With summer right around the corner, I knew I was going to have to come up with a decent Vegan Potato Salad Recipe....you know.... to go with those awesome Beer Brats and Baked Beans of mine.
Well I think I got it - and the secret, as they say, is in the sauce.
- There's NO tofu
- There's NO cashews
- There's NO oil
- And there's obviously NO mayo either
- It's basically fat-free!
So what did I use to make it so creamy?
White Beans
I know...weird right?
I basically used my white bean mayo recipe from my Vegan Turkey Salad recipe and it turned out WONDERFUL!
Smooth and creamy Vegan Potato Salad, PERFECT for those summer picnics.
Vegan Potato Salad
You're going to need 6 whole Red Potatoes (about 2 lbs) and give them a good scrub. You can try Russets or Golds - but they tend to get soft and mushy while reds hold their shape.
- If you have an INSTANT POT, you can add the steam trivet that came with your IP to the bottom of the pot (or this really cool steaming basket), and then add your potatoes along with 1½ cups of water.
Set it to MANUAL and cook for 4 minutes, then let it natually release the pressure by itself (another 10-20 min)
- For the stovetop version, boil the potatoes in just enough water to cover them, for about 5-10 minutes or so. Just until they are al dente.
- Now drain off the water and immediately set the potatoes aside in the refrigerator to cool while we make the rest of the salad.
The Veggies I Used
When I think of vegan potato salad, I automatically think celery, onion, and pickle relish. But the nice thing about this recipe is it's so customizable. Use whatever veggies YOU like.
In a large bowl chop 2-3 ribs of celery, ¼ of a Red Onion (or more), and about ¼ of a Red Bell Pepper. Now add 2-4 heaping tablespoons of chopped Dill Pickle and stir to mix.
(I like Dill Relish- but you can use Sweet Picklels too if that's what you prefer)
Set this aside and let's move on to the dressing....
White Bean Mayo
Drain and rinse the a 15oz can of cannelini beans, then add them to your blender, followed by all the remaining dressing ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.
Any white bean should work (navy, great northern) but I like the cannelini as they don't seem to impart any bean taste, plus they are super creamy.
Note: In my original recipe I used tahini, but this time, to keep the calories down, I used white miso and it came out perfect. Feel free to use the tahini if you want though. I also replaced the brown sugar with maple syrup.
Back to the salad....
Chop your cooled potatoes and add them to the salad bowl of veggies, and gently stir to mix everything together. Then, using a rubber spatula, carefully fold about 1 cup of the dressing (or more) into the salad and stir until everything is blended.
Note: The recipe will make about 2 cups of dressing so you can use the remaining dressing on whatever you wish - or for super creamy potato salad you can use the whole batch.
Chill for 30 minutes or so, adjust any seasonings if needed, and garnish with a dusting of paprika.
Mmm summertime vegan potato salad fat. PERFECT.
Storing Your Vegan Potato Salad
Store your vegan potato salad in an airtight container in the fridge where it should keep for 3-5 days. I do NOT recommend you freeze it because you lose a lot of the texture after it thaws.
Hope you enjoy my vegan potato salad and be sure and keep those comments coming!
This recipe was originally published May 14, 2017 and was updated to provide clearer photos and ingredient options.
Vegan Potato Salad
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stove or Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A smooth and creamy fat-free Vegan Potato Salad without using any mayo, tofu, or nuts. The secret is in the sauce!
Ingredients
- 6 red potatoes (about 2 pounds)
- 2 ribs celery
- ¼ red onion
- ¼ red bell pepper
- 2-4 Tbs pickle relish
White Bean Mayo
- 15oz can cannellini beans
- 3 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 Tbs red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbs white miso (can sub tahini)
- 1 Tbs dijon mustard
- 1 Tbs dill pickle juice
- 1 Tbs maple syrup
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- ½ tsp celery seed
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Wash and scrub the potatoes
- INSTANT POT: Add your steamer trivet to your IP, the potatoes, and 1 ½ cups of water. Set to MANUAL and cook for 4 minutes. Let it naturally vent when finished.
- STOVETOP: Add the potatoes to a large pan and cover with water. Boil until just fork tender - 5-10 minutes.
- Remove potatoes, drain, and set aside in the refrigerator to cool while preparing salad and dressing.
- Finely chop onion, red bell pepper, pickles, and celery and add to a large bowl. Mix thoroughly.
- For the dressing, drain and rinse the beans and add them to your blender along with all the remaining dressing ingredients. Blend on high until smooth. Add 1 Tbs water at a time to thin if needed.
- Chop the cooled potatoes and carefully mix them with the salad ingredients,
- Fold in at least 1 cup of the dressing (or as much as you like). Mix carefully.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes and serve.
- Garnish with a dusting of paprika if desired.
Sharon
Chuck, thank you for a delicious potato salad AND for a way to make a top notch plant based Mayo!!! I had a little mayo left over so it dubbed in as a creamy salad dressing. That ‘twang’ is spot on. The temps in OK are near 100 degrees all on their own with heat indexes in ridiculous intensity. This ‘cold’ supper is perfect.
Mary
Miso gives a salty flavor for those eat salt free. I used the miso and eliminated the salt.
Tara
What does the miso do for the potato salad? Is it something I can omit?
Chuck Underwood
Adds a little more flavor and twang
luigi
Thank you for a great potato salad recipe. I make it weekly.
Darcey
Just made this today - first time making ANY kind of potato salad from scratch, let alone WFPB and oil-free. Seriously so impressed! Also my first time making any kind of sauce/dressing with cannellini beans. Great texture and flavor! I was the only plant-based person eating this but everyone else said they really liked it too! I didn’t have celery seed so I added dill weed instead and it was great
Barb
Made this to take to a potluck and it was a big hit! A few tweaks:
- I know russet or red are better for potato salad, but I had Yukon gold on hand so that's what I used. Just have to watch to stop them at al dente.
- I followed the potato-cooking instructions from The Food Lab cookbook. It's based on exhaustive testing and they found that warm potatoes absorb more flavor than cold (fun experiment with food coloring involved). As they instruct, I cooked the potatoes with 1 T. each sugar, salt, and apple cider vinegar per 2 lbs., then sprinkled another tablespoon of vinegar over them as they cooled a bit in a pan.
- We didn't have pickles on hand so I added another 1 T. of apple cider vinegar and 1/2 t. dill weed, then sprinkled a bit more dill weed on top along with the paprika (which my mom always put on potato salad so of course that's how it has to be made).
- Taste/adjust meant adding a bit more salt, pepper, and vinegar for our tastebuds.
A hit! I was glad I made a double batch so I could keep some at home for us to eat the next day.
Suzanne
I made this the other day and it was so good, I ate the whole batch in a couple of days, I only used 4 large red potatoes. There was extra “mayo” left over, so today I used it as a dip for my pretzels, also very good. I am new to eating as much vegan as I can and found your website, so thank you for the recipes. My next recipe will be the tofu BLT, it sounds great!
Milu
I've loved every recipe of yours that I've tried. I'm sure I'll love this one too!
Annie
This is such a great potato salad recipe. I have made it numerous times for picnics and I never tell anyone it is vegan. I get rave reviews all the time.
Susan
Genius! This is why I follow you, Chuck. Satisfying recipes that fit into my lifestyle and help me stay WFPBNO. ( I admit I’ve stayed a bit into more processed things lately ).
Connie
not sure why i haven't tried this one yet but it's going to be my lunch today. can't wait to make that dressing and try it out. i love potato salad but just don't make it often because of the fatty dressings i usually have put on.. even vegan mayo or cashew mayo... so, i'm excited to try this. as usual, it looks amazing and love the pictures..
Jackie
The new recipe version looks absolutely delicious and I will definitely be giving it a try. I too like to see the pics of the ingredients used as well as the finished product. Thank you!
Sherry
I just recently discovered your former potato salad recipe and really like it (BTW, I used black salt to give it that eggy/ sulfur-y flavor). I noticed that the original recipe states to use the bean juice as well as the beans, but this one says to rinse and drain the beans. Is that correct?
Chuck Underwood
Yes - I didn't use it this time, but if you feel it needs thinned down, by all means use it
Rebecca
I have a bit of an odd question for you and followers who have already made this delicious sounding recipe - I like to follow folks' recipes fully the first time usually and modify later if I enjoyed it... but as far as my favorite potato/macaroni type salads I am fully on the savory flavors team - not so much on the sweet flavors team. I have had great luck with your recipes so far as written but this recipe had me pause a bit because it includes a sort of separate recipe for the mayo sub. The mayo substitute calls for 1 Tablespoon maple syrup. So I am wondering does that syrup just make the vegan mayo more like regular mayo... or does it impart an overall sweetness to the whole salad?
Chuck Underwood
You can reduce the amount to satisfy your own taste. I think it balances the tartness of the vinegar and mustard.
Ellen
One of my “go to” recipes as soon as the weather gets warm! Delicious.
Pam
Looking forward to giving this a try.
Sonia
Perfect Potato Salad! 😋
Susan Haines
I love this potato salad! I love Brand new Vegan's recipes!! He is the best~!
Kim
Made this before and it’s fantastic.
I like the first picture with ALL the ingredients. Thanks you!
Sonia
I give this recipe a 5+😋
Rosie
I’m so excited to try this! I’m not a fan of tahini by leaving it out will the taste change a lot.
Valerie Bartels
I have made this recipe several times now! Absolutely delicious! I add a little bit of Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning to spice it up more. But, it's great without it too. Thank you for sharing this recipe Chuck!
Carolyn Wallis
Been eating Plant-based, no oil for about 10 years. Yep, that's how long it took me to find a potato salad we want to repeat! We've tried so many other legumes or tofu to get this flavor. But the white kidney (cannellini) beans were spot on for the creaminess. I got here by accident as I was looking at your "mayo" in another recipe. The only change I made was to add some black salt for part of the other salt. This gives it a bit of the "egg" flavor without the eggs. For sandwiches, I would reduce the liquid. Excellent recipe. We use lots of potatoes for that wonderful satisfying addition to any meal. But this recipe we enjoyed with just a green salad--and the rest of it, the next day with vegan baked beans.
Kerrilynn
This recipe is the bomb! Love the dressing! I even used it as a spread on a toasted tomato sandwich...delicious and creamy. I added some Kala Namak salt to my potato salad as I used to put eggs in my salads. Too die for. Brought leftover salad for my lunch at work today and just as creamy as when it was made. Didn't dry out at all. Love all of your recipes I've tried so far. Thanks!
Jkcook
This sounds delicious! Just amended my food order for tomorrow to be able to make it for dinner tomorrow!
Peter
Sorry forgot to give it the 5 stars it deserve.
Pete
Chuck,
I made this over the July 4th holiday excellent creamy sauce. Great recipe!
Karen Andrews
Chuck, this is an excellent recipe. I'm making the potato salad for July 4 picnic. Just my hubby and me, but we are so happy to enjoy such good food. We've been WFPB-NO for nearly 7 years now. But yours is the first recipe for a mayo dressing I've seen made with beans. I like it better than the tofu versions. May i suggest that you make this a separate recipe in your index and search box? it's that good.
We are having the potato salad with TLT sandwiches: tofu bacon, lettuce, and tomato, using your dressing as the mayo. again. It's so versatile! This is my second batch; we used up the first one so fast using it as a base for salad dressing and as a topping for toasted bread.
I will be recommending your site to any people trying to go plant-based. Your recipes feature the kind of familiar dishes most people want to replicate. Wish I had found your site sooner! I think I got to it via a search for vegan mayonnaise. I am also an e-Cornell grad of their nutrition studies program. You are doing a great job. Thanks, Chuck!
Chuck Underwood
Thank you! I'm glad you found me!
Sojourner Claus
Chuck, I second the urging to publish your bean mayo as a separate recipe. When searched your tofu mayo comes up, along with the this potato salad recipe but if I hadn't made the potato salad before I would not have known to look here.
Happier New Year
Mary
This is seriously good...thank you for the great recipe! I didn't change a thing, other than subbing red onion of green onion and chopped dill pickles for dill pickle relish...just what I had on hand.
Nicole schurdell
Definitely my favorite wfpb potato salad recipe, and I've tried a bunch. The only thing I do different is use dates instead of the brown sugar. I always double the recipe cause my husband and daughter love it also. It's so nice having something so nutritious that my 2 year old loves, as she can be pretty picky sometimes
Cap'n Dave
Hi, Chuck! Remember me? Well, it's that time again - our company BBQ is coming up on Wednesday, and your coleslaw recipe was such a big hit that I'm taking it AND this potato salad!
I'm not in charge of the grill this time, but there is someone who is vegetarian/vegan-friendly on one end of it, so I'll be adding my kebabs from last year (and some portobello burgers). No baked beans this time, though. They were awesome, but I guess people were concerned about "the wind". 😉 (That's okay - I enjoyed them!)
Thought about doing carrot dogs or seitan steaks, but that's a bit more "upscale" for just a company BBQ. Definitely going to have some roasted corn on the cob, though!
I'll let you know how the potato salad goes over! I KNOW the coleslaw will!
kaye
I’ve made this many times, we love it!
John
I was out of pickle relish so I chopped up some pickled jalapenos and that worked just fine!
Myrl Hallauer
I tried this for Labor Day weekend - it is excellent!! More crunchy veggies than I used to put in potato salad, but the texture and dressing were perfect.
Thanks for helping to make the transition to plant based eating easier.
Stacy
Just wonderful! Best potato salad ever. You'll never miss the mayo.
Susan
Thanks for a great potato salad recipe! I left out the sweeteners and added some yellow mustard and a little apple cider vinegar to the mix. I made about 4 lbs of potatoes so l used the entire batch of dressing on it. It was so good! The whole family ate it up. So good and creamy and was even better the next day. Keeper dressing recipe will be delish on pasta salad too.
Deena
Just made this for a summer lunch with corn on the cob (we just boil the corn on the cob and eat it like that...sweet and yummy),. It tasted very good! My husband and I have been WFPB NO for a year now. He's missed his potato salad, so when I found this recipe I had to try it for him! I didn't have Tahini so didn't use it. We don't care for the celery, so I didn't use that. I thought it would be a little creamier than it ended up, but the flavor was spot on! DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Ida
Great flavors; even my 'meat and potato' husband thought it was yummy and he's all about the mayo.
Monique Connealy
Just made this for tomorrow's lunch. So good! (Had a little taste test. Gotta restrain myself!) I left out the tahini. I also put the celery seeds in separately so I could use the other half of the dressing as a mayo, which I am super excited about too! Thank you so much!
The Vegan Newfie
This is crazy delicious. I'm so glad I moved from just being a vegan to the WFPB-NO diet. I probably never would have tried this otherwise. I'm SO glad I did!
Jeffrey Diehl
Wow, this is good! I don't like celery so I doubled the onion and bell pepper. Also, I used pickled jalapeño in place of relish for a kick.
RB Wellness
can I make it without the tahini?
Monique Connealy
I did, and it's still delicious!
Rosie
I’m so excited to try this! I’m not a fan of tahini by leaving it out will the taste change a lot. Thanks for the comment. I do not like tahini and would love to try this recipe!
Momof1
Wow. Tahini is not oil, any more than almond butter is. It IS fat, but a whole food fat. Definitely not worthy of such a mean post.
kristimaloney
Last I checked, Tahini is a condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame seeds. It is not a highly processed oil.
jem
I'm not fond of potato salad, so what else would you suggest the sauce would dress up well? It seems like it would be yummy.
Chuck Underwood
I also have a pasta salad using the same dressing.... or some people just use it as a mayo for sandwiches.
Jeffrey Diehl
I bet it would be great as a coleslaw. Sprouts has a great pre-shredded broccoli slaw that I love.
Renée ♥ The Good Hearted Woman
Putting together a *good* potato salad - even one with all the traditional ingredients - is a real trick. (Soooo many bad potato salads out there.) But making a good vegan one: color me impressed! Thanks for making it soy-free, by the way.
Lindsay Ingalls
This sounds delicious!
Catherine
I would never have thought to use white beans as a sauce! I'm excited to try this sometime soon over the summer. My vegan potato salad uses olive oil and red wine vinegar, so I'll be curious to taste this one!
Cheryl L Gall
Once again Chuck, your recipes don't disappoint! I've just made up a big bowl of this potato salad and it's chilling in the fridge for dinner. It tastes unbelievable, no one would believe it's oil free! Keep those recipes coming 🙂
Nlkd
i'm so excited to try this!
Patty
Thank you! I have been looking for a soy free mayo, that also didn't have nutritional yeast in it. I can't wait to try yours, with the addition of a chipotle pepper... yum!
Linda Lee
Just ordered your books, you recipes sound DELIGHTFUL... and I really need some that are TRULY GOOD.
Ann-Margaret Morrissey
This looks yummy! Can't wait to try it.
Debbie
Thanks so much for offering your recipes for free! I tried your fries and they were amazing. Can't wait to try the potato salad!
Brad
So about 2.75 pounds of potatoes Chuck?
Gonna make this but might try to halve the recipe... I'm the only one to eat plant based at our house
? Thanks, Brad
calgal
ooh, can't wait to try this one! So hard to find a no-added-fat potato salad!
Laurel
Just made this, with one substitution - My husband had JUST eaten our last pickle, so I used some chopped green olives instead. It was delicious. I was especially impressed with the dressing! Thank you!
Nadege
I love Kalamatta olives. Great substitution Laurel. Thank you!