I never truly loved a potato salad, until I made this one. This potato salad recipe is a riff on classic French potato salads, which contain no mayo and lots of herbs. I opted for lemon juice instead of vinegar for a super fresh-tasting salad.
Unlike standard potato salads that are drenched in mayonnaise, this red potato salad is lightly creamy yet miraculously mayo-free. This potato salad recipe is special diet friendly, too. It’s vegan, egg-free, dairy-free and gluten-free for all to enjoy.
Can I go ahead and call it the perfect potluck potato salad?
This potato salad is for my fellow last-minute people. When you’re scrambling to make yourself look decent, trying to scrounge together a side dish worth sharing, and letting the dog out all at the same time… Potato salad to the rescue!
This recipe is surprisingly simple and quick to make. I hope this potato salad becomes your go-to potluck recipe, as well as a standard side dish at your dinner table. It goes great with burgers, sandwiches, and much more.
Potato Salad Tips
After some trial and error, I’ve discovered some key tips to making great potato salad.
- To make the best mayo-free potato salad, reserve some potato cooking water before draining the potatoes. Then, blend the herbs and olive oil with the starchy reserved water. You’ll end up with a creamy emulsification that infuses the potatoes with fresh flavor.
- Another trick is to slice your potatoes before boiling, rather than afterward. That way, the potatoes don’t break down into mush when you’re tossing the salad later. Plus, your potatoes cook faster this way (five minutes!). We can thank the experts at America’s Test Kitchen for this technique.
Please let me know how you like this potato salad in the comments! I love to hear from you.
Looking for more fresh side dishes? You’ll find more side dish recipes here. Here are a few that would go well with this potato salad:
Watch How to Make Potato Salad
Herbed Potato Salad
- Author:
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 side servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: French
This healthy potato salad recipe is full of fresh flavor. It’s mayo-free, easy to make, and sure to be a hit at your potluck! This salad is vegan, egg free and gluten free. Recipe yields 6 side servings.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds small red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped, plus about 2 tablespoons more for garnish
- ⅓ cup roughly chopped green onions, plus about 2 tablespoons thinly sliced for garnish
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
Instructions
- In a large saucepan or Dutch oven combine sliced potatoes and salt. Cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook until potatoes are easily pierced by a paring knife and pulled out with little resistance, about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Reserve ¼ cup cooking water, then drain. Transfer the potatoes to a large mixing bowl.
- In a small food processor or blender, combine the olive oil, ⅓ cup parsley, ⅓ cup green onions, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic and freshly ground black pepper. Process until the herbs and garlic have been chopped into little pieces. Then, while running the food processor, pour in the reserved cooking water and process just until blended. (If you don’t have a food processor or blender, just finely chop the parsley and onions and whisk the dressing together until the oil is fully incorporated.)
- Drizzle the potatoes with the herbed olive oil mixture and gently mix to combine. (It will look like you’ve poured in too much dressing, but don’t worry, the potatoes will soak it up!) Let the potatoes rest for ten minutes, gently tossing every few minutes.
- Add the celery to the bowl, along with a couple tablespoons each of additional chopped parsley and green onions. Toss again. Season generously to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve. This salad is best served within a few hours, but will keep in the refrigerator for about three days.
Notes
Recipe roughly adapted from America’s Test Kitchen’s The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook and The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon.
Suggested equipment: I love my 11-cup Cuisinart food processor (affiliate link).
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Ilona
Made this today exactly as written, my 3yo loved helping me with it and found the bright green color of the dressing hilarious! :D No vegans here but I was looking for a light, springtime-ish side dish to go with some grilled salmon and it was fabulous! Love from the Netherlands :) :)
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great! I’m glad your kid enjoyed it. Thank you for taking time to review, Ilona!
Katharine
Wow. This is phenomenal! I used fresh chives from my garden instead of green onion and still perfection. Best potato salad.
★★★★★
Kate
Sounds just perfect! I love the home gardening addition. Thank you for your review, Katharine!
Anne
Great and easy recipe! Would be good with any number of fresh spring veg instead of or in addition to the celery (blanched asparagus, peas, etc). Perfect for hot weather, quick to make and has a refreshing taste.
★★★★★
Kate
Yes! Great for warmer weather, Anne. Thank you for sharing.
RF
I didn’t have parsley, so I used kale. I also threw in some chives from the yard. Totally worked!
★★★★
Kate
I’m happy it worked out, RF! Thank you for your review.
Marie Gauthier
Wonderful, versatile recipe. I needed to use up veggies in my fridge, so I ended up with a mix of potatoes, broccoli, sweet potato, carrots, and some asparagus. It made a huge bowl, so I adjusted the other ingredients except for the salt, which I actually cut in half. Excellent results.
★★★★★
Amy
I have an abundance of Yukon potatoes from the garden, do you think that would be an okay replacement for red potatoes?
Kate
They tend to cook differently, so you may need to adjust the time here. Let me know how it turns out. I find red work the best.
Dorothy Pickles
I love this dish. We are improvising our next batch adding cilantro to the dressing and adding more lemon.
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great to hear, Dorothy! Thank you for you review.