Potato Salad with Bacon and Corn
on Jul 29, 2025, Updated Aug 11, 2025
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This vibrant corn and potato salad with bacon combines tender potatoes, sweet corn, crispy bacon, and a tangy lemon-buttermilk dressing. It’s a perfect side for picnics, barbecues, and summer cookouts — flexible, flavorful, and easy to scale.
If you want a side dish that is at once comfortingly creamy and bracingly bright, this corn and potato salad with bacon is your ticket to happiness. Tender chunks of potato mingle with sweet corn (fresh, frozen, or canned — all totally fine), crispy bacon, and a tangy lemon-buttermilk dressing (no mayo involved!) that ties everything together. It’s the kind of crowd-pleasing dish that works for cookouts, Memorial Day or Labor Day parties, or a simple burger night.
This is the perfect thing to serve up with barbecue, grilled meats, and burgers. Some burger options are Deviled Burgers, Chipotle Barbecue Turkey Burgers, or Grilled Cheeseburgers with Herb Sauce.
“I love this salad and do not like potato salad, that’s how good this is! Thanks for bringing me to the other side. My family of potato lovers thanks you, too.” – Annie
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What's In This Post?
If you love the corn part of this salad, add as much as you like. You could even make it into a corn salad punctuated with potatoes if you were so inclined.
The dressing is tangy from the lemon juice and buttermilk, and the creaminess of the potatoes is punctuated by the pop of the crispy corn. Potato salad is often sorely in need of some texture, and this one doesn’t disappoint.
Corn & potato salad with bacon and lemon-buttermilk dressing is creamy, crunchy , and tangy. A perfect summer side for BBQs, burgers, picnics and potlucks.
What This Corn & Potato Salad Has Going for It
- Your choice of corn: Fresh, canned, or frozen corn all work (but absolutely make this with fresh when the season allows!).
- Perfect summer side: Plays well with burgers, grilled meats, BBQ, or a simple grilled fish.
- Make-ahead: Ideal for prepping ahead and serving at room temperature.
Ingredients
- Yukon potatoes – One of the best potato choices for potato salad.
- Onion – Red or yellow onion, your choice. Just be sure to mince the onion well so it blends into the dressing.
- Greek yogurt and buttermilk – Give the dressing creaminess and tanginess.
- Dijon mustard – A little zip.
- Lemon juice and zest – One lemon will provide more than enough fresh lemon juice and zest for one batch of this salad.
- Corn – Awesome when fresh sweet corn is in season!
- Fresh basil – Chiffonade the basil leaves into thin slices, or just chop them.
- Bacon – If you prefer to avoid frying it, cook the bacon in the oven or try air-fried bacon.
How to Make Potato Salad with Bacon and Corn
- Cook the potatoes: Scrub and dice the potatoes. Cook in a pot of water for about 15 minutes, until fork-tender. Drain (don’t rinse!), then let cool in the colander.
- Make the dressing: Mix the onion, yogurt, buttermilk, mustard, lemon juice and zest, and salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Toss the salad: In a large bowl, add the cooked potatoes, corn, and bacon along with the basil and dressing. Toss, then transfer to a serving bowl.
Corn Potato Salad Tips
- If you are a regular potato salad maker, you know that potatoes can absorb dressing pretty significantly. It might seem like quite a bit of dressing at first, but it will thicken up quite a bit on standing. And if you refrigerate it, even more.
- If at all possible, I try to make and serve potato salads without them ever seeing the inside of a fridge, but if you do want to make it ahead, you surely can. Just let it come to cool room temperature before serving. I don’t really get the appeal of a chilled potato salad.
- If you are thinking of bringing this sweet corn and potato salad to a picnic or other potluck event, you might remember to pack the extra crumbled bacon in a separate little baggie or container and sprinkle it on at the end to preserve the crunchiness, but if you don’t remember? Eh. You brought potato salad…you’re awesome.
- Double or triple this at will.
- And I’m just going to say it — if you want to double the amount of bacon in this salad, I think that’s a very fine idea.
Yes! Make it up to a day ahead of time, then bring to room temp and toss it again just before serving.
What to Serve With Potato, Corn, and Bacon Salad
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Corn and Potato Salad with Bacon
Ingredients
- 4 Yukon potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- kosher salt (to taste)
- ½ red or yellow onion (minced)
- ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 2 cups cooked corn kernels
- ½ cup thinly sliced or chopped fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup crumbled cooked bacon (divided)
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes and cut them into 1/2-inch dice. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat, add the potatoes, cover the pot partially and return the water to a simmer, then reduce the heat so that the water stays at a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are fork-tender. Drain the potatoes but do not rinse, and let the potatoes cool for about 10 minutes in the colander.
- Meanwhile in a small bowl mix together the onion, yogurt, buttermilk, mustard, lemon juice, zest, and salt and pepper.
- Place the potatoes, corn, basil, and bacon in a large bowl, pour the dressing over and toss to mix well. Turn into a serving bowl.
Notes
Nutrition
More Potato Salads
- Classic Potato Salad with Celery and Fresh Thyme
- Egg and Potato Salad with Bacon (yes, I clearly have potato salad and bacon issues)
- Mayonnaise-Free Potato Salad
- Cauliflower Potato Salad
I love this salad and do not like potato salad, that’s how good this is! Thanks for bringing me to the other side. My family of potato lovers thanks you, too.
Corn, basil and bacon in potato salad – perfect!! Pinned:)
summer, here we come!!