Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Baked potato salad is a crowd favorite that's a fabulous pairing of two classic foods you usually find at most American cookouts, but better. I make it with actual baked potatoes, crispy bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, and fresh green onions combined in a creamy mayo and sour cream dressing. And I make it ahead of time so it's perfectly chilled and super flavorful.

📝 Ingredients

• 3 pounds russet potatoes
• 10 strips thick-cut bacon (cooked and chopped)
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (off the block)
• 1 cup chopped green onions (1 bunch)
• Salt and pepper

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the potatoes and set them on a baking sheet. Poke the potatoes with a fork on several sides, then place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the biggest potato is fork-tender all the way to the center. Remove from the oven and allow the potatoes to cool.
2. 2Meanwhile, cook the bacon, remove it from the bacon grease, and chop roughly. Chopped the green onions and shred the cheddar cheese.
3. 3Set out a large bowl. Combined the mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic powder, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ½ - 1 teaspoon ground black pepper. Whisk until smooth.
4. 4Once the potatoes are cool enough to peel, peel off as much, or as little, skin as you like. I usually peel off about half the skin. Chopped the potatoes into ¾ inch chunks. It's OK if they're a little crumbly.
5. 5Add all the potato chunks to the bowl. Then add the chopped green onions and chopped bacon. Gently fold the ingredients together until the dressing covers all the potatoes. *If you want, you can save a little bit of the bacon, green onions, and cheese to garnish the top.
6. 6Add the shredded cheese. Gently folded again until the cheese is well incorporated. Then garnish the top if you have extra toppings, cover, and chill for at least 2 hours.
7. 7As with all potato salad salads, this dish develops an even better flavor the longer it sits. If you have the chance to make it a day in advance, do so!