Sour Cream Potato Salad (Without Mayo)

Our favorite creamy sour cream potato salad with bacon and dill and without mayo.

This sour cream potato salad without mayo might become your favorite salad this coming summer. It is perfect for a barbecue in the garden, for a potluck party, or as a light meal in between.

Really, you will not miss anything if all you have for lunch is this potato salad with dill and bacon.

There is always a potato salad at any garden party we organize in the summer. Most of the time is either my mother-in-law's simple but always delicious potato salad with mayonnaise or my lighter version of a German potato salad with broth and vinegar dressing.

Both are amazing, but ever since discovering this particular sour cream-no mayo potato salad recipe, I kind of forgot about the other two; I keep making this one.

What are the best potatoes for a salad?

How to know which potatoes are best for making sour cream potato salad or any other potato salad?

• NOT floury potatoes, that's for sure! Floury or starchy potatoes will fall apart when cooked, and the salad will be a mess. Floury potatoes are best when making mashed potatoes or baked potatoes.
• The best potatoes to use for a potato salad are waxy potatoes. They contain less starch than starchy potatoes and will keep their shape best when cooked. Look for red potatoes, new or fingerling potatoes.
• I prefer to use small, thin-skinned waxy potatoes when making this sour cream potato salad or any other potato salad.
• However, if you did not buy potatoes especially to make a salad, you can use other sorts of potatoes as well. All-purpose potatoes will give the salad a softer texture, they will disintegrate slightly when mixed, and the salad will be creamier.
• Just make sure that they are not starchy potatoes as they will fall apart in the salad, and you will have more potato mash with bits of bacon than a potato salad.

How to cook potatoes for salads?

• Cook potatoes for salads whole and in their skin. Whole potatoes maintain more of their flavor and have a much better texture when compared with potatoes that have been peeled and cubed or sliced before boiling. Make sure that all potatoes are similar in size.
• It is preferable to use small or medium-small potatoes for making potato salad. I found that when using large potatoes, they not only take longer to cook but almost always have a rather grainy middle which might cause them to break when sliced.
• So, I have learned to only buy small or medium-small waxy potatoes for salads. They cook faster, are easy to peel, and can be easily and perfectly sliced.

• Scrub the potatoes well before cooking.
• Place the potatoes in a pan or pot large enough to hold them all comfortably. Cover well with cold water. Add salt generously; salt is important as it will increase the flavor of the potatoes; they will not taste salty, just have more flavor.
• Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer the potatoes uncovered. Covering the pot might make the potatoes turn mushy.
• Start checking after 5 minutes already if the potatoes are very small. Depending on their size, the potatoes will need between 10 and 20 minutes to become tender. Check by pushing a fork, small knife, or skewer through their center. The utensil used should slide easily all the way to the center of the potato.
• Drain the potatoes in a colander immediately and rinse them with very cold water to stop them from cooking.
• Leave them for 5-10 minutes until cool enough to handle. Now you can peel and slice them.

How to make potato salad with sour cream?

• To make the sour cream potato salad with bacon, start by cooking the potatoes as instructed above. Peel and slice the potatoes. Place them in a large bowl.
• Cook the bacon in a pan. Let it cool slightly and break it into small pieces. Set aside. If you want to keep the sour cream potato salad vegetarian, leave out the bacon.
• You can also replace the bacon with some hard-boiled eggs or add some extra hard-boiled eggs to the potato salad with bacon as well. I have done it; it is delicious!
• Slice the scallions/green onions into thin rings. Place them in the bowl containing the potatoes.

Sour Cream Dressing for Potato Salad

This is a potato salad without mayo, which I think makes a wonderful change from the delicious but rather heavy potato salads with mayonnaise. The sour cream and the apple cider vinegar give the potato salad with bacon a slightly tangy flavor, which I absolutely love.

• To make the dressing place the sour cream in a small bowl. Add the single or heavy cream and stir well. The cream will loosen the texture of the sour cream, increasing the creaminess of the dressing and cutting slightly through the sourness.
• Add the apple cider vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir well again and fold in the chopped dill.

Pour the sour cream dressing over the potatoes, add the bacon bits, and stir well but carefully; you don't want to break the potatoes.

You can serve the sour cream potato salad immediately or place it in the fridge (covered) for later. Bring to room temperature before serving.

More potato salads

Sour Cream Potato Salad with Bacon (Potato Salad Without Mayo)

Our favorite sour cream potato salad with bacon and dill and without mayo. This salad is creamy, comforting, and full of flavor; it will become your favorite too.

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Share GrowSaved! Rate

Course: Salads

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 398kcal

Author: Adina

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients 

• ▢ 2.2 lbs lbs small waxy potatoes 1 kg, Notes
• ▢ 4-5 thin bacon slices depending on size
• ▢ 3-4 scallions/ green onions depending on size
• ▢ ¾ cup sour cream 175 g
• ▢ 5 tablespoons heavy or single cream
• ▢ 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar white wine vinegar is also fine
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons chopped dill
• ▢ fine sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Potato salad:

• Cook potatoes: Scrub the potatoes and place them in a pan or pot large enough to hold them all comfortably. Cover with cold water and add salt generously. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer the potatoes, uncovered, until tender. Depending on their size, this might take between 10 and 20 minutes. Start checking after 5-7 minutes already if the potatoes are very small.

  Check by pushing a fork, small knife, or skewer through their center. The utensil used should slide all the way easily to the center of the potato.
• Slice potatoes: Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water and leave for 5-10 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Peel and slice. Place the pieces in a large bowl.
• Cook the bacon strips in a large pan on low heat. When it starts to curl, use the tongs to turn each slice to cook on the other side. Let it brown evenly on both sides; it will not take long. Transfer the pieces to a large plate lined with kitchen paper, which will absorb the excess fat. When cool enough to handle, tear or cut the bacon into small pieces. Set aside.
• Chop the green onions into thin rings. Add them to the potatoes.

Sour cream dressing:

• Make the dressing: Place the sour cream and the heavy or single cream in a small bowl. Stir well. Add the vinegar, mustard, sugar, and salt, and pepper to taste. I added about 1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, but start with less and add more to taste; not all salt types are equal. Fold in the chopped dill as well.
• Combine: Pour the dressing over the potatoes in the bowl, add the bacon and stir well but carefully.
• Serve: You can serve the salad immediately or place it in the fridge, covered. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Notes

1. The best potatoes to use for a potato salad are waxy potatoes. They contain less starch than starchy potatoes and will keep their shape best when cooked. Look for red potatoes, new or fingerling potatoes.
2. I prefer to use small, thin-skinned waxy potatoes when making this sour cream potato salad or any other potato salad.
3. All-purpose potatoes will give the salad a softer texture, they will disintegrate slightly when mixed, and the salad will be creamier.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 of the dish | Calories: 398kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 1110mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g

Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @adinabeck or tag #WhereIsMySpoon!