Loaded Protein Potato Salad
This recipe was created before I started documenting my recipes online, so there isn't a photo or video for it yet. But I've made it, loved it, and wanted to share it with you anyway. 🤎
Creamy, crunchy, savory, and loaded enough to steal the spotlight at your Labor Day cookout.
Potato salad is one of those foods that just belongs at a backyard BBQ.
This version takes the classic creamy potato salad and loads it up with crispy bacon, hard-boiled eggs, cheddar, crunchy pickles, and a Greek-yogurt dressing for a little extra protein.
It's hearty enough to be more than just a side, but still feels right at home next to burgers, grilled chicken, and corn on the cob.
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 2 lbs baby potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup dill pickles, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- 2 tbsp green onion, sliced
For the Dressing
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp pickle juice
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Make It
- Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold, salted water.
- Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender but not falling apart, about 10–15 minutes.
- Drain and let the potatoes cool completely.
- While the potatoes cool, whisk together the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard, pickle juice, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
- Add the cooled potatoes, eggs, bacon, cheddar, pickles, red onion, dill, and green onion to a large bowl.
- Pour the dressing over everything and gently fold until coated.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
- Top with a little extra bacon, cheddar, dill, and green onion right before serving.
Potluck Tip: Make it the night before if you can. The flavors have time to mingle, and the potatoes soak up all that delicious dressing. If it seems a little dry the next day, stir in another spoonful of Greek yogurt or mayo before serving.
My Gym Girlies 💪
This is proof that a BBQ side dish can actually contribute to your protein for the day.
The eggs, Greek yogurt, bacon, and cheddar all bring protein to the party, so you're getting more than just a bowl of potatoes and mayo.
Want to bump it up even more? Add extra eggs or chicken. You could even toss in chopped grilled chicken and turn this into a full meal-prep bowl.
And if you're at a cookout, you don't need to skip the potato salad because you're trying to eat "healthy." Build your plate around a protein, add some vegetables, grab a scoop of this, and enjoy the cookout. You can eat potato salad and still have goals.
My From-Scratch Girlies 🌿
Potato salad is basically a love letter to the garden.
Use those little potatoes you dug up yourself. Grab fresh dill and green onions from the garden. Use your own eggs from the backyard girls. Pull out the pickles you canned last summer.
And if you're making your own mayo? Now we're really cooking.
Even the dressing can be customized with homemade Greek yogurt, raw honey, garden herbs, or your own apple cider vinegar. This is one of those recipes where you can slowly replace store-bought ingredients with things you're making yourself as your kitchen grows.
You don't have to grow everything. Start with the potatoes. Then the herbs. Then the pickles. Then suddenly you're making potato salad from a pantry and garden you built yourself.
For Both Girlies 🌿💪
I love a recipe that doesn't make you decide who you're going to be.
You can care about protein and building muscle and still show up to Labor Day with the potato salad. You can spend your weekend gardening, preserving, and cooking from scratch and still know exactly how much protein you're putting on your plate.
You can eat the burger. You can eat the potato salad. You can eat the homemade dessert.
The goal isn't to make the cookout perfect. It's to make your everyday life sustainable. Strong body. Full table. Rooted home.