Herbed Potato Salad (no mayo!)
This healthy potato salad recipe is full of fresh flavor. It's mayo-free and so easy to make. It'll be a big hit at your next party! Vegan and egg free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
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
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).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Could one use curly parsley?
Could can if needed, flat works best here.
What would you recommend to replace the celery? I’m allergic.
You can just omit, if you like. Or add some more onion.
Perfect timing for this salad, Kate! I’m making some veggie burgers this Memorial weekend and this will be the absolute perfect side, along with your Simple Healthy Coleslaw. It’s going to be a very chilly, cloudy Memorial Day here in Southern California, but I can’t let that stop me, right?!
Have a great long weekend yourself.
This will be the perfect side and I love the slaw, too. Thank you for sharing! Let me know what you think of it.
Exactly what I’ve been craving and I received some potatoes yesterday in my CSA. THANK YOU
You’re welcome, Sarah!
We avoid mustard (mustard allergy). Do you recommend subbing anything instead of the Dijon, or just skipping? I usually skip if it’s not a main ingredient, but always struggle with dressings that include mustard. Thank you!
Hello, love your recipes.
My husband doesn’t eat celery, what would you suggest I substitute it with please ?
You can just leave it out. You could add more of the other herbs if you like to make-up some of the flavor.
I’ve made this recipe several times but never commented, so I decided to finally rate it since I saw you reposted it! It’s one of my favourite vegan summer side dishes. I like vegan mayo, but this is really so much healthier, fresher and herby-er than mayo filled potato salad.
Thanks for commenting, Hayley!
Can the Herbed Potato Salad (no Mayo!) be made with Sweet Potatoes/Yams? Any modifications to the recipe? Any suggestions?
Thanks!
That’s and interesting idea! I’m not sure the sweeter flavor of the sweet potatoes with this dressing combination. Let me know if you try it!
Hi! How would this work if I cook the potatoes and assemble the olive oil mixture the day before, and put it all together just before serving?
I haven’t tried it. You will want the potatoes to be slightly warm still to allow the dressing to really marinate and coat the potatoes evenly.
Hi there!
Next sunday I will smash my potatoes! The leftovers will easily make their way into your ” Potato Salad”! Sounds good, but maybe some more herbs might be beneficial! I am growing – besides parsley – epazote, thyme and rosemary – oregano might be an option! One can never have enough herbs! I love cultivating and using them for my cooking!
Best regards,
Stefan
Thank you, Stefan.
I found a recipe similar to this a few years ago that included blanched green beans. It is a go to when the green beans in my garden are in season. I am sure it would work equally well in your recipe so I will give it a try when they begin producing in a few weeks.
Thanks for sharing, Sandra!
Delicious. I didn’t have green onion but I did have Vidalia and used that. Using the potato water is clever. And knowing that initially it’s a little soupy was helpful. Thanks!
You’re welcome, Betheny!
This looks wonderful but I need to find a way around the olive oil which I have given up to be heart healthy…. I love potato salad! Beautiful photography!
Thank you, Olwyn!
Just made your potato salad without Mayo! It is so good, can’t wait for the BBQ to be read. I didn’t have the green onions but I did have fresh Chives and it was just fine. Roll on BBQ !
Hooray! Thanks, Dj for sharing.
My family has made a similar version of this recipe for years that has more olive oil and uses chicken stock, celery seed and yellow onion in the dressing. I am wanting to reduce the amount of oil that I am using, so your recipe intrigued me. I combined aspects of my family’s recipe with yours and had a wonderfully light salad.
I cooked the potatoes in reduced sodium chicken broth instead of water, to give additional flavor. Because of using the chicken broth, I did not add the 1 Tbsp of salt that your recipe calls for. Just personal preference.
I only used 1/8th cup of EVOO in the dressing and added 1/8th cup of low sodium chicken broth to make up the difference of the 1/4 cup of EVOO called for (a little trick I’ve been using for a couple of months now with great success! – half EVOO and half low sodium chicken or vegetable broth!). I also added about 2 tsp of celery seed and 1/2 – 1 tsp of celery salt to the dressing mix. All the other ingredients in your recipe I followed as written.
I think I’ve found my new Summer Potato Salad. Thank you for your inspiration!
I love that, Traci! Thank you for sharing.
This looks yummy. I’m curious about celery in the US. Is it as expensive as here in Canada? $5 a bunch if you can find it on sale!
That’s crazy! It’s not the expensive, at least that I have found here.
I followed the recipe to the letter and it is WONDERFUL! I needed a light side for my marinated kabobs. This potato salad is fresh and perfect! I love that it’s quick and easy too!
Thank you for sharing, Suzanne!
kate, i just finished making this potato salad recipe and it is hands down my new favorite! i doubled the recipe for our lunch today with friends and it turned out perfectly. so flavorful and delicious but still light and vibrant. and – a huge thanks to you for the tips about boiling potatoes… i’ve been doing them the hard way all this time.
THANK YOU!!
I’m glad it’s a new favorite!
So I just made the components for this salad (I’ll mix them before we eat) to take to my in-laws for Memorial Day. I tried some of the dressing by itself on a cracker (I did everything EXACTLY, using a stone-ground Dijon for color contrast, texture and earthiness) and I have decided it’s an excellent dressing base. I’m going to make extra to blend with an avocado and keep it on hand to use over arugula, kind of like a green goddess dressing. Girl, you nailed this. So good!
I’m glad you loved it!
Just made it for family Memorial Day gathering, I sampled and it is delicious. I can’t wait to bring it over. Thank you for all of the wonderful recipes!
You’re welcome, Eva!
You had me at “no mayo”! When I read your recipe, Kate, I was excited at the combination of fresh ingredients and made a double batch for a big family Memorial Day barbecue. It was a hit with everyone. It is similar, but far and above more flavorful, to an old Italian family potato salad recipe I’ve been making for years. Ours was dressed simply with a combination of olive oil, s&p, oregano and chopped celery stalk and leaves, with one or more add-in options at times of black olives, capers, grape tomatoes and/or artichoke hearts.
Yours, dazzling with the Dijon, parsley and lemon, trumps the old family recipe for flavor! It will be my new “no mayo” go-to potato salad! I made it the night before serving and it was equally delicious and tangy while the potatoes were still warmish and after refrigeration. Before serving, I simply drizzled a bit more olive oil over the potatoes which moistened the dish. (I have to fess up, though, I forgot to add in some potato water to the dressing. Will try that next time. Am curious how that will change the outcome.)
Thanks for this creative, delicious salad, Kate. I’ve enjoyed so many recipes from your book, as well … the kale/cranberry salad among my favorites.
I’m glad it was such a hit and made an appearance at your family gathering! Thanks for the review, Felicia.
made this for tailgating a baseball game this weekend and everyone loved it! thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Claire!
Yes!! No mayo, husband loves it, it stores well with no curdling. It’s quick to make. Score!
Wonderful to hear, Eve! Thanks for your feedback.
My daughter, who is a vegan and a doctor, called me last night while she was preparing this potato salad, and said it was so good, she couldn’t stop eating it. I’m trying to do better with what I eat, so I shopped today for the ingredients and came home and got to work. I had a glass set aside to retain some of the potato water, but then got distracted and dumped all the water down the drain. So I added a few potatoe slices and a small amount of water to the dressing. Result- a delicious salad, which I will make again… this time the right way. I also added some chopped fennel, fresh mint from my garden, fresh corn which I took off the cobb but did not cook, some roasted mini tomatoes, black olives, and some smoked salmon, which made it a nice dinner salad. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I look forward to more.
Thank you for sharing, Bonnie! I appreciate your feedback.
Haven’t even looked at the recipe yet, just wanted to check you are alright? Heard bad storm went through Kansas City.
Hi Remi! We are fine, but unfortunately it brought some destruction in nearby cities.
This Potato salad is great, I love potato, I will combine it with this Tea that I am trying Tea great your Blog, thank you and greetings.
You’re welcome, Andrew!
I have not made any recipes, but I WANT TO, My question is are they good for fatty liver disease. Thank You SANDRA
Hi Sandra, I’m not an expert of what is best for your specific needs. I recommend asking your medical professional.
Can u give me the recipe for veg KHIMCHI. Anita Goel
I don’t have one, sorry!
I made this for a huge church dinner. We all had the same recipe for 10 lbs of potatoes. They were all different!! Mine won the taste test because I followed the instructions to put all the spices & green-items in the blender & make a sauce. It was green & very tasty!! I must admit I was nervous! Green potato salad!! Really!! It was delicious!!
Wonderful to hear, Mary!
hey this salad is amazing I made it for my family the other day and they loved every bit of the salad (:
I’m so glad you loved it, Chris!
I am not sure I can rate this recipe. I love Cookie and Kate recipes – but this one did not turn out as I thought it would. It tasted so bitter that I had to throw it out. After I thought about it – I tried a stalk of my celery – It was bitter as well. I was wondering if anyone else has had this experience with celery?
When I tasted the dressing on its own – it tasted like it needed more flavor as well.
Oh no! I’m sorry it didn’t turn out for you, Carol. The celery could have really impacted things. Did you salt your water when cooking to potatoes by chance?
All I can say is THANK YOU for sharing a potato salad that I finally love and crave! It is so.good. I make the recipe as is and have no desire to change it in any way. :o) Oh, and I’ve had great luck with it still being great the day after as well.
You’re welcome, Susan!
Love this recipe! Made it for a party and it was a hit. Very easy and quick.
I’m glad you loved it! Thank you for your feedback, Sherry.
My first Cookie+Kate recipe. We took it for a cookout but didn’t tell anyone it was vegan until people started raving about how delicious it was. I substituted vidalia onions for green onions and dill for parsley. Will absolutely make it again!! Thank you!
That’s fantastic, Erin! Thanks for your review.
Super delish! I made it to a pot luck and it was gone in minutes! Thank you for the picture recipe- very helpful for visual learners such as myself.
Because of the comments (Tom), and since there is no easily spoiled ingredient (no egg, no dairy – and lots of lemonJuice and vinegar!), I left the salad on the counter for about 12 hours (I had no other choice than making it ahead) rather than in the fridge. I’m glad I did : the dressing was perfectly creamy.
I traded the parsley (did not have) for a mix basil/mint (Kate, it reminded me of your super fresh mint dressing!) and the celery for one red pepper!
Thanks for sharing, Nathalie!
What can I use instead of oil? I’m oil-free as much as possible and this recipe looks great, but I can’t come up with a sub for the oil. Maybe some kalamatas?
I haven’t tried this one without oil. You could try reserving more of the potato cooking water. The dressing will turnout differently, but it may work ok.
why why why would you call for a full tbsp of salt when it’s only being used for boiling water?? I already added it to my mixture! grrr
Hi Michelle, I’m sorry you are frustrated. Be sure to follow the instructions as I try to be as detailed as possible.
This was delicious! A new favorite. I had made traditional (i.e. Grandma’s recipe) potato salad for 4th of July and had a potluck a few days later that I was going to make MORE for… so I thought I should try something different and found this! I already had Yukon Gold potatoes, so cut the slices in half… but otherwise, followed the recipe. It was the first time I sliced the potatoes before cooking… what a great idea! Also, I made it the night before, and refrigerated… still was excellent. (I did let it get to room temperature before serving.) My husband thinks I should ditch Grandma’s recipe and use this from now on. I just might. =)
I’m glad you tried this one, Kathryn! Thank you for sharing and for your review.
Great potato salad! The only thing I did different was adding more dijon mustard at the end because I felt it needed more kick but that’s a personal preference. Thanks for all your recipes, they come out great every time.
That sounds great! Thanks for sharing, Txirimiri.
I really loved this fresh tasting potato salad. My hubby and I are newly vegan at this was a perfect summertime lunch. Slicing the potatos was a great tip in the description, they cooked super fast which was wonderful. Nice tang with the fresh lemon juice. I usually dont like crunchiness in potato salad but I didnt mind it with the celery chopped a bit finer than it probably called for. Will definitely make this again!
Great to hear, Margaret!
Delicious! I won’t be making another mayo based potato salad again after trying this one. Total convert!
Hooray! I’m glad you loved it, Tracy.
I made this recipe for the first time 3 weeks ago. I have to say it was a huge hit and all of my guest loved it. This recipe caught my attention because it had no mayo. I think is definitely best served immediately after mixing. However, I must say my husband fried the leftovers the next day for breakfast and it was out of this world. I am making this now one of my favs this weekend for my annual family BBQ serving with ribs and grilled vegetables.
Thank you for sharing, Sonia!
I made this salad for a birthday party park picnic, so I needed something without mayonnaise. It was DELICIOUS. I will be making it even if I don’t need to worry about mayo. Everyone loved it. Perfect for summer and not heavy feeling. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m happy it was enjoyed!
No calories per serving listed
Hi Michelle, Make sure you allow cookies in your browser as the nutritional information is a plug-in on my blog. Calories per serving: 195
Wow!! This was amazing!!! I didn’t have red potatoes on hand, so I used yukon gold. I cut them into bite sized pieces rather than slicing. Otherwise, I did everything as the recipe stated. I will be making this again, and again, and again, and ….. (you get my point)! This is a winner, thank you!
You’re welcome, Paula! Did you need to adjust the cooking time at all with the yukon potatoes?
One of my new favorite potato salad recipes! I made this with a mix of heirloom potatoes from my CSA and added some blanched green beans but otherwise stuck to the recipe as written and loved it. One trick I like to do- cut some small pieces of potato, as well as the larger circles, that will cook faster so when you mix the salad together they mash into the dressing creating a “creamy” consistency while the larger pieces keep their structure. Sharing this with my mom who hates mayo.
Thanks for the tip!
Just made this for a fast summer supper
.pared it with my roasted dill salmon was great! Definitely making again.
Wonderful, Stefan! Thanks for your review.
Love, love, love this potato salad. Was a little nervous making potato salad without mayonnaise for a cookout. Made this herbed potato salad and it was a hugh hit! Thanks for the recipe
That’s great! I’m happy to hear you really liked it without the mayo.
Loved the flavors! Took it to two different Labor Day parties.
This was so great! I made it today for a football game and everyone loved it. The “sauce” came out a little thin for some reason, so I’ll experiment with adding a bit more EVOO or herbs next time. Thanks so much for yet another great recipe!
You’re welcome, Sam! Thanks for your review.