Mal and I loved this recipe so much, I made it twice in three days. It’s basically a simple meat and potatoes recipe, but it is so, so, so tasty and it works awesome with leftovers, especially if you do a Sunday Cook-Up and can prepare the potatoes and chicken ahead of time. It would seriously come together in a matter of minutes. Definitely put this one on your must-make list!
Ingredients:
- 3 medium-large potatoes*
- 6-8 pieces of bacon
- 3-5 ounces of cooked chicken breast (I used leftovers)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 tbsp bacon fat
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- salt + pepper to taste
*The first time I made this recipe, I used a bag of frozen diced potatoes, which made the prep even easier. Just throwing it out there as an option. Regular potatoes worked great too!
Secret ingredient: Lime juice! It added a fun tanginess to the recipe, especially when mixed with the balsamic vinegar.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Chop potatoes into 1-inch-ish chunks. Then, place them in a large mixing bowl and coat with 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt + pepper.
Bake potatoes for 30-35 minutes. Toss every 10 minutes or so. You might also want to coat your baking sheet with cooking spray. (My potatoes stuck a little.)
Meanwhile, cook bacon however you wish””on the stovetop, in the microwave, etc. I originally made the recipe with 6 pieces of bacon, but Mr. Bacon himself (aka Mal) said the recipe would be even better with more bacon in it. Of course, it would, Mal, so feel free to play around with the amount of bacon you add to this recipe.
I recently found this microwaveable bacon tray with a lid that makes cooking bacon super easy and prevents grease from getting all over your microwave. And, to wash it, just pop it in the dishwasher. Super easy.
While the potatoes and bacon are cooking, chop up the chicken breast. Once bacon is finished cooking, chop up that too.
Whisk together remaining tablespoon of olive oil with balsamic vinegar, bacon fat, and lime juice.
When potatoes are finished cooking, pour them into a large mixing bowl along with the chicken, bacon, and dressing. Mix everything together.
Serve and eat immediately or pour the potato salad into a large Tupperware container with a lid, shake like crazy to really coat everything with the dressing, and then allow it to marinate for a few hours (or better yet overnight). This method gave the recipe soooooo much flavor. Definitely do it if you have the time!
Makes 2-4 servings