Smoked Potato Salad

We got an electric smoker at the beginning of the summer and it's been a total blast to play around with. As soon as Luke told me that he'd bought it, I had this dream to make a Smoked Potato Salad. I'm guessing the inspiration came from the typical German hot potato salad that uses sort of a bacon dressing that brings this smoky punch to the potato salad. And smoked potato salad brings all that smoky heat, without the actual bacon.

It's seriously dreamy!

I'll be honest, I would probably never turn on the smoker just to make this potato salad. I've always served it as a side to something that's already cooking been cooking in there for hours like a pulled pork, brisket or smoked sausages. In the last 3-4 hours of the meat's cooking time, I'll quickly pop open the smoker and throw the potatoes in.

I usually lean towards a vinegar based potato salad, but I'll often add a very small amount of mayo to create a bit of creaminess. And I've done this with just normal potatoes, but the addition of the sweet potato brings this really interesting contrasting texture and flavor to the salad—you've gotta try it!

I made this exact version for my mom's birthday dinner a few weeks ago to rave reviews from the family. It's seriously worth the try.

If you don't have a smoker, try baking the potatoes as you normally would, then amp up the smoked paprika by several hearty shakes and maybe add a few dashes of liquid smoke to really bring that smoky, roadside barbeque flavor home.

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Smoked Potato Salad

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup Mesquite wood chips Depends on smoker
• 3 medium white or russet potatoes
• 1 small sweet potato
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 small sweet onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon mayo
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped

If not smoking, you'll also need:

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Instructions

• Prep smoker as normal and heat to 225° F.
• If not smoking, boil potatoes until you can stick a fork into them easily. Skip to step 5
• Clean & dry the potatoes and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and stir in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Toss to coat.
• Place in smoker and cook for 3 1/2 hours, or until a fork pokes easily through the potatoes. Remove from smoker and allow to cool fully.
• Dice the cooled potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Add to a medium bowl with chopped onion, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika and mayo. Stir to combine.
• If potatoes weren't smoked, also add 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke and an additional 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika.
• Toss in the parsley and mix once more to incorporate.