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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 followed the recipe as instructed since I like all the ingredients but was a bit skeptical about a no Mayo dressing and may I say that it tastes so very good even though I not a fan of turmeric. I will leave it out next time to taste the difference. The family really liked the salad and Iโm sure it will taste better tomorrow since I made enough for the flavors to intensify and enjoy it.
I made mine a couple days ago and it was very flavorful today.
Salad Challenge: Day 3. Although definitely edible, I found this salad a bit bland. Itโs true I didnโt use the red onions out of personal preference, which might have kicked it up a notch. Some extra salt and pepper helped. Also I didnโt measure the potatoes, so I may have used too many in proportion to other ingredients. And as somebody pointed out, Dijon mustard which was not on the mailout recipe, might have made a difference.
THIS! IS! SO! GOOD! I loved this potato salad! I loved the pickle flavors!
Whoo hoo! Yay for pickles!!
Salad Challenge: Day 3. Although definitely edible, I found this salad a bit bland. Itโs true I didnโt use the red onions out of personal preference, which might have kicked it up a notch. Some extra salt and pepper helped. Also I didnโt measure the potatoes, so I may have used too many in proportion to other ingredients.
So glad to get this recipe. I do not like “regular” potato salad with all the mayonnaise. This was fresh & tasty! I will use less oil next time but really liked the dill & radishes.
You can def always add extra seasonings and/or dressing if you find it too bland. We want this to work for you! Way to go for trying it!
Looks fantastic and smells delicious. I made a few changes- basil instead of dill and red peppers.
This salad size fit us today!
It was ok, however for our tastes I ended up adding mustard, vinegar and a bit of parsley. I guess we perfer more kick.
This was quite a different approach to my usual potato salad. I liked it okay but it is not my favorite new recipe.
Day3 -Potato Salad was Wonderful / you can Taste Everything – Very Refreshing – NO more Mayo!
Iโll be making this Forever!
Love vinegar mustard potato salad. Thinking this will become a favorite. Full of flavors with significant less calories. Added more vegetables and spice to mine.
I’m glad it is a forever-recipe for you now!
I subbed cauliflower for the potatoes since I forgot to buy some and have to say it was delicious. Iโm not sure Iโll try it with potatoes since it was that good! The dill and pickles added amazing flavor.
I have to admit I am more a traditional potato salad gal but with extra pickles and dill, this was a great substitute! I also added some sweet potatoes and threw the whole potato salad into my salad for lunch with some arugula and barbecue soy curls. All together, it was delicious!
Sweet potatoes are a great idea! Yum!
Great idea!
Made this Tuesday night so all the flavors would have time to come together. I know potato salad always tastes better after it sits a day or two. Found it to be quite dry and a little bland. I added a bit more dill pickle juice and it helped some. Then I saw someoneโs post that said the downloaded recipe was missing the Dijon mustard as one of the dressing ingredients. I just KNEW it was missing something!! Iโm adding it now and maybe that will make it better.
Sorry about that, Cindy! I hope adding the Dijon mustard helps!
I like this one so far the best, I like the dressing, delicious
I loved this new take on potato salad. I’ll have to play around with the type of pickles I use (I used fresh ones this time, not canned, and it wasn’t as strong as I wanted), but loved it.
Tasty salad. I heated it slightly before serving.
Yum! This is so good! I am a southern gal (Atlanta Native). Just like southern potato salad – have tried the others. I added some chopped green onions I had. I microwaved the golden potatoes. (I usually do that anyway!) This is so good! I will make this for a family get together or pot luck!
Great ideas, bring on summer family get togethers!
so yummy! We enjoyed it for lunch and will make it again soon. I love the dill pickles in it as I have not eaten potato salad like this before without the mayo or miracle whip dressing. The radishes and celery give it a nice crunch which is what I like.
Loved this potato salad, and so easy to make.