better homes and gardens potato salad

I made potato salad in a slow cooker, and I thought the long cooking time wasn't worth it

finished slow cooker potato salad with bacon — The finished potato salad with bacon.

I've made quite a few dishes in a slow cooker over the years, including recipes that use potatoes.
I recently learned you can make potato salad in a slow cooker and decided to give it a try.
Although the end result was delicious, the recipe took way longer than the traditional method.

I started by gathering the ingredients, which were all pantry and fridge staples.

The ingredients for slow cooker potato salad.

For this experiment, I used a slow-cooker German potato salad recipe from EatingWell magazine.

"This vinegary German-style potato salad recipe is a lighter alternative to typical mayonnaise-based potato salad," the recipe says.

The only ingredients I needed to go out and buy were the baby gold potatoes, the bacon, and the celery. However, I usually have these ingredients already in my kitchen at the start of the week. I was impressed by how few ingredients were actually required to make this recipe.

I chopped my baby potatoes and placed them in my slow cooker.

The chopped potatoes in a black slow cooker.

The recipe called for fingerling potatoes but said that any type of yellow-flesh potato cut into 1-inch pieces would work. Since my local grocery store didn't have fingerling potatoes, I figured that using baby gold potatoes would be a suitable substitute.

The next step is to fry up some bacon.

I used thick-cut bacon, per the recipe's recommendations. Soon, my kitchen was filled with the heavenly scent of fried bacon.

After chopping the medium-size sweet onion and three celery stalks, I mixed the vegetables in the slow cooker.

The potatoes, celery, and onions in the slow cooker.

I began to wonder about how the potato salad would come together in the end, as I usually don't add onion or celery until the potatoes are fully cooked.

I wondered if I would enjoy the taste of the softened celery and onions, or if I would miss the crunch that I usually like in traditional potato salads.

After the bacon was super crispy, I transferred the slices to a paper towel and reserved a few tablespoons of the bacon grease.

I removed the frying pan from the heat and added the apple cider vinegar that would be the base of my dressing. Once the mixture stopped steaming, I followed the instructions to begin stirring it and scraping up the bits of browned bacon from the bottom of the pan.

The next step in making the dressing is mixing together whole-grain mustard and all-purpose flour.

The mustard and flour mixture in a bowl.

I absolutely love mustard, so I used three heaping tablespoons of it.

I then added it into the vinegar and grease mixture and whisked it together until they had combined.

It looked and smelled delicious. I couldn't wait to add it into the slow cooker.

I scooped the dressing over the vegetables and gave it a good stir.

The potatoes, celery, onions, and dressing in the slow cooker.

I made sure to fully coat all the vegetables in the dressing to maximize the flavor potential. I then closed the lid on my six-quart Crock-Pot and let it cook for five hours on low.

After about five hours of cooking the potato salad, it was finally done.

The last step was to crumble the bacon on top and serve with dill. Although I was happy to finally be able to eat my potato salad, I was also well aware of how long it took me to make it.

While it usually only takes me 45 minutes tops to make potato salad — between chopping the veggies, mixing the dressing, and boiling the potatoes — this method took way longer. I didn't think it would be convenient for most home cooks, especially when faster methods are out there.

While I definitely enjoyed the finished potato salad, I wasn't sure if it was worth the long cooking time.

I really enjoyed this lighter, mayonnaise-free potato salad, and I didn't mind the fact that it was served warm. The bacon added a delicious smoky flavor, and I also enjoyed the mustard dressing and freshness from the dill. However, I definitely thought the five-hour cooking time was a major drawback.

I also thought that the cooked-down celery and onions added flavor, but I was missing the crunch that those two ingredients usually add to potato salad. To avoid that result in the future, I would probably add these ingredients at the end instead of cooking them with the potatoes.

I would make this potato salad again, but only if I had extra time to spare.

More: Features slow cooker slow cooker recipes Potato Salad