar a few days ago but I used bacon and added chopped coriander yum!
I’ve a question with boiling potatoes. Skin on or skin off? My mom told me that skin off leads to more watery potatoes as it no longer has the barrier. So that’s what i’ve done all these years. Your thoughts, experienced boilers?
zena, I boiled with skins on… and I eat the skins, I don’t peel them for this salad…
Oooh… Yumminess! … MM, your post gave me hope that I don’t need to give up potatoes! I would like to serve this with good ole’ Tabasco on hand or my favorite Origashi Japanese pepper flakes just to sprinkle on top and give each spoonful I take in with a zing and a snap. This salad is summery-yummy-perfect, MM! Thanks mucho!
Sidebar — I honestly can’t imagine this with raisins. Well I can’t imagine raisins on anything except for raisinets….
Yum. This reminds me of a dish my dad’s made for us all my life–adapted from his German grandmother’s Depression-era dish, which used yellow mustard and hot dogs.
MM, you used vinegar for this, what is it for? :)