Asparagus Potato Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing.
The Irish in me is feeling so good about this salad.
GUYS. Potato salad. In bacon dressing. With crunchy-ness! My inner texture freak is thrilled.
Can we discuss the neon-ness of these raw purple potatoes below? The minute I sliced them open, I was blown away. I’ve been on a purple sweet potato kick this winter (made an awesome recipe for the book with them… eeep!) and grabbed this colorful medley of baby potatoes at the grocery store.
They.are.stunning.
The regular old potato salad never floats my boat. I’ve never been able to get into the mayo-based summertime salads, much to my BBQ loving brain’s dismay. I really WANT to love traditional potato salad, but I just… don’t.
However! In my opinion, the best salads are warm and drizzled with hot bacon dressing. When I was growing up, hot bacon dressing was this magical thing. Mother Lovett and my mom loved it and talked about it all the time – more so the spinach salads with hot bacon dressing – but we couldn’t always find it on menus. I always wondered why the heck we didn’t eat hot bacon dressing with other salads. Why only cold spinach salads? Wouldn’t it be incredible on warm potato salad?
Yes. The answer to that is yes.
And the thing is that these potatoes don’t HAVE to be warm. I like the whole mess served warm. But! You can totally eat the salad cold and just drizzle the warm bacon dressing on top for loads of flavor.
Or you might just want to drink the bacon dressing. I mean, I have no idea who would ever do that.
I’m not a newbie with it comes to potato salads like this, my first one being a bacon blue version with soft boiled eggs (so good!) and a vinaigrette. So many flavors going on there. I love to have that for a meal alone.
This salad though is a little greener. A little more in tune with spring. I love that asparagus is coming into season at the moment. I know that technically we are able to get asparagus all year round since it’s 2017, but it’s truly the best right now. Those skinny little spears are perfection!
And the texture is super great too. The potatoes are soft but the asparagus and radish slices are crunchy! And the bacon. Of course. Also crunchy. I would just like to live in this giant vat of flavor, okay?
Take a peek at my video for asparagus potato salad!
Asparagus Potato Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 pounds baby red golden and/or purple potatoes
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon chopped
- 1/2 pound asparagus spears woody stems removed
- 4 radishes thinly sliced (I use a mandolin)
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 3 green onions thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped chives
hot bacon dressing
- 3 tablespoons bacon fat
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 slices bacon crumbled
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a pot and fill it with cold water. Bring it to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes – just until the potatoes are fork tender. This will differ based on the side of your potatoes, but you don’t want them mushy or falling apart. You want them slightly firm so they hold up in the salad. Slice the potatoes in half or in quarters – depending on their size and how you’d like them. Place them in a large bowl to cool.
- While the potatoes are cooking, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until the fat is rendered and the bacon is totally crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and place it on a paper towel to drain any excess grease. It will be used for the dressing! Spoon out about 3 tablespoons of the bacon grease to also reserve for the dressing. Throw the asparagus in the skillet and cook, stirring often, until it’s bright green and just crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes. Place the asparagus aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, asparagus, radish slices, green onions and a pinch of salt and pepper. I like to watch the salt here since the bacon is salty… and the dressing is salty. You don’t want to overdo it! But add however much you think is necessary to taste great. Toss the mixture with the hot bacon dressing. Sprinkle it with the chives. Taste and season additionally if desired. Serve!
hot bacon dressing
- Add the bacon grease, minced garlic, vinegar, sugar and mustard to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the dressing slightly emulsifies. Season with the salt and pepper. Before serving, add in the crumbled bacon. You can keep this over low heat while stirring occasionally until ready to serve. I suggest reheating it in a saucepan like so. This is the combo I’ve come to love over the years, but you can experiment with different vinegars, more bacon fat and other spices too!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
It’s just so colorful!
51 Comments on “Asparagus Potato Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing.”
This is a fantastic recipe! Amazing recipes you have!
I don’t think I read anything after hot bacon dressing. I mean I did….it just took me a few minutes to get past the glory of bacon dressing. I’d probably put the dressing on all the things, whether they are potatoy or not.
http://aneducationindomestication.com
i have a similar problem. ahhh. thanks stephanie!
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Hot Bacon dressing is so good.Wait a minute …bacon anything is so good!
Something good to make with 15+ inches of snow and 2 kids out of school for the 2nd day!
It will make the snow melt and bring spring to my home.
oh heck yes!
oh hai there glorious salad! coming from a german family, warm potato salads have.my.heart & i am BEYOND obsessed with lightening it up with some asparagus & greens! spring here we come!
could not agree more!!
AYYEEE!!!! I have about 12 oz of bacon fat in my fridge that I finally found a purpose for.
also — have you ever bought the teeny tiny potato sacks at trader joe’s? I LOVE them. crisp them up real nice in a skillet and the texture is divine. xo
12 oz?! you’re my soulmate. (and i don’t think i’ve ever bought those before!)
I can’t do the mayo-based potato salad either! I’m excited to try this one though. Anything with asparagus…or bacon….or potatoes, really and i’m down. So this is like my trifecta. Allllll of the heart-eye emojis for this one!
thanks rachel!
yup yup, this is how I make my potato salad, too. The closest I can get to a mayo dressing is tzatziki (so good with potato salad) but this is so much better. Love ’em topped with an over-easy egg for leftover lunch.
the egg totally makes it.
Yum! This salad looks awesome! I totally need to make this for lunch tomorrow!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
thanks paige!
I love potato salad but never came across the hot bacon dressing. You can be sure I’m going to try this the next time.
thanks!
I’ll be honest, I would’ve never thought to put all of those ingredients together, but it looks good!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
thanks kari!
? HOT ? BACON ? DRESSING.
That’s the best thing I’ve ever read.
thanks benny!
This looks amazing! I love all the color and the veggies…just what I need to kick the “comfort food” habit this weather has got me in!
thank you!
Pingback: Asparagus Potato Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing. – Fruitide
don’t get me wrong; absolutely nothing wrong with hot bacon dressing, but maybe the reason you can’t enjoy mayo based potato salads could be because you aren’t fortunate enough to live in the part of this country that knows and enjoys DUKES mayonnaise. i can’t even refer to it as mayo as it is too good for that. it deserves the fullness of its name. it is the richest, creamiest, smoothest mayonnaise on the market. i’d be more than happy to mail you a quart. oh, please let me! and horseradish is its favorite partner in my kitchen. quiche, potato salad, deviled eggs…..all get mayonnaise and a shot of horseradish.
I had everything to make this tonight for dinner- delicious!!!
Hi Jassica… Always your all recipes too good and yummy. My Kids always enjoy your recipes. I will try to make this delicious recipe.
Potato Salad is so bland looking. All off-white. Now, your salad looks so much better. The colors are vivid and the dish just begs me to dig in! I’ve already pinned it.
I LOVE the sound of this! If we were to eat half one night and the rest another night, would you keep the dressing separate in order to reheat in a pan the next day?
I wish more salads had “hot bacon dressing” in the title ? I’ve never been a huge potato salad person either, but I would totally try this! Yes to purple potatoes!
Still loving and Pinning your recipes.
Flavor-wise, this was a success, and I look forward to remaking it with some minor tweaks. Unfortunately, I decided to multitask during cooking and ended up with potatoes that had way too much bite. My boyfriend and I are thinking of laying everything out on a sheet pan tonight and re-roasting so that they soften. Your warm bacon dressing was lovely. Next time I’ll buy smaller potatoes (I got small yukon golds and reds, but I think for “baby” I really needed to buy those 1-inch micro potatoes), cook them to the right temperature, and maybe sub asparagus for green beans. Thanks for all your beautiful recipes. They make even a clumsy cook like me feel able.
Hot. Bacon. Dressing.
Wow.
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Planning on taking this salad to a 4th of July party this weekend. 😋 Question. The party is a hour away. Does this do well room temp? ❤️ every recipe I’ve made of yours!
i def think it does! i would wait and add the dressing when you get there though. just heat it up in the microwave and pour it over! :)
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I substituted sun-dried tomatoes jarred in olive oil for the bacon, and it was sensational!
Made this tonight and it was so darn good! I have a quick question: it appears that there is some leafy herb in your pictures, is that cilantro or parsley? The round bits look like either chives or green onions. Thanks!
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Made this tonight! Was great with at bone on the grill!
Love this recipe so much. So many variations you can do with the dressing as well.
I just made this for dinner as a side to a steak. It was delicious! I don’t normally like radishes but I absolutely loved every bite I had with them. My husband liked it as well. Thanks for the recipe!