Forget Bacon, Use This Meaty Ingredient For Cookout-Worthy Potato Salad

There are lots of ways to upgrade a classic potato salad recipe, and adding a meaty touch with chopped bacon is a popular choice. But bacon has been done. A lot. Luckily, it isn't your only option. The next time you want to give your potato salad a meaty upgrade, don't bother with that breakfast staple. Instead, crack open a can of Spam for something tasty and different that leaves other potato salads tasting sad and blah. Spam makes everything from sandwiches to fried rice taste amazing, and its salty, meaty flavor will do the same for potato salad.

Adding Spam to your potato salad is simple — it's just like adding bacon. But unlike bacon, which has to be cooked before you can use it, Spam comes fully cooked, so if you are in a rush, all you have to do is open the can and chop it up into any size pieces you want. Larger pieces will give you meatier bites while smaller ones will spread more evenly throughout so you get consistent meatiness with your potatoes. That doesn't mean you can't cook Spam though. Cooking Spam will give you a Maillard reaction that caramelizes the surface to add extra flavor and crispiness, both of which will make each bite of potato salad even more exciting.     

Spam often gets overlooked, but it's a canned meat that actually deserves a place in your pantry. It is inexpensive, shelf-stable, and lets you create a flavorful meal in a pinch. From the popular Hawaiian snack, Spam musubi (a delicious Hawaiian specialty of grilled Spam on a patty of rice wrapped in seaweed), to fried Spam and eggs, it is known for its powerfully good salty-savory flavor — especially if you fry it first. Plus, it comes in a variety of flavors, so you've got plenty of options for making your potato salad stand out, giving it another edge over bacon.

Spam Classic is a simple choice because it's packed full of familiar flavor, but you can also get a low sodium or a lite version that has less salt, fewer calories, and less fat. But beyond classic versions, the different flavors Spam comes in lets you create amazing potato salad recipes. Try the jalapeño or hot & spicy varieties if you want to give your salad a spicy kick. Flavors like teriyaki, gochujang, Korean BBQ, and Japanese BBQ sauce give you great Asian-inspired flavors, while hickory smoke will lend a smokiness to balance out the creaminess of the potato salad. And if you really want to put bacon in your potato salad, you can use Spam made with real Hormel bacon. There's even Spam tocino seasoning, a variety that includes a Filipino spice blend to create a sweet and meaty combination. You can take your potato salad in so many different directions with Spam.