Blue Cheese Potato Salad

If you love blue cheese, you’ll love this creamy Blue Cheese Potato Salad recipe! Tender red potatoes, nestled in an easy homemade dressing with tangy blue cheese crumbles and accented with red onion, bacon and a hint of dill!
The beauty of this easy recipe is that its ready in no time, and you can serve it warm, room temperature or chilled!

It pairs beautifully with barbecued or grilled meats or as a side dish to fried chicken or your favorite sandwich!

Why this recipe works

• The red potatoes are waxy, which means they hold up well in a salad environment and do not disintegrate or turn to mush
• No additives, preservatives or fillers – this recipe uses all-natural ingredients and high quality crumbled blue cheese
• Inherently gluten-free; there’s no wheat in most potato salad recipes (unless you use a jarred dressing, which might contain wheat or wheat fillers)
• Bite-size pieces, not mushy – you’ll need a fork!
• Affordable – this recipe doesn’t require a lot of blue cheese crumbles, which are the most expensive item in this recipe. You can get a five-pound bag of red potatoes for under five bucks.

Here’s what you’ll need

A pound of red creamer (also known as new potatoes or petite reds), blue cheese crumbles, mayonnaise, buttermilk, onion and garlic powder, a splash of white vinegar (or lemon juice), a teaspoon or so of onion and/or garlic powder, salt and a teaspoon of black pepper. Some folks like celery in their salad, so if you do, too, feel free to add 1/4 cup of finely chopped celery. The fresh dill and bacon are optional.

There’s no need to add oil as the mayonnaise is creamy enough and the buttermilk allows the dressing to mix well with the potatoes.

Best potatoes for potato salad

Waxy potatoes hold up best in salads, soups, and stews: these would be red creamers, red new potatoes, red petite potatoes or you can use “white” potatoes – Yukon gold or waxy whites. Russet, “Idaho”, or baker potatoes do not hold up as well – they absorb too much water when boiling and can easily (and quickly) turn mushy. The small red potato is my favorite potato for this dish.

If you don’t have buttermilk, you can substitute with sour cream or make your own: just add a little lemon juice to plain milk, let it sit a few minutes, and you have buttermilk!
I like the flavor combination of sweet red onions and blue cheese, but you can use green onions if you prefer.

Blue Cheese tips and substitutions

You can buy blue cheese crumbles (they’re usually in the deli section) or, you can buy a small block of English Stilton and crumble it yourself. You can also substitute with Gorgonzola crumbles or with a Danish Blue or Roquefort cheese,  which are also in the deli section.

How to make it

Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil; add quartered or cubed potatoes; boil till tender, drain and set aside in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, make the blue cheese dressing. In a small mixing bowl, whick together mayonnaise, buttermilk, onion and garlic powder, and blue cheese crumbles.

Drizzle mixture over potatoes and gently fold; add bacon bits and fresh dill (optional); season to taste with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon ground black pepper.
At this point, you can serve it warm, refrigerate it, or cover with plastic and serve within an hour.

Yield

One pound of small red potatoes makes about 4-6 half-cup servings; the blue cheese dressing recipe makes about 1-1/4 cup, which is plenty for one pound of diced potatoes.
If you’re using a 2 or 3 pound bag of potatoes, double the dressing recipe just to be safe.

Potato salad for a crowd

If you’re going to a family reunion, potluck or large gathering, double or triple the salad and dressing recipe. Allow about 1/2 cup serving per person.

Serving recommendations

In my experience, potato salads with cheese taste best when served slightly warm. If you refrigerate the blue cheese potato salad, it needs to rest at room temperature before you serve it, so the blue cheese dressing can soften a bit.

Make ahead and storage

You can make this up to 3-5 days in advance. You can assemble the whole dish, cover and refrigerate or, you can boil the potatoes and store them in the fridge (in an airtight container) and store the dressing in a jar. When ready to serve, let everything get to room temperature, fold dressing in and serve. Garnish with bacon and/or dill last.

This Blue Cheese Potato Salad is one of my favorite recipes and I hope you enjoy it!

More potato recipes

• Classic Southern Potato Salad
• Scalloped Potatoes
• Buffalo Tater Tots
• Potato Soup 
• Candied Sweet Potatoes
• Fried Potato Cakes (Potato Patties)
• Irish Colcannon Potatoes
• Steakhouse Baked Potatoes

If you make this recipe, please scroll down and leave a rating and comment! I love to hear from you! Thank you!