Herbed Potato Salad

Don’t you want to be the person they are searching for when someone at the BBQ asks “who made the potato salad?” I do…

 

Herbed Potato Salad is one of my favorite go-to recipes. It is simple, fresh and can be served hot or cold. Plus, I love potatoes.

If someone asked me what food I could eat for the rest of my life, it would be potatoes. They are a blank canvas waiting to be painted. And this canvas is painted with fragrant and delicious fresh herbs and garlic.

Herbed Potato Salad

Potato salads are one of those quintessential picnic foods, but there is actually a little finesse to making them and they don’t always look picture perfect.

If we are being 100% honest here, most of the images you see of perfectly sliced and cubed potatoes are parboiled (only partially cooked) so when they are tossed, they don’t dent and lose their shape.

The photos here are real- the starchy parts of the potato have come off a bit while tossing- I don’t expect them to hold their shape. And you know what, that is OKAY! I prefer soft potatoes to hard ones anyhow.

Best Potatoes for Potato Salad

Different potatoes have different starch levels and therefore some are better for different types of recipes, like Russets for baked potatoes or mashed potatoes and red for potato salad.

Red potatoes are waxy instead of starchy, which makes them ideal. Yellow fin and Yukon gold potatoes are also good picks.

Since these potatoes all have relatively thin skins that are easy to chew, it is purely personal preference whether you peel them or not.

No Mayo Potato Salad Dressing

I adore this dressing. It has no mayo and if you make a double, or even triple, batch, you can also use it to marinate chicken, pork or seafood and as a salad dressing.

It is made from leftover herbs. All the odds and ends in your vegetable crisper, even the stalks, are welcome. What you won’t find are the typical grandma style ingredients like dill pickles, relish, celery seed, garlic powder or onion powder. Nope, fresh and real for this bad boy.

You don’t have to use the exact herbs or amounts in my recipe, just wing it! Although some general amounts are listed…

Here is what we included:

• shallot (or red onion)
• garlic
• Italian flat parsley
• dill
• cilantro (can be omitted)
• white wine vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• Dijon mustard (to help emulsify)
• salt & pepper, if desired

This is my favorite recipe for a classic potato salad recipe, if that is what you are on the hunt for!

Healthy Potato Salad

Listen, I struggle to call anything healthy these days consider everyone is on a different diet. What I can say is that this has less calories and fat than a traditional creamy potato salad.

Full of antioxidant rich herbs with a light, tangy dressing, you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t like Herbed Potato Salad. Vinegar adds zing while fresh herbs balance out the flavors.

This potato salad recipe is also vegan since it uses no animal products or mayo. Mayo is not dairy, but it is an animal byproduct since it is made from eggs.

Make Ahead and Freezing

It is a made-ahead dish. While it doesn’t take much time at all to prepare, it can be (and tastes better) made up to 24 hours in advance. It lets all the flavors marry.

It can be served chilled, room temperature or even hot. Do allow it to come to temperature slightly so the olive oil has time to soften.

However, I do not recommend freezing this one. Things come out a little grainy and soggy.

What to Serve With

I first made this recipe on a trip to Turks and Caicos along with my Oven BBQ Salmon. Add a leafy green salad and you meal is all set in under 20 minutes. BAM!

But some of my other favorites include grilled lemon pepper chicken, BBQ Ribs on the grill and Turkey Zucchini Boats.

What You’ll Need:

Wood cutting board – wood won’t dull your knives like plastic and if treated properly, has natural antimicrobial properties.

Good knife – Global is my favorite! They are worth the price, I promise. I am kind of obsessed with them and store them tucked away so no one else can use them. Including hubby. Hands off my good stuff!

Good Extra Virgin Olive Oil– A good olive oil will taste like, well, olives, while a poorly made one will taste like vegetable oil. Gross. While people tend to favor Italian and Greek olive oils, I prefer to buy mine domestically.

There are some great ones out there from all over the world, but the reporting of ingredients isn’t always the same and you could find that your super expensive olive oil was actually cut with vegetable oil. 

More easy side dishes:

• Wild Rice Pilaf
• Lemon Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower 
• Almond Rice Pilaf
• Bacon Potato Salad