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!
Table of Contents
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.
More Scrumptious Vegan Recipes
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 potato salad, please let me know in the comments how it turned out!
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.
Nice potato salad. I added in extra pickles and olives because I’m not a fan of celery or radishes. Very filling
This salad was good, the servings amount for the dressing wasn’t enough so I adjusted it the pickle juice & oil . Next time I will try it with sweet pickles
The potato salad was simple, tasty and one I’ll use again. I did however, add 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard to the recipe.
I have never been a fan of potato salad because I’m not a fan of mayo. THIS is delicious. This screams picnic. Fresh, bright, light and the texture allows you to taste how well the flavors blend. A winner that I will be making again.
Glad you found a potato salad that you can enjoy!
Very good. Either my radish was too big or too strong. It gave a really spicy kick. My recipe did not include the Dijon mustard. I think this would have really added to the taste.
I would enjoy more pickle in it, maybe some pickle relish.
Were we supposed to cube the potatoes before or after cooking? I cooked first and the “cubes” were rather freeform.
This will be a fun recipe to play with…so many options to try. I am curious about the taste if a sweet potato is used.
I usually cube my potatoes before cooking them because it makes it easier to cut. As for the sweet potatoes, I think it could def work!
I loved this odd combo of flavors. The crunchy celery and radish against that pickle based dressing on the potatoes was awesome. Also the tumeric just hits it home. I will make this again. I don’t eat a lot of white potatoes, mostly sweet potatoes but this is a good dish.
This is a good, much-healthier option for a potato salad.
Omg! This was so amazing. It’s incredibly flavorful. So far the best salad of the challenge due to the great flavor profile. I added extra pickles cuz I love pickles and reduced the red onions by half because I abhor raw onions. I think mayo is disgusting and always look for alternatives. This fit the bill!
This was good, but had to leave out the radishes and mustard asI don’t like either
Really good! SO and I both liked it. Glad I had the foresight to double the dressing.
This potato salad was an absolute hit my husband! We will be making this again for beach day picnics and lunch must haves.
Surprisingly good-I’m not a fan of the traditional potato salad-but I liked this one.
I liked this potato salad and didn’t expect to! I am not a fan of mustard but enjoyed it in this recipe. I usually watch carbs (and wish I had remembered subbing cauliflower) so I won’t eat it a second day but it was good!
I liked this potato salad ok, but the red onions were very overwhelming for me. I think the next time I will use green onions. I did feel it need something else, so I added turkey bacon. My husband tried it. He really liked it, but also felt it needed something, so added turkey bacon to his as well. This is the very first recipe that he has ever tried with the challenges I have done. He said he would like to have this in the summer. He has never had potato salad because he doesn’t eat any condiments. He even took a big bowl for lunch today.
I’m glad it was a hit (with the addition of turkey bacon)! Green onions would be wonderful in this potato salad!
This potato salad has it all with just the right texture, crunch and flavour.
My husband liked it even though he is not a fan of pickle juice. I squeezed some fresh lemon juice on my serving for an extra splash of tang. I will make this recipe at our next bbq
It’s absolutely perfect for a BBQ!
Tasty recipe! I really loved this one. I subbed in sweet pickles for the dill pickles. Using what’s on hand. I have to say those little bites of sweet made it for me.
Keep on rawkin it!