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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 extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp pickle juice
- 1 tbsp fresh dill stems removed + finely chopped
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- โ tsp ground turmeric
- โ black pepper
- โ 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.
This recipe is a keeper for me. I follow a vegan diet most of the time and this is the best tasting potato salad I have had that is vegan. Pickle juice was a great idea. My meat eating husband also loved it. The best part though is that it is easy to prepare.
You gotta love easy recipes!
I really enjoyed this potato salad. The only additions I made were some sea salt and a few more pickles. My kids even had a few bites and liked it! Though the pepperiness of the radish was a bit much for them. However, my husband and I loved it and will be making it again!
Score! Love when the whole family likes it!
I prepared the potato salad and dressing a few days ago. Once blended, the flavors were delicious. I used the salad as a side dish. This recipe was different than the mayo based salad I am accustomed to making. Iโll try it again.
To me, the salad was too wet. I think it would be really good with boiled egg added to it. I will make it again, though. It was really good. It was a fun twist on a classic.
I am not a recipe follower, I like to make it my wayโฆI used sweet potato as we cannot have white potatoes, cause inflammation in us, I added cauliflower, purple carrot and cucumber as well as the celery, onion, radish and dill pickle of original recipe. I did make a little dresssing with Primal Kitchen Mayo, about 2tbsp, mustard, dill, everything bagel seasoning and 1/2 tsp of honey. It was so good hard to stop at one serving. I could have done without the mayo but not my hubby just yet.
Love that you made it your own and working on moving your hubby to eat healthier. It’s the small steps that count!
I was skeptical about the ingredients in this one… but it turns out that I really enjoyed the ‘pickley’ taste of this potato salad. I did leave out the radishes…I’m not a fan. Otherwise, this is another great dish for sharing at a summer picnic. I am glad I have some leftovers for tomorrow!
Not really my favorite.
That’s ok, they can’t all be winners for everyone even thought that is what we strive for. Thanks for trying it and providing your honest feedback.
Can I just say I was kind of scared to try this potato salad during this challenge? Lol! Iโm a Pennsylvania Dutch potato salad lover or Amish- creamy, mayonnaise , and have never put any of these ingredients except dill in my salad before. But my daughter and I really enjoyed it actually! My red onion was a tad too strong, so next time Iโll use a sweet onion, but it was really good!
So happy you gave it a shot and that you both liked it!
I’m not fond of potato salads but I liked the combination of pickle, dill and dijon mustard. I’m going to try it with roasted potatoes next time.
This was so simple and so good. I love dill so this was the perfect recipe for me.
This was super yummy!! However, I will probably add more olives next time. The turmeric and paprika gave this a yummy taste!! Love this salad! Will totally make again!
I wasnโt sure about this recipe but it turned out to be pretty good. Interesting combination of ingredients but I liked it.
A little bland for my family. I made this 24-hours in advance hoping it would help flavors to all come together, but it was still just OK. We will eat it, but likely wonโt make this one again.
This was good, next time will add some garlic to the dressing, maybe a little vinegar to go with the pickle juice, I like that you can throw in extra fresh veggies if on hand.
Super tasty! I ate it warm, since I was starving, and it was amazing! It reminded me of German potato salad; I will definitely be making this again! โค๏ธ
This was not my favorite recipe. I found this potato salad recipe bland, even with the Dijon mustard. Unfortunately, the onions overwhelmed the flavors, and the olives weren’t complimentary either. But I did like trying a new recipe.