Purple German Potato Salad

There is nothing quite like the little thrill you get when you slice open a sweet potato and see…purple.

These Stokes Purple Sweet Potatoes from Frieda’s are brilliant in color (the color intensifies when they are cooked) and they are not quite as sweet as a regular sweet potato so they’re versatile for both sweet and savory dishes. Our friends at Frieda’s recently sent us some purple sweet potatoes to play around with…and with picnic season just around the corner we knew immediately that a purple sweet potato salad was in our future.

We made this purple potato salad as a twist on our mom’s old German potato salad recipe. Mom’s recipe relies on a tangy dressing rather than mayonnaise, and it’s usually served warm or at room temperature. When we pulled it all together with the sweet potatoes and the vinegar/bacon dressing, it was the perfect sweet/tangy combo for a summer day.

German Purple Potato Salad

6 medium purple sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 T. olive oil, divided

4 strips bacon

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1 medium onion, peeled and diced

2 T. flour

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. celery seed

Dash pepper

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup white vinegar

Parsley for garnish (optional)

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Place them in a roasting pan or baking sheet and toss with 1 T. olive oil. Roast at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a medium saute pan, cook the slices of bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and place it on paper towels to drain. Drain the fat from the pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan.  Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, heat, and add onions and saute over low heat until tender. Add the flour, sugar, salt, celery seed, and pepper to the pan and stir mixture to combine. Add the water and the vinegar, bring the mixture to a boil, and boil gently while stirring constantly for 1 hour. Remove mixture from heat.

Mix the purple sweet potatoes with the dressing. Crumble bacon over the salad and stir to combine. Garnish with parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 4.

Thank you, Frieda’s, for the beautiful purple potatoes!

Blogger disclosure: We were not compensated for this post. We did, however, receive product samples.