Take Potato Salad To The Next Level With This Sizzling Game Day Upgrade

Despite its reputation as a summer cookout staple, potato salad might just be the perfect indulgence to add to your game day snack table. Heartier than mere chips and pretzels, yet less messy than countless dips and buffalo wings, the right potato salad can strike the perfect balance between meal and snack, creating a craveable centerpiece for a potluck buffet or a welcome break from frozen french fries and pizza rolls.

The only possible issue with offering potato salad to your game day guests is that with football season comes an undeniable chill in the air that begs the presence of hot dishes to warm yourself. Fortunately, the solution is as simple as pivoting slightly to make a warm potato salad casserole. After all, baked veggie salads are popular from autumn to spring, so it's not a stretch to bake your potato salad, too. The idea is to gather most of the ingredients that go into a classic potato salad, pop them into a casserole dish instead of a serving bowl, and heat through until the potatoes are crisp on top and creamy on the bottom.

Other than temperature, the biggest difference between cold potato salad and the casserole version is the presence of cheese. While it's perfectly okay to put cheese in cold potato salad, this isn't generally the norm. In hot varieties, however, a few handfuls of a good melting cheese like shredded cheddar or Velveeta is essential to bringing everything together in a rich, gooey, delicious sauce.

Though baked potato salad does require a few extra steps than its traditional counterpart, it's still fairly simple to make and can even be made ahead of time and warmed up on game day. You can even skip boiling potatoes and use canned whole potatoes instead — just be sure to drain them well before cutting them up, as excess moisture will make your potato salad casserole watery. As with cold versions, the sauce is usually mayo-based with seasonings like black pepper and herbs, along with the aforementioned cheese.

Baking this dish also provides you with the opportunity to upgrade your potato salad with some unexpected but delicious ingredients, such as chopped onions or green bell peppers. While these ingredients might be too astringent to use raw in a cold recipe, they'll roast nicely in your casserole dish for an additional pop of flavor. If you find the combination of cheese and mayo to be too rich, try adding some tangy Dijon mustard, a few shakes of buffalo sauce, or seasonings like lemon pepper salt to wake everything up.

Since baked potato salad comes together so easily, you might find yourself with additional time to make some other easy (but seriously delicious) on-theme recipes to go with it. For instance, Philly cheesesteak sliders, or any other kind of miniature sandwich evokes the feeling of a cookout, even indoors. Add some batch cocktails and a few no-bake desserts, and you're good to go and cheer on your favorite team.