German Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds red potatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt for boiling the potatoes
- 12 ounces bacon
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 to 3 tablespoons granulated sugar*
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt for seasoning the potato salad
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic about 3 cloves
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes and cut any large potatoes in half so that all of the potatoes are approximately equally sized. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Reduce heat and simmer the potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender when stabbed with a fork. Drain the water. Leaving the potatoes in the pot, return the pot to the still-hot (but turned off) burner. Leave the lid off of the pot and allow the potatoes to steam dry for a couple minutes.
- Set another large pot over medium heat and, using kitchen shears, cut the bacon strips into approximately 1-inch pieces directly into the pot. Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy. While the bacon is cooking, cut the potatoes into ½-inch thick slices, cutting any extremely large slices in half. Set aside. Once the bacon is done, remove the pot from the stove and use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon pieces to a plate or bowl while leaving the bacon grease in the pot (I had about ¼ cup).
- Slowly and carefully add vinegar, sugar*, Dijon, salt, and pepper to the pot of bacon grease. Place the pot back on the burner, bring the mixture to a simmer, and stir for a couple of minutes. Stir the minced garlic into the mixture and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the garlic starts to turn a light golden.
- Remove the pot from the heat and toss in the sliced potatoes, gently mixing until potatoes have absorbed all of the liquid. Carefully fold in the cooked bacon pieces and chopped parsley.
- Transfer the potato salad to a serving dish and serve hot or warm. Potato salad should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours before refrigerating any leftovers.
Notes
*When I make this recipe, I do use the full 3 Tbsp. sugar and we find the flavors to be balanced. However, if you think you may prefer less sweetness in your dressing, I recommend starting out with 1 Tbsp. sugar (or less), tasting (blow on it first!), and then adding additional sugar until your desired tangy-sweet balance is reached.
Always start off your potatoes in cold water before bringing them to a boil, which promotes more even cooking.
After the potatoes are cooked and drained, let them steam (or dry) a bit in their still-hot (but drained) pot. This will allow them to absorb the bacon grease-vinegar dressing more easily.
If you'd like to add onion to this recipe, you may add 1 diced (medium) yellow onion to the bacon grease in the pot after removing the bacon. Sauté the onion in the bacon grease for several minutes until translucent, and then proceed with the recipe by adding the other dressing ingredients.
Make sure that the pot is off of the burner and the bacon grease has slightly cooled before slowly and carefully adding the vinegar (in order to prevent the mixture from potentially bubbling up).
Be very gentle when stirring the potatoes into the dressing. Otherwise, your dish may end up looking more like mashed potatoes.
Leftover German Potato Salad can be transferred to an airtight container and refrigerated for up to five days. Enjoy leftovers cold, at room temperature, or reheated in the microwave (50% power) for a minute at a time, stirring between increments.
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