Give Store-Bought Potato Salad Homemade Flair With 2 Tasty Additions

During summer get-togethers, potato salad is one of the most recognizable items on any backyard food table. As a cold salad packed with flavor, it fits naturally next to burgers and hot dogs, scoops up well with chips, and provides a pleasing contrast of flavors with other sides like baked beans.

If you're looking to liven up a tub of store-bought potato salad, two simple ingredients will punch it up with flavor and make you the star of your next barbeque. With the addition of bacon and fresh herbs, you can make friends and family think you spent hours making a batch of potato salad that's to die for. And who doesn't love a little bit of bacon in a salad?

The addition of bacon crumbles offers a bit of crunch to an otherwise creamy dish and its smoky flavor cuts through the tang of mayonnaise or mustard — some homemade recipes even call for adding bacon drippings to the dressing. If you really want to go all out, you can give your potato an upgrade with thick slab bacon, which offers a chewy, yet crispy bite. 

Whether you're planning a simple afternoon shindig or a big party for the Fourth of July, one of the best things about potato salad is that you can cater it to your own personal flavor preferences. Now that you've already upgraded your store-bought dish with bacon, it's time to add some fresh herbs, which will impart more flavor and help all the ingredients shine. Since potato salad is a simple dish, keep things simple and use herbs that can be found in your local grocer.

If you're looking for an all-encompassing kind of herb, tarragon is a good choice. It has many health benefits and is said to add an earthy, licorice-like flavor to any dish. Parsley instantly adds a splash of color to any dish and can impart peppery and citrus flavors to your potato salad. Dill is another popular addition, offering an additional tangy flavor that's sure to please fans of mustard potato salad. Rosemary adds a recognizable, earthy flavor that's already a popular pairing with hot potato dishes.

With these ingredients, you can turn store-bought potato salad into a dish that's sure to be a hit. By tweaking the herbs that go into your salad (and, of course, pair well with bacon), you can perfect a go-to method for the perfect potato salad every time.