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Potatoes are a staple at my family gatherings in one form or another. Cheesy potatoes at Thanksgiving and Christmas, baked potatoes loaded with chili for Halloween, and the ever present potato salad at all summer events. I’ve never been a fan of any kind of mayo… so I took up the challenge to make a vegan dill potato salad recipe only using fresh dill, creamy mustards and olive oil to bring color and flavor to your next BBQ.
What Makes this Potato Salad Vegan?
Traditional potato salad has eggs either in the mayonnaise or hard boiled in the salad itself. My potato salad swaps the mayo for a delicious olive oil + mustard blend dressing, and loads up on fresh veggies.
Switching from a mayonnaise base to an olive oil one also lightens up the salad a bit. I find mayonnaise-based dishes are fairly heavy, while this lovely recipe remains light and bright… plus, it’s just SO colorful without that white sauce covering everything up!
Tips for Vegan Potato Salad
What are your must-have ingredients for potato salad? Mine include dill pickles, fresh dill, and black olives… because those were always in the salads of my childhood. Yet the original salads from my childhood weren’t vegan, so I love the new take this vegan potato salad recipe has on the classic dish.
I don’t peel the red potatoes for my salad, as boiling them with the skin on helps retain more nutrients. Dijon mustard elevates the flavor in this recipe, so that is my go-to in the dressing.
Potato Salad Ingredient Swaps
- I love recipes where I can easily sub in what I have on hand, and this potato salad is just such a recipe. If radishes aren’t your thing, then swap them with diced cucumbers or corn to keep in a bit of fresh crunch.
- If you really want the feel of a traditional potato salad, then swap in a vegan mayonnaise. These tend to be more processed, yet can give you the feel of enjoying your family’s fav old recipe and that extra creaminess.
- The pop of color in the red potatoes is super fun, yet feel free to use any potato you want (Yukon golds work great too!). If you really want a fresh change up, try using a white sweet potato… and then let me know how it turns out!
- While I love using Claussen pickles for this recipe, I bet a lot of you have great local options you might prefer. I’m a true pickle lover, so tell me your fav kind and I’ll give it a try. For a less vinegary taste, try sweet pickles.
More Scrumptious Vegan Side Dishes
I’ve got so many great vegan salads and side dishes you can share at your next backyard BBQ. Just pick the flavors that you want and get choppin’:
If you make this vegan dill potato salad, please let me know in the comments how it turned out!
Vegan Dill Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups golden potatoes chopped into 1/2″ cubes
- 2 tbsp red onions diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 tbsp black olives sliced
- 1 radish halved and thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp dill pickles diced
Dressing
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp pickle juice
- 1 tbsp fresh dill stems removed + finely chopped
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- â…› tsp ground turmeric
- â…› black pepper
- â…› smoked paprika
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a large pot with cold water. Bring to boil then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until fork-tender. Drain the potatoes, set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, mix all dressing ingredients together.
- Add the potatoes and remaining vegetables and herbs into the dressing and stir well.
- Garnish with radishes and paprika.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Vegan Dill Potato Salad Common Questions
Traditional potato salad has eggs in it, either in the mayonnaise or hard boiled. My potato salad swaps the mayo for a delicious olive oil based dressing, and loads up on fresh veggies.
I’ve had it both ways! The potatoes are cooked, yet I like mine to chill a bit in the fridge before serving. Honestly, letting the salad refrigerate overnight before serving will bring out the best flavor.
I love using red potatoes. They are super easy to slice up, and taste delicious. You can also use Yukon Gold potatoes for a buttery taste.
I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe and loved how the flavors all blended together. Much lighter than the mayo laden potato salads. Will definitely make this one again!
My comment keeps disappearing, but this is a comfort salad! Love it!
I have never been a huge potato salad person and was quite pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this salad, especially since it’s a no mayo salad. I liked the blend of flavors and the use of actual dill pickles! I loved the crunchy textures as well. Will make this again.
I definitely liked the pickles taste with the rest of veggies and well I mixed it altogether without letting the potatoes cool so the radish, garlic and onions became a little cooked. Ha ha I can only blame migraine pill fuzzy brain. Well since I’m diabetic I can only eat about a cup at a time .
Unique ingredients to add – black olives and radish – so fun to try something different! Loved it! and great left over.
It’s ridiculously good! I used cashew cream in place of olive oil since I avoid oils. I love how quick this recipe is.
Potato Salad
I do love potato salad but I seldom make it. This one is delicious — I used cucumbers instead of pickles and no oil in the dressing. I added an Italian balsamic vinegar too.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this salad (just cause I’m not a potato salad person) but it was good! I will make this at a potluck next time. All the ingredients complimented each other. I used Dutch Yellow Baby Potatoes btw.
Made this as written. I liked it. My grandson said it was good although he usually doesn’t like potato salad. I usually don’t either…
I have never made potato salad before and the ingredients sounded a little strange but I actually thought it was tasty. I would make it again. I didn’t have fresh dill so I substituted 1 tsp dried for the tablespoon of fresh and I left out the olives. I let it sit overnight before eating and had it cold. Thanks for this new recipe!
It’s delicious. My 16 year old son enjoyed it too. I have only made potato salad a few times in the past because I thought it time consuming and unhealthy. But this recipe went together quickly. I did make a couple changes by eliminating the oil and using capers/juice in place of the pickles/juice because I had capers on hand. This one is a keeper, and I will be making potato salad more often now.
I have to add to my prior review. Left overs were great warmed up in the microwave then put over mixed green. Just warm not hot really brought out the flavors.