Vegan Potato Salad
Vegan Potato Salad! If you’re looking for a healthy vegan potato salad recipe this is it. The best vegan potato salad! So creamy without any mayo!
Vegan potato salad! It’s cookout season, which means I’m ramping up our hot-weather, potluck favorites: grain salads, grilled vegetables, homemade veggie burgers, side salads like this one and plenty of fresh-fruit desserts.
This time of year, I want to eat everything outside. Which, after being cooped up for most of the Spring feels like a very welcomed change of pace. My backyard has become the premier destination for us, and we’ve outfitted it with a water table for Vander, new patio furniture for me and a mini basketball hoop for both Vander and BL.
We begin our day with coffee out there most mornings and end the evening next to the fire pit after the kids are asleep. I’m kinda sorry that it took us being forced to stay home to realize how much we enjoy our own backyard. I know this time has been hard on so many; but the silver lining for us is that we’ve been able to spend so much time together. I’ll look back on this time with mixed emotions, and I also know that I’ll be a little sad when things return back to normal. I’ve selfishly been loving BL being home, Van not going to school, me taking a step back from a lot of my work and the opportunity to be together day after day.
healthy vegan potato salad recipe this is it. The best vegan potato salad! So creamy without any mayo!”/>
So, this vegan potato salad. I love potato salad, which is a funny thing to say because I spent the first 30 years of my life absolutely hating mayo. I still get a little icky when there are globs of mayo in dishes, but I’ve come to appreciate the fatty, creamy texture that it gives.
That and the fact that my husband is Midwest born and bred which means that 95% of his favorite recipes start with mayo. Or sour cream. Or a brick of cheese. Seriously.
I’ve made mayo-based potato salads before (check out my greek version and my dill pickle version) but wanted something that wasn’t so heavy. I’ve been experimenting with creating cashew based mayos lately, and figured it would work perfectly in this vegan potato salad.
If you’re looking for a whole-food based vegan potato salad, this is definitely one to try. I love the complexity of the creamy cashew mayo, lots of fresh herbs and tender potatoes. I personally think this one tastes even better the day after it’s made, so I recommend making it in the morning to enjoy for dinner.
The fresh herbs really pop in this salad, so I don’t recommend trying and substituting with dried. I also highly recommend fresh ground black pepper instead of pre ground pepper. These two factors really make the mayo and salad pop, so don’t skip ’em.
How to Make Cashew Mayo
Cashews! The secret weapon in so many dairy-free swaps. I thank my lucky stars every day that I’m not allergic to cashews– I honestly don’t know how I would cook!
Since I use cashews in cheese sauces, as heavy cream, as a faux-cream cheese and so much more, I knew they would be the perfect dairy-free mayo swap.
To add the tangy zing that regular mayo has, I added both dijon mustard and lemon juice along with enough salt to give it that rich, salty, fatty mouthfeel.
Depending on the strength of your blender, you will likely need to scrape down the cashew mixture as you blend it so it becomes very smooth and not gritty. From there, you can enjoy the cashew mayo in this vegan potato salad, in your favorite pasta salads, on sandwiches– really, anyplace you like mayo!
More Summer Vegan Side Dishes:
Grilled Panzanella Salad
Greek Couscous Salad
Grilled Corn and Farro Salad
Instant Pot Vegan Baked Beans
Roasted Summer Squash and Quinoa Salad
Summer Pasta Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing
If you try this vegan potato salad, let me know! Make sure to come back, rate it and leave a comment. Your feedback helps other readers and seeing you make my recipes makes my day!
Vegan Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds gold potatoes, about 12 potatoes
- 1 cup cashews, soaked*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting the potatoes
- 1/3 cup almond milk, or milk of choice
- 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice, can substitute apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped dill
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- fresh black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook until just fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and let cool, the quarter and place in a large bowl.
- Place the drained cashews, milk, mustard, lemon juice and salt into the base of a blender and puree until very creamy; you may need to stop and scrape down the blender depending on blender strength.
- Pour dressing over potatoes with onion, dill, parsley and freshly ground black pepper. Toss to coat, adding more salt/pepper as needed.