Loaded Potato Skin Salad

Loaded Potato Skin Salad

This very flavorful loaded potato skin salad was actually created as I wondered what to do with my leftover baked potatoes. I had a bunch of guests over for dinner and as one of the side dishes I baked- off about 5 pounds of Idaho potatoes for people to top as they liked. 

When I bake my potatoes, I scrub the skins and while they’re still wet, I salt them so that they almost get a bit of a salty crust as they bake.  They’re delicious.  

Even so I still had about 2 pounds leftover when the guests went home. 

The next day as I spied said potatoes in the fridge along with some of the toppings I had served, I was hit with the idea of doing a loaded potato skin salad.  I worried a little because Idaho potatoes aren't normally used in potato salads since they'd normally fall apart.  Using chilled potatoes eliminates this problem but we are faced with another challenge.  

It’s hard to get flavor into a chilled potato.  But since these potatoes had been roasted with salt already on their skins I thought it might work.  And while this potato salad did work out well, the leftovers that were placed into a heat safe bowl then heated until warm and bubbly worked out even better. 

All I can say is thank God for leftover baked potatoes. 

Loaded Potato Skin Salad

Prep time: 15 min

Servings: (14) ½cup servings

Ingredients

• 2 lbs salted baked potatoes (done the night before and refrigerated overnight)
• 1 ½ cups sour cream
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 4 slices bacon, cooked crisp & chopped
• 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese, grated
• salt and pepper to taste

Video Tutorial: 

Instructions

1. Chop the potatoes into small pieces, add them to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with a little salt.
2. Add the sour cream, mayonnaise, green onions, bacon, and cheddar  with some salt and pepper to taste.
3. Stir it all together until well combined, transfer it to your serving, garnish with additional cheddar green onions and bacon then refrigerate for a few hours so the flavors can blend.  (see note for warm side dish  suggestion)

Notes: 

• To make the potato salad into a hot bubbly side dish bake in a preheated 350°F (or 175 °C) oven for 15-30 minutes (depending on whether or not the salad was chilled to start).