Loaded Baked Potato Salad

In keeping with my no-bake summer tradition (except on the days that don't get out of the 70s :)), I decided to make a potato salad.  When I told my husband what we would be having for dinner that night, he did a double-take when I said potato salad. 

See, I'm not a huge fan of potato salad.  Mostly because I don't like mayonnaise much.  So I never made potato salad.  But, while perusing Pinterest one day, I came across this recipe.  And it looked interesting.  So I decided to try it.

Just so you know, I liked it.  I wish I'd had all the ingredients (I was lacking the chives and the cilantro) just so I could taste it as it was written.  But I was too lazy to walk to the garden and clip chives.  And my THRIVE Cilantro hadn't arrived yet (it came later that evening), and I don't like wasting fresh cilantro, so I don't buy the fresh stuff anymore.  Thus, I made the potato salad without those two things.  In the future, I will be sure to add them.  Because I'm pretty sure they would only make it more awesome.

To be fair, I'll also include my husband's opinion.  When he got home that night, he said, "So this is potato salad?"  Hahaha.  Well, he is used to his mom's potato salad, which has egg and black olives and pickles in it.  Her potato salad is good.  I like that she doesn't use much mayonnaise.  But I tried something new.  And my sweetie wasn't expecting that.  He said, "It's not bad, it's just not what I was expecting."

I think my favorite part was the ranch dip dry mix sprinkled on the potatoes after boiling.  Just gave them an awesome flavor!  And I only used 1/2 a packet, rather than the full packet called for in the original recipe.  So, without further ado, here's the recipe as I made it:

6 medium baking potatoes (4 peeled, 2 with skin on), cut into 1" chunks
1/2 package ranch dip mix
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 teaspoons cilantro (I omitted)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup to 1/3 cup bacon bits
2 tablespoons chopped chives (I omitted)
garlic powder to taste
pepper to taste

Cover potatoes in a pot with about 1" water.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer.  Cook about 10 minutes or until fork tender. 

Spread out on a baking sheet and sprinkle immediately with ranch.  With a spoon, turn potatoes over and try to stir them together to evenly coat with ranch mix.  Allow them to cool (either on the counter or in the refrigerator).

In a large bowl, mix together sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, cilantro, garlic powder, pepper.  When potatoes are cool, add them to the sour cream mixture and mix well to coat potatoes.  Stir in cheddar cheese and bacon bits.  Sprinkle with chives.  Enjoy!