Loaded Ranch Potato Salad

This loaded ranch potato salad is creamy, hearty, and packed with all the flavors you love in a loaded baked potato. Tender potatoes are mixed with ranch dressing, sour cream, crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, and green onions for a side dish that feels extra special but is still easy to make. It's a great recipe for cookouts, potlucks, summer dinners, or any meal where you want a crowd-pleasing side without a lot of extra work.

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Why this is the best Loaded Ranch Potato Salad recipe

It's a simple recipe. This loaded ranch potato salad uses everyday ingredients like potatoes, ranch dressing, bacon, cheese, sour cream, and green onions, so there is nothing fussy or hard to track down. You may already have the ingredients, and a quick trip to any grocery store will have the rest. It has all the flavors of a loaded baked potato in an easy cold side dish.

It's very easy. Once the potatoes are cooked and cooled, all you have to do is stir everything together in a big bowl. The creamy ranch dressing coats the potatoes, bacon, cheese, and onions, so every bite has tons of flavor without a lot of extra work. You don't even have to bake the potatoes!

It tastes amazing. The combination of tender potatoes, smoky bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, cool ranch, and tangy sour cream makes this potato salad rich, creamy, and full of savory flavor. It is the kind of side dish people keep going back to for another scoop.

It's great for BBQ cookouts, potlucks, summer dinners, and make-ahead meals. This loaded ranch potato salad can be made ahead of time and chilled until you're ready to serve, which makes it an easy choice when you need a crowd-pleasing side dish that does not add stress to your day.

What you'll need to make the Loaded Ranch Potato Salad

Ingredients

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See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements and nutritional information .

• Baby potatoes - I suggest baby potatoes because they're quick and easy and don't require peeling. I used a mix of gold, purple, and red potatoes, but any baby potatoes will work. If you prefer, you can also use standard russet potatoes. You may wish to peel those. Yukon Gold potatoes also have a nice texture and flavor and do not require peeling even when large.
• Mayonnaise - I prefer Light Mayo but you can use any mayo you prefer. I do not recommend Miracle Whip in this recipe.
• Sour cream or Greek yogurt - No loaded baked potato salad is complete without sour cream or Greek yogurt! These can be used interchangeably.
• Ranch dressing mix - I make this myself using the linked recipe, but if you don't have the ability to do that, you can find it in the grocery store with the salad dressings. I don't recommend additional seasonings such as garlic powder as they are already incorporated in the ranch dressing powder.
• Bacon - This should be fully cooked, drained, patted dry, and crumbled. If you have homemade bacon bits, they would work, but I don't recommend commercial ones as they often have too much smoke flavor that will overpower your whole salad.
• Cheddar cheese - I love an extra sharp cheddar but you can use whatever shredded cheese you like to eat. I do not shred my own; I buy the pre-shredded in the grocery store, and it works just fine in this recipe (and most other recipes too).
• Green onions - If you don't have green onions, you can use a small amount of finely diced red onion instead.
• Salt and pepper - These are not measured. Taste the salad, and if you think it needs a little something, add a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of black pepper. Bacon and commercial ranch dressing mix both have plenty of salt, so you will probably not need more.

How to make Loaded Ranch Potato Salad

1. Wash and quarter the potatoes. Place them in a large pot and cover with cold water. You can add a little salt to the water if you wish, but it is not necessary. Bring the water up to a boil over high heat and let the potatoes boil until just fork-tender, about 10-15 minutes. Carefully drain the potatoes and set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the mayo, sour cream, and Ranch dressing mix. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.
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3. Stir in the bacon, cheese, and green onions.
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4. Gently stir in the cooled cooked potatoes.
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5. Cover and chill the potato salad in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.
6. Garnish the potato salad with more bacon, cheddar, and chives or scallions just before serving, if desired.

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Substitutions & variations

You can use any potato you like, I prefer the baby potatoes so I don't have to peel but you can certainly peel and use any potatoes you have.

For a smoother potato salad use your mixing spoon to break up some of the potatoes when stirring.

Sliced hardboiled eggs are a wonderful addition to this salad. I prefer the Instant Pot method to cook them.

Plain greek yogurt can always be used instead of sour cream.

Chopped celery is also a wonderful addition to this potato salad.

While the scallions add a light onion flavor you can substitute thinly sliced red onion for a bigger pop of onion flavor.

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Storing leftovers

Store leftovers covered in the fridge for 3-5 days. This recipe doesn't freeze well.

This potato salad is great to make ahead as the flavors will just have more time to marry and develop over time.

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