What to make with Bacon & Potato
Why they work together
Potato is a mild, starchy base that readily soaks up fat and salt without a flavor of its own to compete; bacon brings exactly that -- rendered fat for cooking, a deep smoky-salty seasoning, and a crisp textural contrast once it browns. Cooking the potato in bacon's own rendered fat (rather than a neutral oil) lets the smoke and salt work into the potato as it crisps, instead of the two staying separate on the plate.
How to combine them
Cook the bacon first and reserve the rendered fat -- it's the better cooking medium for the potato than a neutral oil, carrying real flavor instead of just preventing sticking. Cut potato into pieces similar in size to your bacon dice so they finish around the same time; if boiling or roasting the potato separately, crumble the cooked bacon in near the end so it stays crisp rather than going soggy in moisture.
Classic dishes featuring both
American
- Loaded baked potato — A split baked potato topped with crumbled bacon, cheese, and sour cream.
- Potato and bacon soup — A creamy soup built on diced potato, with crisped bacon stirred in or scattered on top.
- Twice-baked potatoes — Baked potato flesh scooped out, mixed with bacon, cheese, and butter, then baked again in the skin.
French
- Tartiflette — Sliced potato baked with lardons (bacon) and melted reblochon cheese.
German
- Bratkartoffeln — Pre-cooked potato slices fried in bacon fat with onion until crisp and golden.
- Warm German potato salad — Sliced potato dressed warm in a vinegar dressing built on rendered bacon fat and bits.
British & Irish
- Full Irish/English breakfast — Crisped bacon served alongside fried or hash-brown potato as part of the plate.
- Colcannon with crispy bacon — Mashed potato and cabbage topped with crumbled crispy bacon for salt and crunch.
Take it further
- Bacon-fat confit potatoes — Slow-cook diced potato fully submerged in the rendered bacon fat at a gentle simmer until tender, rather than a quick pan-fry -- slower, but the potato comes out silkier and more deeply flavored all the way through.
- Bacon potato chowder — Simmer diced potato in stock and cream until tender, then stir in crisped bacon at the end -- the same two ingredients, reframed as a soup instead of a side.
- Bacon potato salad — Boil the potato and dress it warm in a vinegar-forward dressing, then crumble in cooled crispy bacon once everything's at room temperature -- served fully cooled, distinct from the classic warm German version above.
- Bacon potato breakfast hash — Dice and pan-fry potato and bacon together with onion until crisp, then finish with a fried or poached egg on top -- a skillet format rather than a baked or soup one.
- Bacon potato gratin — Layer thin potato slices with crisped bacon and cream, then bake until the top browns and the potato is tender all the way through -- a sliceable baked format instead of a loose skillet or soup.
Common additions
- Onion — Add sliced onion to the bacon fat before the potato goes in -- it softens and sweetens alongside the potato, the classic Bratkartoffeln combination.
- Cheddar Cheese — Melt in shredded cheddar once the potato is cooked, for a loaded-baked-potato or twice-baked-potato direction.
- Chives — Snipped over the top at the end for a sharp, fresh contrast to the richness of the bacon and potato.