My brother in law runs the grill at every family cookout and he has loud opinions about the sides.
So when I set this bowl down on the folding table last Fourth of July, he looked at it, then looked at me.
"That's orange," he said.
Which, yes.
He ate two helpings and asked what was in it before the ribs even came off the smoker.
Here's what I love about this one: it is still recognizably potato salad. Cold, thick, creamy, hard boiled egg and celery folded through, bacon on top, a dusting of smoked paprika. Everything your aunt's recipe has.
The sweet potato just makes it taste like something.
One thing worth saying right up front, because the internet is confusing on this.
This is not the warm German style sweet potato salad with the vinegar and bacon fat dressing.
That one is good and it's a different dish entirely.
Mine is the creamy chilled one. Mayonnaise, sour cream, whole grain mustard, cider vinegar, straight out of the refrigerator.
It gets better overnight, which makes it the easiest thing on the table to plan for.
Make it the day before your cookout and stop thinking about it!
What Makes It Southern
Old fashioned Southern potato salad has a very specific build, and I kept almost all of it. Mayonnaise, mustard, hard boiled egg, celery, something sweet and something tangy, paprika across the top, served cold.
That's the template. It's been on Southern tables for a hundred years and it works.
What I changed is the potato and, because of that, the seasoning around it.
Sweet potato needs more acid and more salt than a russet does. A russet is a blank canvas. A sweet potato arrives with sugar already in it, so the dressing has to push back harder or the whole bowl slides into dessert territory.
That's why there's a full 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar in here and a real teaspoon of salt in the dressing on top of salted cooking water.
About the mayonnaise. Duke's if you can get it, Blue Plate if you're in the Gulf South, Hellmann's if that's what's in the door of your fridge.
People will tell you it's the whole recipe. It isn't. The bacon fat matters more, and we'll get to that.
Ingredients
Nothing here is exotic and most of it is probably in your kitchen already.
- Sweet potatoes (3 lb). Go for firm orange-flesh varieties, Beauregard or Jewel, the standard supermarket ones. The pale white-flesh sweet potatoes are drier and crumblier and they fall apart on you. Peel and cut into ¾ inch cubes.
- Thick cut bacon (8 slices). Thick cut is worth the extra dollar. Thin bacon crumbles into dust and disappears into the dressing instead of giving you actual bites of bacon.
- Mayonnaise (¾ cup). The backbone. Full fat, not the light stuff, which thins out and weeps when it sits.
- Sour cream (½ cup). This is my one real departure from tradition and I'd fight for it. It adds a little tang and it keeps the dressing from tasting flat and heavy the way an all-mayo dressing can.
- Reserved bacon fat (1 tablespoon). Warm, straight from the skillet, whisked into the dressing. Best single thing you can do to this salad.
- Apple cider vinegar (2 tablespoons). The pushback against all that sweetness.
- Whole grain mustard (1 tablespoon). Those little popping seeds are a texture as much as a flavor. Yellow mustard works if that's the house style.
- Hard boiled eggs (4 large). Chopped, not sliced. Non-negotiable if you want this to read as Southern potato salad.
- Celery (2 stalks). Diced fine. This is your crunch, and it's the only crunch that survives a night in the fridge.
- Green onions (4). Sliced thin, greens and whites both.
- Sugar (2 teaspoons) and smoked paprika. Two teaspoons of sugar balances the vinegar. Smoked paprika goes in the dressing and across the top, and it doubles down on the bacon.
How to Make It
Step 1: Cook the Bacon and Save a Spoon of Fat
Lay the bacon in a cold skillet, set it over medium heat, and cook until it's genuinely crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes, turning once.
Drain it on paper towels and reserve 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan.
Crumble the bacon when it's cool. Half goes in the salad, half gets held back for the top.
Step 2: Boil the Sweet Potatoes Just to Firm-Tender
Put the cubes in a large pot, cover with cold water by an inch, and add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt.
Bring to a boil, then drop to a strong simmer and start testing at 8 minutes.
You want a paring knife to slide in with a little resistance still there. Most batches are done between 8 and 10 minutes.
Drain immediately.
Step 3: Cool Them Completely on a Sheet Pan
Spread the drained cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan and leave them alone for 20 to 30 minutes.
They steam dry as they cool, which is what keeps the finished salad from going soupy.
This step feels skippable. It is not.
Step 4: Whisk the Dressing
Whisk the mayonnaise, sour cream, warm bacon fat, cider vinegar, whole grain mustard, sugar, salt, black pepper and smoked paprika until it's smooth and thick.
Taste it on its own. It should be a touch too tangy and a touch too salty, because the potatoes are about to mute it.
Step 5: Fold and Chill
Put the cooled sweet potato, chopped egg, celery, green onion and half the bacon in a big bowl.
Pour the dressing over and fold gently with a flexible spatula, coming up from the bottom, until everything's coated.
Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
The Four Mistakes That Ruin Sweet Potato Salad
Every failed sweet potato salad I've eaten failed in one of these four places.
- Overcooking. This is the big one. Sweet potato goes from firm to puree in about ninety seconds, far faster than a russet. Start testing at 8 minutes and pull it while there's still resistance.
- Dressing hot potatoes. Warm cubes thin the mayonnaise, which then slides off and pools. The salad turns soupy and the whole thing goes a uniform orange. COOL THEM FIRST.
- Cutting the cubes too small. Under ¾ inch and they lose their corners in the fold and you end up with mash. Bigger than an inch and the dressing can't get around them.
- Not salting the cooking water. Bland sweet potato cannot be rescued by dressing later. Season it while it cooks.
Tips and Tricks
- Bacon in two stages. Half folded in for flavor, half on top right before serving so it's still crisp when people see it.
- Use the warm bacon fat. One tablespoon whisked into the dressing while it's still liquid. It carries smoke through the entire bowl.
- Taste after chilling, not before. Cold food reads underseasoned. What tastes right at room temperature tastes flat out of the fridge.
- Fold, don't stir. A flexible spatula lifting from the bottom keeps the cubes whole. A wooden spoon mashes them.
- Save a little dressing. Hold back 2 tablespoons and stir it in just before serving. Sweet potato drinks dressing overnight and a fresh spoonful brings the creaminess right back.
Make Ahead and Storage
- Make it the day before. Minimum 2 hours in the fridge, but 12 hours is genuinely better. The vinegar and mustard need time to work into the cubes.
- Refrigerated. Up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Finishing touches. Reserved bacon, extra green onion and the paprika dusting all go on right before it hits the table, never the night before.
- Freezing. No. Mayonnaise breaks when it thaws and cooked sweet potato goes grainy and watery.
- Transporting it. Keep the bowl on ice in a cooler. It's a mayonnaise salad sitting outside in July, so treat it accordingly.
What to Serve It With
This belongs next to smoke and salt. Anything that came off a grill or out of a smoker is the right neighbor.
- Ribs and pulled pork. The natural home. The cold creaminess is exactly the relief a plate of barbecue needs.
- Smoked or fried chicken. Pairs perfectly, and it's a crowd-pleaser at every church potluck I've ever taken it to.
- Burgers and hot dogs. Standard cookout duty.
- Fried catfish. Southern through and through.
- Holiday ham. It sits happily on a Thanksgiving or Easter table where sweet potato is expected anyway.
Make it once for a cookout and somebody will ask you for the recipe before the meat is off the grill. It happens to me every single time!
Recipe
Southern Creamy Sweet Potato Salad With Bacon
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 3 lb sweet potatoes peeled, cut into ¾ inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt for the cooking water
- 8 slices thick cut bacon
- 4 large hard boiled eggs peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks celery finely diced
- 4 green onions thinly sliced
For the Dressing
- ¾ cup mayonnaise full fat
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon reserved warm bacon fat
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika plus more for the top
Instructions
Cook the Bacon
- Lay the bacon in a cold skillet and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once, until genuinely crisp. Drain on paper towels.
- Reserve 1 tablespoon of the warm bacon fat from the pan. Crumble the cooled bacon and set half aside for the top.
Cook and Cool the Sweet Potatoes
- Put the sweet potato cubes in a large pot, cover with cold water by 1 inch and add the 1 tablespoon kosher salt.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a strong simmer and start testing at 8 minutes. A paring knife should meet a little resistance. Most batches are done between 8 and 10 minutes. Do not cook until soft.
- Drain immediately and spread the cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan. Let them cool completely, 20 to 30 minutes.
Make the Dressing
- Whisk the mayonnaise, sour cream, warm bacon fat, cider vinegar, whole grain mustard, sugar, salt, black pepper and smoked paprika until smooth and thick.
- Taste. The dressing should be slightly too tangy and slightly too salty on its own, because the sweet potatoes will mute it.
Fold and Chill
- Combine the cooled sweet potato, chopped egg, celery, green onion and half the crumbled bacon in a large bowl.
- Pour the dressing over and fold gently with a flexible spatula, lifting from the bottom, until everything is coated. Do not stir hard or the cubes will break.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
- Before serving, fold in a little reserved dressing if it has thickened, then top with the remaining bacon, extra green onion and a dusting of smoked paprika.
Notes
- Do not overcook: sweet potato goes from firm to puree in about ninety seconds. Test at 8 minutes and pull while there is still resistance.
- Cool completely before dressing: warm cubes thin the mayonnaise and the salad turns soupy and uniformly orange.
- Use the bacon fat: 1 tablespoon of warm fat whisked into the dressing carries smoke through the whole bowl.
- Bacon in two stages: half folded in, half on top just before serving so it stays crisp.
- Taste it cold: chilled food reads underseasoned, so check the seasoning after it has been in the fridge.
- This is not German sweet potato salad: it is the creamy chilled mayonnaise kind, not the warm vinegar and bacon fat kind.
- Storage: 4 days refrigerated. Do not freeze, the mayonnaise breaks and the potato goes grainy.
