Don’t go telling Mama I said this but she has kind of a weird life. You see, Mama has a lot of drop ins. Now that isn’t weird in and of itself but when I tell you a little more about what those drop-ins demand here in a minute you’ll see more what I mean.
To let you in on how my Mama works a little more, I want to tell you about a little family dinner we had at Mama’s house last night. For this little family dinner my mother served:
Fresh fried corn, homemade mac and cheese, cornbread, mashed potatoes, pintos, slaw, meatloaf, kraut and weenies, garden tomatoes, pickles, banana pudding, and fresh cantaloupe.
This was just for family so you can imagine what she’d make if she knew company was coming. But the reason I say she’s weird (other than the fact that a sane and normal person couldn’t have possibly produced me) is because of a conversation we had a few years back “Christy, I need you to come up with a quicker way for me to make potato salad. I’m always having overnight guests show up at the last minute needing potato salad with dinner”
~scratches head and thinks on this~
I have people show up a lot at my house too, but most of my friends know that I’m not real big on the SURPRISE visits (I need at least ten minutes to do a mad dash and hide the laundry pile), but I can’t say I’ve ever had a hoard of folks just show up at my door demanding a bed for the night and potato salad.
I’m not about to question Mama though. I just watch, learn, and know that someday she’ll pass the torch of hosting the we-need-potato-salad-now folks to me. With that in mind, I came up with a much quicker way to pull it together that I’m gonna bring you today. The time you save will surely help you move the laundry pile and load the dishwasher!
The great thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to use this recipe. ~grins~ I just love it when I can use those looped around sentences with y’all. What I mean is that you can use the shortcut and then just make your potato salad how you normally do. Now if you’d like to make it the way I do, I’m gonna show you how. This recipe has been known to win over non-potato salad people as well.
You’ll need: Southern Style Hash Browns*, Crisp cooked bacon, chopped boiled eggs, cheese, sweet pickle relish, mayo, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.
Now if you REALLY wanna make it in a hurry, leave out the bacon and boiled eggs or make them the day ahead of time. But this whole recipe is assuming you’re pressed for time so that kinda defeats the point. Bacon and boiled eggs are really good in it though!
I am of the firm opinion that there is no human condition, situation, or recipe which is not immediately improved with the addition of bacon.
Place cubed hash browns in large pot and cover with water.
Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Once potatoes reach a boil, boil them for two to three minutes.
Drain in a colander.
I always wanna spell colander wrong. Colander, Necessary, and Embarrassment are words that taunt me daily in my zeal to misspell them!
My mother in law gave me this colander a few years ago and I just love this thing.
Kitchen equipment makes me happy
Place cooked potatoes in a large mixing bowl.
These bowls are Pyrex (of course) and the pattern is called “New Dot”. I think they’re from the seventies but have not had enough coffee to motivate myself to go look it up to be sure so sixties, seventies…one of those is surely the answer!
Dump in your cheese over your warm potatoes
and give that a little stir.
Now add relish, mustard, and mayo
and give another little stir.
Add in bacon and eggs
and salt and pepper to taste
Give another little stir.
Cover and refrigerate a few hours or overnight before serving.

Ingredients
- 32 ounce package frozen Southern style hash browns the little cubed ones
- 3 eggs hard-boiled and chopped
- 5 strips bacon cooked crispy and crumpled
- 1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1/3 cup sweet relish or diced sweet pickles
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place cubed hash browns in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Once potatoes reach a boil, boil them for two to three minutes and then drain in a collander. Place in large mixing bowl and stir in cheese. Add mayo, mustard, and relish and stir again. Add in bacon, eggs, and salt and pepper. Stir. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.
In cooking, as in all the arts, simplicity is the sign of perfection.
Submitted by Kolene. Submit your quote here.
Yum! I am going to try this!! Crumpled bacon and all!! heehee! Love all your recipes sweet lady!! 🙂
Thank you so much Patsy!! Hope you enjoy!!
Not the potato salad, (altho I love me some potato salad), I’m talking about that meal!
LOL, I love you Angela!!
Hey, Please come by my house and pick me up on the way to your mama’s the next time she fixes this!
I think that I live in the same city as Christy so she really could pick me up.
I wonder if the hash browns even have to be boiled. Could they just be thawed? You would think that the processing in the factory would be enough as I imagine they are mostly cooked and just need browned in the pan. Also wanted to say there is a caterer in town who makes their potato salad from shredded potatoes and it is wonderful. May try using the shredded frozen hash browns to recreate. Thanks for the idea.
Just seeing this recipe, and Christy, I confess I didn’t read ALL the comments so not sure if anyone as suggested what I am about to say, but I humbly and honestly state that I have used CANNED diced potatoes with the peel on them to make potato salad in a hurry. I told MY Momma about that and she even tried it! (Found those type of canned pot.s at Kroger’s).
You’ll have to ask her about how hers turned out, but mine was just fine. Can’t beat opening a few cans of taters, rinse them, and going wild with your own, personal ingredients, even cheese and bacon! I’m now craving potato salad. Oh, and will pan fry those babies and scramble eggs with them on a morning we want a hot breakfast. Please don’t take my Southern Babe card away from me.
I had not thought about using the hash brown potatoes for potato salad! I never make potato salad because of all the steps, this will be so much easier. I have been using the hash browns in my soups and stews for years now but not in potato salad or mashed potatoes. I feel I have a new lease on life!! ha-ha Can’t wait to make this with your recipe! So anxious to try the cheese in it. I have 2 of your cookbooks and love them!! Thanks so much for sharing this tip and the recipe!!!
Thank you so much Brenda!! I hope you enjoy the potato salad!!!