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 is in the sauce.
- There’s NO tofu.
- There’s NO cashews.
- There’s NO oil.
- And there’s obviously NO mayo either.
So what did I use to make it so creamy?
Beans.
White Cannellini Beans to be exact.
I know…weird right?
I basically used my White Bean Mayo recipe from my Vegan Turkey Salad recipe to make homemade Potato Salad, and it turned out WONDERFUL!
Smooth and creamy Vegan Potato Salad, PERFECT for those summer picnics.
Vegan Potato Salad
Vegan Potato Salad | Brand New Vegan
You’re going to need 6 medium-sized Red Potatoes. Give them a good scrub and then cube them into large chunks.
- If you have an INSTANT POT, you can add the steam trivet that came with your IP to the bottom of the pot, and then add your potatoes along with 1½ cups of water. Set it to MANUAL and cook for 4 minutes.
- 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 fork tender. Now drain off the water and immediately set the potatoes aside in the refrigerator to cool while we make the rest of the salad.
In a large bowl chop 2-3 ribs of celery, a ¼ of a Red Onion (or more), and about ¼ of a Red Bell Pepper. Now add 2 heaping tablespoons or so of Dill Pickle Relish and stir to mix.
(I like Dill Relish- but you can use Sweet Pickle Relish too if that’s what you prefer)
Set this aside and let’s move on to the dressing….
Empty the can of beans into your blender – JUICE AND ALL – and then add all the remaining ingredients for the dressing and blend until smooth and creamy.
Back to the salad….
Add your cooled potatoes to the salad bowl and gently stir to mix everything together. Finally, using a rubber spatula, carefully fold about 1 cup of the dressing into the salad and mix 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 potato salad, with hardly any fat. PERFECT.
Hope you enjoy and be sure and keep those comments coming!
A smooth and creamy Vegan Potato Salad without using any mayo, tofu, or nuts. The secret is in the sauce!
- 6 Red Potatoes scrubbed clean
- 2 Ribs Celery finely chopped
- 1/4 Red Onion finely chopped
- 1/4 Red Bell Pepper finely chopped
- 2 Tbs Dill Pickle Relish
- 1 can Cannellini Beans 15oz
- 3 Tbs Lemon Juice
- 1 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 Tbs Tahini
- 1 Tbs Dijon Mustard
- 1 Tbs Dill Pickle Juice
- 1 tsp Brown Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Ground Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Celery Seed
- 1/4 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
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Wash and scrub 6 medium-sized Red Potatoes and cube into large chunks.
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INSTANT POT: Add your steamer trivet to your IP, the potatoes, and 1 1/2 cups of water. Set to MANUAL and cook for 4 minutes.
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STOVETOP: Add the potatoes to a large pan and cover with water. Boil until just fork tender - 5-10 minutes.
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Remove potatoes, drain, and set aside in refrigerator to cool while preparing salad and dressing.
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Finely chop onion, red bell pepper, and celery and add to a large bowl. Stir in relish and mix thoroughly.
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For the dressing, empty the can of beans (including the juice) into your blender and add all the remaining dressing ingredients. Blend on high until smooth.
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Carefully mix the cooled potatoes with the salad ingredients and then fold in at least 1 cup of the dressing. Mix carefully.
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Note: The dressing makes about 2 cups - I would start with just 1 cup of the dressing and add more if necessary. Use the remainder as a salad dressing or mayo substitute.
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Chill for at least 30 minutes and serve.
Garnish with a dusting of paprika if desired.
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!
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
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!
Ann-Margaret Morrissey
This looks yummy! Can’t wait to try it.
Linda Lee
Just ordered your books, you recipes sound DELIGHTFUL… and I really need some that are TRULY GOOD.
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!
Nlkd
i’m so excited to try this!
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 🙂
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!
Lindsay Ingalls
This sounds delicious!
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.
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.
kristimaloney
Last I checked, Tahini is a condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame seeds. It is not a highly processed oil.
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.
RB Wellness
can I make it without the tahini?
Monique Connealy
I did, and it’s still delicious!
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.
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!
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!
Ida
Great flavors; even my ‘meat and potato’ husband thought it was yummy and he’s all about the mayo.
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!
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.
Stacy
Just wonderful! Best potato salad ever. You’ll never miss the mayo.
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.
John
I was out of pickle relish so I chopped up some pickled jalapenos and that worked just fine!
kaye
I’ve made this many times, we love it!
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!
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
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!
Pete
Chuck,
I made this over the July 4th holiday excellent creamy sauce. Great recipe!
Peter
Sorry forgot to give it the 5 stars it deserve.
Jkcook
This sounds delicious! Just amended my food order for tomorrow to be able to make it for dinner tomorrow!
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!
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.
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!