Name: Bavarian Potato Salad
Ingredients: 2 pounds small redskin potatoes boiled just until done; 8 slices bacon diced; 4 tablespoons vegetable oil; 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar; 3 tablespoons yellow mustard; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper; 1 medium red onion diced; 4 ounces beef stock

Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Bavarian Potato Salad

Timeat least an hour

Ingredients

2 pounds small redskin potatoes boiled just until done
8 slices bacon diced
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 medium red onion diced
4 ounces beef stock

Directions

Prepare the bacon

Cut bacon into small cubes then brown until crisp and set aside in the bacon drippings.

Make the dressing

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper then add onions.

Combine and marinate

Mix all ingredients except beef stock and bacon with its drippings then mix very gently using your hands to avoid breaking up the potatoes as much as possible.
Add beef stock as needed to keep it moist but not swimming.
Gently mix in bacon and drippings and let set to marinate for at least an hour before serving.

Serve

Serve at room temperature or warmer.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

629Calories

35 gProtein

32 gFat

49 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,259 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,340 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes: Form the bulk of the salad and absorb the dressing as they sit.
Bacon: Adds savory fat and crisp texture, and its drippings carry flavor into the dressing.
White wine vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the fat.
Vegetable oil: Carries flavor and coats the potatoes so they taste rich rather than dry.
Yellow mustard: Adds sharp flavor and helps emulsify the oil and vinegar into the dressing.
Beef stock: Adds moisture and savory depth to the potatoes as they marinate.

The step that matters

Mixing the potatoes gently. Potatoes that are boiled until just done are fragile, and stirring hard breaks their starch-rich surfaces into mush. Gentle folding keeps the pieces intact and lets them absorb the dressing evenly.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, white wine, vinegar, pepper, onion, beef):

Capsicumfits better
Tomatofits better
Chivefits about as well
Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, white wine, vinegar, pepper, onion, beef. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Bavarian Potato Salad