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. 
Meri Schroeder
A healthier alternative to potato salad, and a wonderful way to use fresh summertime herbs. I also used fresh chives (as other people said they did in the comments) since that’s what I had on hand, but also added a little red onion to the dressing.
★★★★
Wendy
Hi , cooked potatoes. Does dressing go on warm potatoes? And if we are not eating for 2 days should I put dressing on warm potatoes or keep separate till we are ready to eat? Any difference in putting on right away or waiting 2 days? Thank you! Looks delicious!!!
★★★★
Kate
Hi! This is best adding on as stated when the potatoes are still warm. I hope you enjoyed it!
Ellen Friedman
Easy and delicious as promised!
★★★★★
Steph
Another winner! This is my new go to potato salad. Took some inspiration from others and added some fresh dill, garlic scapes ( in lieu of garlic) and kale from the garden. Maybe we should call this the green goddess potato salad?
★★★★★
Kate
I’m excited you love it! Thank you for sharing, Steph.
Helen
OMG. Fabulous. Made exactly as written. LOVE!!!!
★★★★★
Katriona Brownlow
Just the best summer potato salad ever! So versatile with whatever fresh herbs are in the garden. It always gets rave reviews! Thanks Kate, from another ‘Kate’
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you love it, Katriona! I appreciate your review.
Mary Helen Z
We made this for the first time today. We used chives, fresh dill and fresh cilantro instead of parsley. The celery added a perfect crunch. I threw in a tablespoon of capers. My husband kept sampling it and declared it his new favorite!
Thanks
★★★★★
Kate
I love to hear that, Mary! Thank you for your review.
Ingrid Benn
I love how easy the recipe is to make and that it’s egg and mayo free. I used regular russet potatoes and cut them in chunks. Not as pretty as it would have been with the red ones. Nevertheless, tasted great, still looked good with all the parsley & green onions and my husband and I really enjoyed it. We had leftover the next day and added a bit more mustard and some sweet pickle with its juice for sweetness and liked that too. Great recipe! Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Ingrid! I appreciate your review.
Tiffany
LOVE LOVE this recipe! It’s perfectly delish. I brought it to a potluck at the beginning of the summer and friends were raving over it. We are about to have another potluck and they are requesting it! Thanks for the yummy recipe :)
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Tiffany! Thank you for your review.
lin
Are green onions spring onions?
Kate
Similar and should work ok if you don’t have access to green onions.
Hopkintonrunner
I have Yukon gold potatoes from my garden. Can I use them instead of red potatoes? Does the sliced method work o4 are the potatoes too creamy?
Kate
You can try it, but it may not turn out the same due to their consistency. Let me know what you think!
Lorraine Ouimet
Wondering if I could add some lentils to make this salad into a meal?
Bonnie
Thank you for sharing this!
I didn’t have parsley but did have some wild arugula with a bite that I chopped up and used instead. I also added fresh broccoli to the dressing along with adding some to the potatoes as they were in the final stages of cooking along with some sliced red onions.
Such a nice change.
I was so happy with the end results, as was everyone else!
★★★★★
Lorraine
Sweet Lord this is Delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved it! Thank you for your review, Lorriane.