Bacon Ranch Potato Salad

Bacon Ranch Potato Salad is a flavor-packed spin on classic potato salad. Seasoned with ranch and filled with red potatoes, crispy bacon, and sharp cheddar cheese, this Ranch Potato Salad is sure to become your new favorite pot-luck go-to!  

While I love my Instant Pot Potato Salad that features the flavor of classic potato salad, this Bacon Ranch Potato Salad may just be my favorite potato salad recipe of all time.

Made with creamy red potatoes, salty, crispy bacon, sharp cheese, and flavorful ranch seasoning, this potato salad is so packed with unique flavor and texture, that it stands out among other recipes.

And who doesn't love bacon? Throw in ranch and cheese, and you know you have a winning recipe. I am telling you, everyone loves this Bacon Ranch Potato Salad.

Notes on Ingredients

• Potatoes: Small red potatoes are best for this ranch potato salad, as their texture and flavor hold up well to the ranch-flavored dressing.
• Bacon: I prefer to make homemade bacon bits, by baking bacon and then crumbling it into small bits myself. However, you can use pre-made bacon bits to save yourself a bit of time.
• Vinegar: Vinegar is a necessary ingredient for potato salad, as it balances out the richness of the creamy dressing and really flavors the potatoes. I recommend using white vinegar in this Bacon Ranch Potato Salad.
• Ranch Seasoning: Instead of relying on a package of Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning, that is full of preservatives, I opt to make homemade ranch seasoning, which is simply made with dried parsley, basil, salt, garlic, and onion powder.
• Mayonnaise & Sour Cream: I use a mixture of sour cream and mayonnaise in this Potato Salad Recipe. The mayonnaise adds a rich undertone, while the sour cream adds a tangy finish. The combination of the two is perfect for this recipe.
• Cheese: Use shredded sharp or regular cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese to add an irresistible cheesy bite.
• Chives: Chives really add freshness and flavor, making this Ranch Potato Salad exceptional in flavor. However, feel free to omit them if you do not have them on hand.

How to Make Ranch Potato Salad

Step One: Prepare Bacon

Instead of using prepared bacon bits, I much prefer the flavor of preparing the bacon myself. I recommend baking bacon, rather than pan-frying, as not only is it easier, but it is hands-off.

• Line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil and place a wire cooling rack on the cooking sheet.
• Lay the strips of bacon evenly across the baking rack, so that they are not overlapping.
• Bake the bacon until crispy, 13-16 minutes.
• Once the bacon is crispy, remove the bacon from the oven and let cool.
• Once cooled, crumble the bacon into tiny bits.
• Store the bacon bits in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve the potato salad. The bacon is added to the salad right before serving, which keeps the bacon nice and crispy.

Step Two: Cook the Potatoes

• Place the potatoes into a large saucepan, cover with cold water, and generously salt the water. It is essential to begin cooking the potatoes in cold water so that they cook evenly.
• Bring the water to a rapid boil, over medium-high heat. Continue cooking until the potatoes are just fork-tender, about 15 minutes.
• Once tender, drain the water off the potatoes, and return the potatoes to the hot pan. Toss the potatoes around in the pan, until the water is evaporated from the potatoes. Don't skip this step. Removing the excess water from the potatoes will allow the flavors of the potato to shine through and the potato salad to not be watered down.
• Spread the potatoes out onto a sheet pan to allow them to cool to room temperature quickly.

Step Three: Prepare Potato Salad Dressing

While the potatoes are cooling, use this time to whip up the dressing for the potato salad.

• In a large mixing bowl, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, basil, parsley, dill, garlic powder, and onion powder.
• Whisk everything together until the spices are evenly combined in the dressing.

Step Four: Assemble Potato Salad

Once the dressing is made, the potatoes should be cooled enough to toss with the dressing.

• Add the potatoes to the prepared dressing, along with the shredded cheese.
• Gently toss the potatoes with the remaining ingredients to evenly coat the potatoes with the cheese and dressing.

Step Five: Chill & Serve

For best results, you want to plan for at least 2 hours, 24 hours is best, to chill the potato salad before serving. This will allow time for the potatoes to absorb the flavor of the creamy, ranch dressing.

• Cover the potato salad tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 2 hours up to 24 hours.
• Right before serving, add the prepared, crumbled, bacon and minced chives to the potato salad and toss to combine.

Tips for Entertaining with this Potato Salad

This Bacon Ranch Potato Salad is a fabulous dish to bring to a potluck or for entertaining, as it is not only a dish everyone loves but can be safely left at room temperature for up to 1 hour and can be prepared up to 3 days in advance.

• To Prepare in Advance: As I stated, this ranch potato salad can be made up to 3 days in advance. Just wait to mix the cooked bacon and chives into your salad until right before serving, so that the bacon stays crisp and the chives stay fresh.
• To Serve: If you need to leave the potato salad out of refrigeration for longer than an hour, or you are serving the dish in a hot environment, such as outdoors in the summer, the potato salad should be kept chilled. To do this, place a bowl filled with ice on your serving table and nestle your serving dish with the potato salad on top of the bowl of ice. This will keep your potato salad at a safe temperature until the ice melts. Just be sure that your serving dish is larger than the ice bowl, so it won't get water in the potato salad as the ice melts.

More Picnic-Worthy Side Dishes

• Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
• BLT Pasta Salad
• Antipasto Pasta Salad
• Creamy Cucumber Salad 
• Tabbouleh Salad

If you tried this recipe for Bacon Ranch Potato Salad, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.

This post was originally published in 2018 but was updated in 2022 with new tips and a video.