Red, White, And Blue Potato Salad Recipe

Tanika Douglas

May 13, 2024 at 7:00 AM·5 min read

potato salad in white bowl - Tanika Douglas/Tasting Table

Red, white, and blue potato salad -- what could be more perfect for a patriotic picnic? Whether you're celebrating Memorial Day, Flag Day, the Fourth of July, or Anzac Day, like Australian recipe developer Tanika Douglas (Australia's flag, too, is red, white, and blue), this salad will be thematically appropriate. As to how the salad gets its colors, Douglas explains, "The name of the recipe pays homage to the ingredients that make up the salad: red for the red potatoes, white for the creamy dressing, and blue for the tangy blue cheese." The salad also contains bacon and herbs which, while they don't fit the color scheme, add plenty of flavor.

The salad comes together in less than half an hour, but it's even better if you prepare it in advance. Douglas favors making it a day before she plans to eat it, then leaving it in the refrigerator overnight to let the flavors meld further.

Assemble The Ingredients For The Red, White, And Blue Potato Salad

ingredients for potato salad - Tanika Douglas/Tasting Table

In addition to the red potatoes and blue cheese, you'll need mayonnaise and olive oil to make the white dressing. The salad is also flavored with bacon, scallions, garlic, parsley, dill, basil, salt, and pepper and includes some celery to give it a bit of crunch.

Step 1: Heat A Pot Of Water

water in pot on stove - Tanika Douglas/Tasting Table

Fill a large pot with water and place it over high heat.

Step 2: Boil The Potatoes

chopped potatoes in pot - Tanika Douglas/Tasting Table

Add the sliced potatoes and salt. Bring to a boil.

Step 3: Drain The Potatoes

hand holding potatoes in colander - Tanika Douglas/Tasting Table

Cook the potatoes for 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain the potatoes and set aside to cool.

Step 4: Put The Bacon And Oil In A Pan

chopped bacon in frying pan - Tanika Douglas/Tasting Table

Place a pan over medium heat, then add the olive oil and bacon.

Step 5: Fry The Bacon

Cook bacon for 5 minutes, or until crisp. Remove the pan from heat and set the bacon aside.

Step 6: Assemble The Potato Salad

To a large salad bowl, add the boiled potatoes, bacon pieces, celery, scallions, mayonnaise, parsley, dill, basil, garlic, blue cheese, and black pepper.

Step 7: Garnish The Potato Salad

Toss to combine, then garnish with the dill sprigs.

Step 8: Eat The Potato Salad

Serve and enjoy.

How Can I Make This Potato Salad Vegetarian?

If you want to make a vegetarian version of the salad, that is very easily done -- all you need to do is leave out the bacon. Of course, you could always swap it for a plant-based bacon substitute, as well, or even use a jar of bacon bits since this product is often vegan. Still, a bacon-free salad is flavorful enough on its own. As Douglas tells us, "I've made the salad before without bacon and my vegetarian friends absolutely adored it."

If you need to make a vegan version of the salad, though, that will be a bit trickier. In addition to omitting or replacing the bacon, you will also need to find a non-dairy replacement for the blue cheese. Plant-based blue cheese crumbles do exist, although Douglas suggests that another type of vegan cheese, such as feta, will also work. You will also need to find a substitute for the mayonnaise as this product contains eggs. Vegenaise, whipped silken tofu, cashew cheese, and hummus are all possible replacements, although this last one will tend to make your dressing more tan than white.

What Other Cheeses Or Herbs Can I Use In This Potato Salad?

Feta cheese not only works as a blue cheese substitute in its vegan version, but it can be swapped out for the blue cheese in a non-vegan salad, as well. Goat cheese crumbles, too, would make a great blue cheese alternative. Both types of cheese, Douglas tells us, can " mimic the salty creaminess" of blue cheese and, in her opinion, "add a beautiful sharp tanginess without the funk." Of course, either substitution will tend to mess up the color scheme just a bit, but that needn't be such a big deal. In fact, you could even swap out the red potatoes for a different type of waxy (as opposed to starchy) potato if need be.

As for the herbs, these can be replaced without affecting the red, white, and blue-ness of the salad one bit since all of them are green. Douglas notes that chives could be used if you want to double down on the salad's oniony flavor (it already contains scallions), while you could swap out the dill and basil for cilantro to give the salad a slightly more chimichurri-like flavor.