I've made veggie bacon before but I think in a recipe like this I wouuld use fake bacon bits. they hold up pretty well and will give you bacon flavor without weird chunks that could get soggy.

When I don't want to use bacon, I cook the onions in olive oil rather than bacon grease, then at the end I add chopped parsley instead of bacon pieces. It's a nice change.

eta: I always use the recipe from an old Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, sans the hard-boiled egg. I've always received good comments, so stick with it. :)

Northern German potato salad has no bacon, maybe try that instead?

Not sure about not using bacon, using the bacon and bacon fat to cook the onions celery and flour for the roux adds a lot of flavor. Baking really does help meld the flavors. But its good cold too.

This is the recipe I use.

8 cups sliced potatoes cooked (small red unpeeled)

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced onion

3 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup vinegar

1 1/2 cup water

1 cup diced bacon

Instructions

Fry bacon, and drain fat from skillet.

Return 4 tablespoon fat to skillet, and add celery, onions, flour, and salt. Cook gently.

Add sugar, vinegar, and water. Bring to a boil.

Put bacon on top of potatoes. Pour sauce over potatoes and bacon.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or put in a crock-pot until well heated.

My sister likes the Morningstar vegetarian bacon. I've used it in frittatas a few times, and it does the trick, as long as it's not the star of the dish, imo.

My family potato salad recipe is either swedish or ukraine.. but it is very similar to german in that it is an oil-vinegar dressing vs mayonnaise. The big difference is that the celery and onion are fresh, not cooked.

Personally, I would just skip the bacon vs using veggie bacon or bacon bits -- there are too many folks who are allergic to soy or who cannot eat it for health reasons.

Well I made further inquiry and it's preferred that I make a vegetarian version so I think I will try the Morningstar facon (fake bacon). I imagine I'll have to add some oil but hopefully it will have a little bacon flavor. I can't imagine German potato salad without some bacon flavor. @maddielee - that recipe sounds excellent though I'm sure it will be suboptimal with facon rather than bacon. They want something warm so crockpot would be good.

@Funkyart - DH has had a lot of potlucks and parties with his employees and no one has expressed concern about soy. It's just the one vegetarian that we try to accommodate.

Id serve real bacon, on the side?

Bobby Flay's German Potato Salad is to die for!! I think serving it room temperature or slightly warmed really enhances the flavor. Is that possible? Hopefully vegan bacon will do the trick.

Bobby Flay's German Potato Salad

I haven't in years now, but I always used to use Bac'uns for that kind of dish. They taste great and are already crumbled and crunchy like real bacon bits.

You could also use smoked salt.

Definitely use olive oil for extra richness.

I'll echo Mtn and suggest having bacon available separately on the side. That way the vegetarian is happy and those who like a bit of real bacon in their potato salad won't have to go without. Doesn't that work for everyone?

A non-vegetarian friend introduced me to Soyrizo (faux chorizo) and it works sometimes, in the right dish, and other times I go, why did I do that?

Hopefully this is already obvious, but a vegetarian would not want to eat something cooked in bacon grease as well as the bacon itself. (I am a vegetarian.) So if you opt to put in fake bacon, but still use bacon grease, make sure that the vegetarian is aware. For me personally, oils and greases from meat are likely to cause gastroinestinal problems.

I agree with Zalco/bring back Sophie!, there are such good German potato salad recipes that don't use bacon at all! I feel like the secret to success is fresh dill, red onions and dijon mustard.

I of course wouldn’t use real bacon grease. 🙂 I may consider a recipe without bacon but bacon on the side just doesn’t cut it - you need to cook the ingredients in something that tastes like bacon. I make a non-mayo potato salad with lots of dill but that’s not the kind of German potato salad I had in mind. I’ll keep looking at recipes and see what I can find now that I know vegetarian is a priority.

I’ve been using Morningstar Plant-based Bacon exclusively for at least a year now and we like it.

Okay I've decided to make maddielee's recipe with the Morningstar facon. @maddielee - compared to other recipes I've looked at yours seems to have quite a bit of sugar - lots of recipes have no sugar. Just wondering how sweet it tastes - I'm not opposed to sugar but don't want it too sweet. I can taste test before I add all the sugar but wanted to hear your opinion. I usually make potato salad with 3 lbs of small red potatoes - any idea if that's about 8 cups?

I’ve never cut back on the sugar, as written its a nice sweet/sour combination. Tangy. By all means try less and taste to see if it works for you.

Yes, 3 lbs. is close enough to work in this recipe.

Good luck. I hope it works without real bacon.

too bad Impossible bacon hasn't hit the market yet. BUT... coming soon so keep your eye out for future recipe plans! their ground "beef" is so good, I can't wait to try anything new they put out.

Wow - the plant bacon was hard to find - had to hit four different stores before I finally found it.