The trouble with potato salad is that it’s hard to make on a whim.

The time needed to cook the potatoes — never mind if you want to add hard-boiled eggs and bacon — makes potato salad a poor accompaniment to otherwise speedy dinners of burgers and dogs.

But there is a way to have fast, great-tasting potato salad without resorting to the tubs of goopy ready-to-eat stuff in your grocer’s prepared foods section. And the solution starts in the same aisle.

Many grocers sell containers of roasted potato wedges right alongside their rotisserie chickens or in their deli case. These make an excellent base for a potato salad, especially if they come preseasoned with herbs or garlic.

To solve the hard-boiled egg problem, head to the dairy and egg area. Near the cartons of egg substitutes you’ll often find bags of ready-to-eat hard-boiled, peeled eggs.

And don’t feel like getting out the skillet to do bacon? Most grocers now sell a variety of precooked bacon right alongside the conventional varieties. The flavor isn’t as intense, but it works for a salad such as this.

With the three time-consuming components of potato salad taken care of, the rest is easy. Dice some vegetables, add the dressing of your choice and garnish as desired.

This recipe uses a dressing blend of mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup, which provides a tangy-sweet flavor.

No-cook potato salad

Start to finish: 15 minutes

Servings: 6

3⁄4 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons juices from a jar of bread and butter pickles

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1⁄2 cup diced bread and butter pickles

1 cup diced celery

1 small red onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

21⁄2 pounds purchased roasted potato chunks, cooled

4 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

4 strips cooked bacon, crumbled

Pinch smoked paprika

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup and pickle juice. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the diced pickles, celery, onion and red pepper. Add the potatoes and toss well to mix. Add the reserved dressing and mix to coat all ingredients well.

Add the eggs and half of the bacon, then mix well. Garnish with remaining crumbled bacon and a sprinkle of paprika. Refrigerate or serve immediately.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: J.M. Hirsch can be e-mailed at jhirsch(at)ap.org.