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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.
I did not like this potato salad recipe. I will be sticking to my family recipe.
Sorry to say I didnโt care that much for it. I missed the tang of my mayonnaise. One likes everything else though.
It was an interesting one. I never thought to add dill to my salad.
We really enjoyed this one. We left out the black olives though.
I had my 12yo help make this on his dinner day. He said he thought the dressing ingredients were an unexpected combination, yet surprisingly tasty.
I love his review! Way to go on incorporating him with dinner prep!
Delish, easy and perfect for people who donโt want the mayo
Had the potato salad as a side with chicken. Totally different type of potato salad than I’ve ever had. Really good with the texture and flavor combinations.
So delicious! We all loved it. We’ll definitely be making this again. Thank you for getting us to try something new.
This recipe is definitely a 5 star!!โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Day 3 โ๏ธ Fresh Vegan Potato Salad
I liked it. I thought it needed a little mustard. Then I read it was supposed to be included in the recipe.
This is a great side with any protein. Or just add sunflower seeds.
I enjoyed the vegan potato salad very much. The fresh dill, and spiciness of the red onions and fresh minced garlic ties all the flavors together nicely. Another win for me!!
I’m a southern gal so always mayo & mustard & eggs in our potato salad. Honestly, this was delicious and loved the fresh potato salad without mayo.
Way to step out of your comfort zone and try new things!
This is one of my favorite things ever! I did add a little tahini to the dressing, and celery seed plus red and green cabbage to make a “cole slaw potato salad” and it was perfect. The dressing is AMAZING! I don’t like vegan mayo or any mayo type dressing, so this was such a win! I loved the combo with the cole slaw factor, but also on its own ( which I made and set aside to taste without the cole slaw components ). SO HAPPY!
Wow that sounds so yummy!
Great variation of the mayo potato salad standby! I followed the recipe except used two cloves of garlic because they were large and I added salt to my dressing. I also couldn’t wait for my potatoes to get to room temp because I was starving! I think it may have been a plus that they were warm because they soaked in the dressing nicely. The leftovers will be a filling lunch tomorrow!
I love it warm!
Tasty, easy to make and was the star of dinner tonight.
Creamy and delicious! Great side dish