German · Lunch

Warm German Potato Salad

Warm potatoes dressed in a bacon, vinegar and stock dressing rather than mayonnaise — sharper, lighter, and much better alongside anything grilled. Dress them hot so they drink it in.

40 min prep and cooking plus 15 min standing 55 min start to finish Serves 6 servings Easy
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Warm German Potato Salad

Photograph credit: Otto Schade (Osch) Aachen Germany Potato Salad Graffiti by Tim-desser · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Build the Meal Around Warm German Potato Salad

  • A cold Pilsner or a dry Riesling
  • Serve with schnitzel, sausages or grilled fish
  • Follow with Black Forest cake
Warm German Potato Salad, in preparation
Warm German Potato Salad, in preparation

Photograph credit: Picknick on trail along Emsbach, near Gnadenthal, potato-cucumber salad by Gerda Arendt · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Making Warm German Potato Salad, Step by Step

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  1. Boil the potatoes whole in their skins in well-salted water for 20 to 25 minutes, until a knife slides in easily.

  2. Meanwhile render the bacon in a dry pan over medium heat for 8 minutes until crisp, then lift out with a slotted spoon.

  3. Cook the onion in the bacon fat for 6 minutes until soft and translucent.

  4. Add the hot stock, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper and simmer for 3 minutes. Taste — it should be sharp.

  5. Drain the potatoes and, as soon as you can handle them, peel and slice them 5 mm thick straight into a wide bowl.

  6. Pour the hot dressing over the warm potato slices and fold gently. Leave for 15 minutes so they absorb it.

  7. Fold through the bacon, spring onions and most of the herbs, adding the oil last.

  8. Taste again — warm potatoes absorb a great deal of salt and acid — and serve warm or at room temperature, scattered with the remaining herbs.

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Notes From the Method

Peel and slice the potatoes while hot. It is uncomfortable but it is the whole technique.

Let it sit for 15 minutes before serving so the dressing is fully absorbed rather than pooling.

For a vegetarian version, replace the bacon with fried mushrooms and use a smoked paprika-spiked stock.

If You're Missing Something

  • Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
  • A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.

Leftovers

Refrigerate 3 days. Bring to room temperature or warm gently before serving; it is unpleasant fridge-cold.

Questions and Answers

How long does Warm German Potato Salad take to make?

15 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking, plus 15 minutes of standing, so allow 55 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.

Warm German Potato Salad Nutrition Facts

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: where a line offers a choice of foods, only one of them is counted. How the figures are worked out.

342Calories
10gProtein
35gCarbs
18gFat
4gFibre
4gSugar
940mgSodium

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Compiled by Turab

Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.

First published ; last changed .