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German potato salad without mayo is the warm, tangy potato salad of southern Germany, with tender sliced potatoes soaked in a bacon and onion dressing. It’s lighter than the creamy kind, it’s good warm or at room temperature, and it’s just right for your next family gathering.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Kitchen
- Northern vs. Southern German Potato Salad
- Ingredients for German Potato Salad
- Yield Notes
- How to Make German Potato Salad without Mayo
- Tips for the Best German Potato Salad
- Serving German Potato Salad
- Variations
- Making It Ahead and Storing Leftovers
- German Potato Salad FAQs
- More German Recipes
- German Potato Salad (without Mayo) Recipe
- More Side Dishes
Potato salad in Germany changes from region to region. Up north, most potato salads start with mayonnaise. Down south, in Swabia and Bavaria, the potatoes go into a warm dressing of broth, vinegar, and onion instead, often with oil or a little bacon.
This is the southern style, and it’s what most Americans think of as German potato salad. It’s tangy instead of creamy. The warm potatoes drink up the dressing as they rest, so it soaks into the slices instead of sitting on top.
It’s a holiday tradition, too. In some parts of Germany, potato salad with sausages is the Christmas Eve supper, a simple meal that leaves the evening free for family and gifts.
I adapted this recipe from German Meals at Oma’s by Gerhild Fulson. Gerhild was born in Germany and learned to cook at her mother’s side, and today she shares traditional German home cooking at Just Like Oma.
My German goulash soup comes from the same book, and it’s a good place to start if you’re cooking a whole German dinner. For another potato side, try my Danish browned potatoes or crispy tallow fries.
Notes from My Kitchen
My German grandmother’s potato salad was famous in our family. She made it for every family gathering, the same way her mohnstrudel was always the star of our Christmas breakfast table.
I love this traditional recipe, and it’s just one of many great recipes in German Meals at Oma’s. Old family dishes like these are the ones I want to keep making, and passing on to my own kids.
Northern vs. Southern German Potato Salad
Gerhild calls the divide between northern and southern Germany the “mayo line.” Northern Germans mostly dress their potato salads with mayonnaise, often with pickles or egg mixed in. Southern Germans usually leave it out.
A southern potato salad starts with freshly cooked potatoes and a hot dressing of broth and vinegar. Many use oil, and others, like this one, cook bacon and onion right into the dressing.
Most cooks serve it warm or at room temperature. That makes it an easy potato salad without mayo to set out with dinner, since there’s no need to chill it first.
Ingredients for German Potato Salad
The ingredient list is short, and the swaps are easy. Oil works in place of clarified butter, and vegetable broth works in place of beef broth. Leave out the bacon too, and you have a vegetarian salad.
- Potatoes: You want potatoes that hold their shape when you slice and stir them. Waxy red potatoes stay firm, and all-purpose Yukon Golds are a little creamier but still slice cleanly. Starchy russets fall apart more easily, so cut them thicker if they’re all you have. If you grow your own potatoes, a red or yellow variety is the one to use here.
- Clarified butter or oil: This is the fat for cooking the bacon and onion. Clarified butter (or ghee) adds a rich, buttery flavor, and a neutral oil works just as well.
- Bacon: Diced bacon renders its fat right into the dressing, so you get bacon flavor in every bite. Regular sliced bacon is fine, or cut slab bacon into small cubes.
- Onion: Dice it finely, so it turns soft in the bacon fat. A yellow onion is the usual choice.
The rest of the list is the dressing, and it all goes into the same saucepan as the bacon.
- Broth: Beef broth gives the salad a rich, savory flavor, and vegetable broth works too. If you keep home-canned beef broth or vegetable broth on the shelf, this is a good place to use a jar.
- White wine vinegar: This gives the salad its tang. Add a splash more at the end if you like it sharper.
- Mustard: A little mustard adds bite and rounds out the vinegar. A medium-hot German mustard or Dijon both work.
- Salt, pepper, and celery seed: Celery seed adds a light celery flavor without any chopping. It’s optional, so leave it out if you don’t have any.
Two more ingredients go in right at the end.
- Sugar: A pinch of sugar softens the vinegar. Add it after the salad rests, a little at a time, until it tastes balanced.
- Chives: Fresh chives go on just before serving. They’re easy to grow, and a small clump keeps you in chives from spring through fall.
Yield Notes
This recipe starts with 2 pounds of potatoes, about 6 medium potatoes, and makes about 4 side servings.
For a family gathering, double everything and use a bigger pot and a wide bowl. A double batch serves about 8.
How to Make German Potato Salad without Mayo
This is mostly waiting on the potatoes. The dressing cooks while they boil, and then the salad rests before it’s ready.
Plan on about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish, depending on the size of your potatoes, with only about 20 minutes of hands-on work.
Boil the Potatoes
Put the whole, unpeeled potatoes in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Bring them to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until a knife slides easily into the center, 20 to 40 minutes, depending on their size.
Try to pick potatoes that are about the same size, so they finish cooking at the same time. Small potatoes can finish in 20 minutes, and big ones can take the full 40.
Make the Warm Dressing
While the potatoes cook, melt the clarified butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the bacon and onion, and cook, stirring now and then, until the bacon fat has rendered and the onion is soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
Stir in the broth and bring it to a simmer. Take the pan off the heat, then stir in the vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, and celery seed.
Peel and Slice the Potatoes
Drain the potatoes and rinse them briefly under cold water, just until you can handle them. Peel them while they’re still warm. The skins slip off easily with a paring knife.
Slice them 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick on a cutting board, and put the slices in a large bowl.
Dress the Potatoes and Let Them Rest
If the dressing cooled while you sliced the potatoes, bring it back to a simmer. Pour the hot dressing over the warm slices, and fold it in gently so they don’t break.
Let the salad rest for 20 to 30 minutes, so the potatoes have time to take in the dressing.
Taste and Finish
Fold the salad gently once more and taste it. Add sugar a pinch at a time, and more salt, pepper, vinegar, or mustard if it needs it.
Sprinkle the chives over the top just before serving.
Tips for the Best German Potato Salad
Season it after the rest. The potatoes keep soaking up the dressing as they sit, so taste the salad again once it has rested. That’s why the sugar and the final seasoning wait until the end.
Cook the potatoes a day ahead for firmer slices. Chilled potatoes hold their shape better, but warm ones soak up more dressing. Gerhild makes hers all on the same day, so there’s no planning ahead, and either way works.
Slice starchy potatoes thicker. If all you have are russets, cut them closer to 1/4 inch, or a little thicker, so they don’t crumble when you fold in the dressing.
Fold, don’t stir. A wide rubber spatula lifts the slices from the bottom of the bowl without breaking them.
Serving German Potato Salad
Serve it warm or at room temperature, the way southern Germans do. It goes with bratwurst, schnitzel, or a smoked pork chop (Kasseler in German), and it’s just as good next to grilled chicken at a summer cookout.
For a German-style dinner, add braised red cabbage or a bowl of homemade sauerkraut, with German mustard pickles or refrigerator dill pickles on the side. It’s good with a pork roast, too, like my Danish pork roast with cracklings.
On Christmas Eve, do it the way a lot of German families do, with warm sausages on the side and a plate of German Christmas cookies for dessert.
Variations
The basic salad is simple, so small changes go a long way.
- Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar gives a softer tang. If you made chive blossom vinegar in the spring, it’s a nice swap here.
- Mustard: A coarse whole-grain mustard gives the dressing a little texture, and a hot mustard gives it more kick.
- Radishes: Thinly sliced radishes add crunch and a peppery bite. Gerhild suggests them with her own version of this salad.
- Herbs: Parsley or a little fresh dill works in place of the chives. In early summer, scatter a few chive blossoms over the top, and save the rest for other chive blossom recipes.
Making It Ahead and Storing Leftovers
You can boil and peel the potatoes up to a day ahead and keep them in the fridge. Slice them cold, make the dressing fresh, and pour it over the slices while it’s hot. They won’t soak up quite as much, but they’ll hold their shape well.
Leftovers keep in a covered container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, the time FoodSafety.gov gives for deli salads and cooked leftovers. Take the salad out about 20 minutes before serving and taste it again, since a splash of vinegar or broth can wake it back up. It doesn’t freeze well, so plan on eating it within a few days.
Even without mayo, potato salad shouldn’t sit out all afternoon. Cooked potatoes and bacon are what bacteria like, so keep it out no more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when it’s over 90°F.
That’s easy to manage. Chill the salad in the fridge first, then bring it to a picnic in a cooler with plenty of ice. Set out what you’ll eat, and keep the rest cold until you want seconds.
German Potato Salad FAQs
Here are answers to common questions about German potato salad, from leaving out the bacon to making it ahead.
Yes. Many southern German potato salads don’t have bacon at all, just broth, vinegar, oil, and onion. Cook the onion in oil instead of bacon fat, use vegetable broth, and add a little extra oil to the dressing to make up for the bacon fat.
Southern Germans usually serve their potato salad warm or at room temperature. The dressing goes on hot, and the salad rests before serving, so it’s lukewarm by the time it reaches the table. Leftovers are fine cold, but they taste better after sitting out for about 20 minutes.
Waxy potatoes, like red potatoes, hold their shape. Yukon Golds are a little creamier and still slice cleanly. Russets fall apart more easily, so cut them thicker if they’re all you have.
Yes. Cook and peel the potatoes up to a day ahead, then make the dressing fresh and pour it over them hot. The finished salad keeps in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
Most American potato salads are cold and made with mayonnaise, the way northern German ones are. Southern German potato salad uses a warm dressing of broth and vinegar instead, so it’s tangy, light, and usually served warm or at room temperature.
More German Recipes
More traditional German recipes, from soup to sweets.
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German Potato Salad (without Mayo)
Equipment
- Large Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 lbs potatoes, waxy red or all-purpose Yukon Gold, unpeeled
- 1 tbsp clarified butter, or neutral oil
- 5 oz bacon, diced
- ¾ cup onion, finely diced
- 1 cup beef broth, or vegetable broth
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar, plus more to taste
- 1 tsp mustard, plus more to taste
- ½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper, freshly ground, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp celery seed, optional
- ¼ tsp sugar, or to taste
- 2 tbsp chives, fresh, finely chopped
Instructions
- Put the whole, unpeeled potatoes in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Bring them to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until a knife slides easily into the center, 20 to 40 minutes, depending on their size.
- While the potatoes cook, melt the clarified butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the bacon and onion, and cook, stirring now and then, until the bacon fat has rendered and the onion is soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Stir in the broth and bring it to a simmer. Take the pan off the heat, then stir in the vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, and celery seed.
- Drain the potatoes and rinse them briefly under cold water, just until you can handle them. Peel them while they’re still warm, slice them 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, and put the slices in a large bowl.
- If the dressing has cooled, bring it back to a simmer. Pour the hot dressing over the warm potatoes, fold it in gently to coat, and let the salad rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Fold the salad gently again and taste it. Add the sugar a pinch at a time, and more salt, pepper, vinegar, or mustard if needed. Sprinkle with the chives just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Side Dishes
More easy side dishes for your dinner table.
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Adapted with permission from German Meals at Oma’s by Gerhild Fulson. Page Street Publishing Co. 2018. Photos from the book, used with permission.
Absolutely delicious
Glad you enjoyed it!