Yuca Salad with Bacon and Mustard

If you love a good German potato salad, this Yuca Salad with Bacon and Mustard might just be your new favorite. Swapping the potatoes for tender yuca and adding sofrito gives this dish a bold Puerto Rican twist. It's hearty, vibrant, and perfect for grilling season or your next family cookout.

This salad sits at the intersection of two beloved vinegar-based traditions: the warm, bacon-forward German potato salad from Southern Germany and the tangy, olive oil-kissed escabeche of Puerto Rican cuisine. Both rely on vinegar to do the heavy lifting, brightening, preserving, and bringing all the flavors into focus.

Yuca with Bacon and Mustard is a great addition to your side dish and salad collection. For other Puerto Rican side dishes and salads, try Guineitos en Escabeche, Arroz Amarillo, and Puerto Rican Mofongo. Although this salad is not a traditional Puerto Rican side dish, it works great served alongside Pollo Asado, Instant Pot Pernil, and Biftec Encebollado.

Why you'll love this recipe

• Easy: This recipe can be ready in less than 30 minutes.
• Crowd pleaser: Whether you're bringing it to a cookout, a holiday spread, or a casual weekend dinner, this salad is always a conversation starter.
• Serve warm or cold: This salad works great served immediately warm or chilled overnight; the flavors deepen the next day beautifully.
• One pan: the dressing comes together in the same skillet as the bacon, with minimal cleanup.

What is Yuca?

Yuca, also known as cassava, has been a staple of Caribbean and Latin American cuisine for thousands of years, long before European contact. Indigenous communities across the Americas cultivated it as a primary food source, and it remains central to Puerto Rican cooking to this day.

It's worth noting that yuca comes in two varieties, bitter and sweet. The bitter variety contains naturally occurring cyanogenic compounds and requires extensive processing before it is safe to eat. The sweet yuca found in grocery stores and markets is the domesticated variety and is perfectly safe to cook and consume as you would any root vegetable.

Ingredient Notes

• Yuca: Yuca is the star of this recipe and the star of many Puerto Rican dishes. Its natural starchiness allows it to soak up the warm dressing without falling apart.
• Bacon: The flavor driver for this salad. Crispy bits of bacon add a smoky, chewy contrast to every bite, and the rendered fat becomes the base of the dressing.
• Mustard: Mustard acts as the binder and emulsifier in this recipe, holding the dressing together while balancing the richness of the bacon and the sharpness of the vinegar.

See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.

Top Tip

Yuca has a fibrous membrane running through its core that must be removed before eating. It is tough, stringy, and difficult to digest. Cutting the yuca into larger sections before boiling makes it much easier to spot and pull out cleanly after cooking.

How to make Yuca Salad with Bacon and Mustard

1. Step 1: Cut the ends of the yuca into 2-3" rounds. This will make removing the inner membrane easier later. To peel it, cut a slit down the side, then use the knife blade to pry the skin off the yuca. The skin should peel off quite easily.

2. Step 2: The yuca should be bright white. If you see flakes of black or dark stains, do not use the yuca. Frozen yuca can be used for consistency.

3. Step 3: Cutting the yuca in half will help with cooking through and removing the membrane later.

4. Step 4: The yuca is cooked when a fork pierces it and slides off easily.

5. Step 5: Cut the yuca into bite-sized pieces, then reserve them warm by placing the yuca in a stainless steel bowl over the pot of steamy hot water.

6. Step 6: Start making the dressing by rendering the bacon.

7. Step 7: Remove the bacon and reserve.

8. Step 8: Sauté the shallots and garlic in the rendered bacon fat.

9. Step 9: Add the mustard and sauté until lightly caramelized to enhance the flavors.

10. Step 10: Add the vinegar, bacon bits, and a pinch of sugar to make the dressing.

11. Step 11: Add the yuca and toss to soak in the dressing.

12. Step 12: Add the sofrito and incorporate. Serve warm.

Expert Tips

• Don't skip the slow rendering of the bacon. Low and slow renders more fat and produces crispier bits, both of which make the dressing better.
• Keep the yuca warm. Warm yuca absorbs the dressing much better than cold yuca. Here are a few practical ways to do that:
  • Make the dressing before cooking the yuca.
  • Place the cooked yuca in a 200°F oven while you prepare the dressing.
  • Cover the yuca with a kitchen towel while making the dressing.
  • Microwave for a few seconds, then toss in the vinaigrette.
• Caramelize the mustard. Giving the mustard 30-60 seconds in the hot fat before adding the vinegar significantly deepens its flavor.
• Storage:
  • Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The flavors continue to develop overnight.
  • Reheating: Reheat gently in a skillet over low heat with a splash of vinegar to refresh the dressing.

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