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. 
Alyssa Ready
I expected to love this but I actually didn’t enjoy this recipe. It did not keep well at all, and even just the serving I had fresh just had a funky, off flavour.
Kate
I’m sorry to hear that! Thanks for your feedback, Alyssa.
Tarz
Loved it! Big success with friends and family at a recent gathering.
★★★★
Elizabeth Hancock
Great recipe Kathryne. I dislike mayonnaise so was happy to find this. I didn’t have parsley so I added dill and mint instead. Also for colour and nutrition I put in a kumera (if you are from New Zealand) otherwise known as sweet potato.
Thanks, Elizabeth
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome! Thanks for your review, Elizabeth!
Vanessa
2nd time making it and my family loves it! I added a little more Dijon this time and it gave a nice zippiness. Thank you, I absolutely hate mayo and this will be my go to recipe now
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great, Vanessa!
Eliana
Love this idea! Wondering how many red potatoes equal a pound? Also, if I make it the day before, will it be good to bring to a potluck the next night? Thanks so much!
Charlene Rountree
This is something new to try. I love potatoes and what’s great is that you don’t need a mayo! awesome! thanks a lot for sharing this!
Hannah
My boyfriend and I loved this recipe! Honestly the best potato salad I had ever made.
★★★★★
Heather Lampman
I’m 69 years old with high blood pressure. The sodium content in this recipe is very high. It’s a very flavorful recipe, so I doubt that it would suffer from cutting the added salt to 1 tsp rather than the 2 Tb. specified.
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Heather, yes adjust as you need to.
Elizabeth Hancock
I never add salt to my cooking.
Anu Joy
Wow I love potatoes will try this.
★★★★★
Kate
I hope you love it!
Laura
I liked this fresh version of potato salad – one happy surprise was that I made too much of the sauce and used it on some salmon for my meal and it was perfect! Will be making the sauce again, potatoes or not!
Nicole O'Driscoll
Great recipe, made it for Christmas and it was a big hit.
★★★★★
kay
I made this for our picnic and it was a delicious and healthy alternative to the usual potato salad. it was lived by all. I reduced the amount of oil as I am trying to eat less fat and it worked great. Thank you for this recipe.
★★★★★
AmyC
I just threw away a huge bowl of this. It was terrible tasting. Way too much parsley. It was the only flavor we could taste I’m not sure if I did something wrong or what. I’m sorry for the bad review, but I was sincerely disappointed in this recipe.
★
Kate
I’m sorry you didn’t love it, Amy.
Marti
I’ve made this twice now for get-togethers, and it was well-received both times. In addition to the flavors and textures, I like the simple ingredients and straight-forward preparation. It works so well for my vegetarian and non-mayo friends. Win, win!
★★★★★
Justine
This was delicious! My go-to potato salad from now on. Thank you!
★★★★★
Jeri
I have a huge bag of russet potatoes I’m trying to use up. Would I ruin the recipe if I subbed the red potatoes with russet?
Thanks
Kate
Hey Jeri! I haven’t tried. I know Russets have more starch, but I think they’d work. If they’re large potatoes, you’ll want to quarter the rounds so they’re closer in size to what a red potato would be in diameter. I know Russets work great as potato wedges, breakfast potatoes and hash browns, if you’d like to give those a try!
Noelle
Loved the recipe! I love parsley so I used extra :) it’s delicious.
★★★★★
Jodie
I am looking for a non-mayo potato salad to make ahead for a crowd of 50. Do you have any suggestions on making this potato salad ahead of time – possibly the morning of the party? Should I wait to mix the dressing with the potatoes until we are ready to serve?
Kate
Hi Jodie! The potatoes soak up the dressing when they’re warm, so I would make it as directed and refrigerate it. Before serving, perhaps stir in some chopped fresh herbs (and salt to taste) to liven it up.
Les
Very good salad. I am not vegetarian but all family love it.
★★★★★
Daniel
I made this for myself (altering the amounts/measurements) as a main course since I’m regulating my portions. Very good and satisfying.
★★★★★
Lucy Sky
Has anyone tried warming this recipe? Would it be good warm as well?
Cherie
This was more delicious than expected! I love it and plan to make again. Thank you!
★★★★★
Denise
Good stuff. I did a few things different. Added dried parsley instead of fresh. Also used white onion instead of green. Included some yellow and red peppers too. Stay at home order makes you use what you have. I was impressed that I had enough to make this and we all liked it!
★★★★