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Smoked Potato Salad in a white serving dish garnished with fresh parsley and bacon.
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5 from 1 vote

Smoked Potato Salad Recipe

Easy & Delicious Potato Salad with a light smokey flavor!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Chill time2 hours
Total Time3 hours 50 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Difficulty Level: Easy
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 227kcal
Author: Louise

Equipment

  • Smoker

Ingredients

Potato Salad Dressing

  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • 2 Tablespoons sour cream
  • 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1½ Tablespoons Beginners Luck BBQ Rub (see recipe notes for recipe) Or your favorite BBQ rub

For the Potato Salad

  • ¼-½ cup apple wood pellets or pellets of choice
  • 2 pounds Yukon Gold or yellow potatoes
  • ¼ cup red onions ½" dice
  • 2 ribs celery ½" dice (about ½ cup)
  • 3-4 slices thick-cut applewood smoked bacon cooked crispy
  • 1-2 Tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Setting up the Ninja Woodfire Smoker

  • Fill the hopper with pellets. Turn the Woodfire on and select the smoker function. Set the temperature to 250℉/120℃ and the time to 1 hour 45 minutes. Make sure the grill grate is inserted. Close the lid and hit start.
    You will see "IGN" followed by several dashes showing on the display screen. This indicates that the pellets are ignited. Let them ignite and burn for 10-15 mintues.
    ¼-½ cup apple wood pellets

Smoking the Potatoes

  • Wash the potatoes, but do not poke holes or score them. Doing so will result in them being very hard to peel.
    When the pellets have been burning for at least 10 minutes, open the lid and let the heavy white smoke out of the Woodfire. Place the potatoes on the grill grate and close the lid. You can insert a probe into the largest potato to monitor the internal temperature.
    Check the hopper, and if the pellets have burned down at least 25%, top them off with more pellets.
    The potatoes will take approximately 90 minutes to cook to an internal temperature of 200℉/93℃. The timing depends on the size of the potatoes. I recommend checking smaller potatoes 30 minutes into the smoking time and larger ones 45-60 minutes into the smoking time. They are done when you can insert a fork without meeting resistance, but they do not fall apart.
    When the potatoes are done, remove them and put them into a sealable plastic bag or container. I like to use a ziplock freezer bag. This softens the skins and separates the skins from the flesh, making them easy to peel.
    Place the bag into an ice bath for about 10-15 minutes or just long enough for you to be able to handle them or place the bag into the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
    2 pounds Yukon Gold or yellow potatoes

Making the Potato Salad

  • Combine the dressing ingredients in a small to medium size bowl and whisk.
    ½ cup mayonnaise, 2 Tablespoons sour cream, 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1½ Tablespoons Beginners Luck BBQ Rub (see recipe notes for recipe)
  • Gently remove the skin from the potatoes. Keep in mind that most of the smoke flavor is on the surface of the potato flesh, so I recommend peeling them with your fingers rather than a potato peeler. The skins should come off very easily.
    Chop the potatoes into bite-sized chunks and place them in a large mixing bowl.
    Add half of the prepared dressing to the bowl of potatoes and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until the potatoes have chilled completely.
  • When the potatoes have chilled completely, add the diced onion and celery along with the remaining dressing. MIx well. Cover and refrigerate if you aren't serving it immediately.
    ¼ cup red onions, 2 ribs celery

Serving Smoked Potato Salad

  • Just before serving, transfer the potato salad to a serving bowl and top with crispy crumbled bacon and chopped parsley. Serve and enjoy!
    3-4 slices thick-cut applewood smoked bacon, 1-2 Tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

Notes

The smoked Potato Salad recipe yields about 6 cups of potato salad.
Beginners Luck BBQ Rub ~ Makes just under a cup of rub
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • 2½ Tablespoons onion powder
  • 2 Tablespoons seasoned salt
  • 2 Tablespoons smoked paprika
  • 1 Tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 Tablespoon sea salt or kosher salt  
  • ½ Tablespoon celery salt
Mix spices together and store in an airtight container. 

Nutrition

Serving: 0.75cup | Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 160mg | Potassium: 539mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg