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 potato salad recipe only using fresh herbs, mustards and olive oil to bring color and flavor to your next BBQ.
It’ll wow your tastebuds, trust me!
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 Recipe
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.
Easy 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.
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.
FAQs
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.
Fresh Vegan Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 lbs small potatoes chopped into 1/2″ cubes
- ¼ cup fresh dill stems removed + finely chopped
- ½ cup red onions diced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ½ cup black olives sliced
- 2 radishes halved and thinly sliced
- ¼ cup dill pickles diced (Claussen are my go-to)
Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp pickle juice
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- black pepper to taste
- 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
More Scrumptious Vegan Recipes
I’ve got so many great vegan recipes you can share at your next backyard BBQ. From side dishes to mains, pick the flavors that you want and get cookin’:
- Cauliflower Buffalo Wings
- Vegan Coleslaw
- Avocado Caprese Salad
- Black bean burgers
- Homemade Hummus
- BBQ Jackfruit Tacos
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Roasted Cabbage
Don’t forget to make this vegan potato salad and let me know in the comments how it turned out!
This potato salad is a nice change from a creamy dressing and a good side dish for a BBQ event. Adding Dijon mustard is a must to amp up the flavour and if you can get home made dill pickles, even better! I gave it four stars as I still prefer a creamy vegan dressing made with avocado.
Potatoes are a comfort food for me, one of my favorites! Potatoes of any kind and this recipe was a hit with my tastebuds!
Great recipe! Didn’t miss the usual Mayo based dressing at all. Loved the Mediterranean taste to it. Delicious!
This was an interesting version of a potato salad. I loved my mom’s potato salad growing up with mayo, eggs, celery, pickles and her special seasoning…. it was soooo good. I did like this version but to say this will no be my go to potato salad I’m not sure. I like real mayo based potato salad but this will definitely be placed in my salad tool box.
this is great! much better than mayo based and Vegan! the whole family loved it. thank you
Love that the whole family tried it and loved it!
This will be my go to salad when making potatoe salad. I had it with a sandwich (used cashew cream on the sandwich.) The salad was delicious. Enjoyed the olives (again) along with all the other flavors. I think I will add more pickle and onion next time.
Way to use your cashew cream!
I liked the crunchy vegetables with the soft potatoes but the overall flavors didn’t come together for me when I ate it.
I’m so glad you tried it, keep on rawkin it!
The recipe in the challenge booklet left out the Dijon. I was also in a rush and left out the dill and radish. The Dijon definitely makes a difference since I was missing a “dressing.”
Yes I love it with the Dijon as well!
My hubby absolutely loved this salad. We will make it a weekly staple. Thank you!
This was a nice refreshing potatoe salad. Easy to make. Already had all the ingredients on hand from our regular shopping. Got a thumbs up from the family. Would make again.
This was a fun take on potato salad. I enjoyed it as a main dish by adding a boiled egg.
I made it exactly as the recipe called for and loved it. It tasted so fresh. My hubby thought it was a little dry but he’s used to a ton of mayo on his.
My family, friend and I all really liked this potato salad so much that we ate more than one serving. I seldom make a recipe without changing something but the only thing I did with this was to use a leek instead of the green onions since it was what I had and shallots instead of regular onion. Both we sauted since we don’t do well with raw ones. We did add salt.
Sounds so yummy! Great idea on sautéing the shallots and leeks before adding to the salad.
I really liked the potato salad. I only made 1 lb of potatoes but used all the dressing and it was perfect. Of course, my husband didn’t like it because it wasn’t swimming in Miracle Whip.
I’m so glad he is at least trying it! That’s the first step. Way to go!
This wasn’t bad; the next time I make it, I will probably make more dressing & increase the dill pickles and juice to give it more zing.
I love that this does not have mayo in it. I expected it to be a bit dry, since there wasn’t any mayo, but it wasn’t. I ate it while it was still warm and it was delicious. Will keep this recipe handy.
Another winner from Simple Green Smoothies! Loved the hit of dill and I added a bit of chopped pickled jalapeño peppers because I love heat and thought I’d surprise the family! So good!
The potato salad was good but we did make some adjustments. For us we needed some salt. I added Slavo garlic salt. Also my husband wanted it creamier so I used the leftover cashew cream, added mustard and then mixed it into the salad. It came out really good! It was nice to know I can eat potato salad that is still healthy!
Totally love the idea of adding some cashew cream. It seriously goes on just about anything!