Classic Vegan Potato Salad – Connoisseurus Veg

Creamy, delicious, and studded with crunchy vegetables…you’d never know this luscious vegan potato salad was dairy-free! Easy to whip up and perfect for summer cookouts!

My mom always made really good potato salad when I was growing up, but she didn’t have a recipe. In my family we play fast and loose with our summer salads — dumping in a handful of ingredients into a bowl until it tastes good!

So it was a little tough for me to create a recipe for vegan potato salad based off of mom’s classic potato salad, but I think I nailed it. This tastes pretty much like what I grew up eating. I hope you love it as much as I do!

What You’ll Need

• Potatoes. Obviously a crucial ingredient! I like russet potatoes for this recipe, since they’re good and starchy and mingle nicely with the dressing. Feel free to swap them out with red or yellow potatoes if you’d like.
• Vegan mayonnaise. I used Hellman’s vegan mayo, which is available right near the regular mayo at most supermarkets. Vegenaise and Just Mayo are also good brands to look for.
• Mustard. The recipe calls for plain old yellow mustard, but feel free to get fancy and use spicy mustard or Dijon mustard.
• Pickle juice. White vinegar works as a substitute.
• Red onion. Yellow onion will work as a substitute for this, but I find it to be a little overpowering flavor-wise and recommend sticking with red if possible.
• Carrot.
• Celery.
• Relish. You can finely diced up some pickles if this isn’t something you normally buy. The recipe calls for dill pickle relish, but feel free to use sweet relish if that’s your preference.
• Celery salt.
• Salt & pepper.
• Paprika. This is optional and mainly for garnishing your potato salad. Feel free to skip it if you don’t have any on hand.
• Fresh chives. These get sprinkled on top of your potato salad. Scallions work as a substitute.

How to Make Vegan Potato Salad

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d prefer to skip right to the recipe.

• Boil your potatoes first. Boil them whole, with the skins on, until they’re fork tender. Drain them and let them cool for a bit when they’re done.
• Now you can peel and chop your potatoes. They should peel pretty easily at this point!
• Add your chopped potatoes to a large bowl, along with almost everything else: mayo, mustard, pickle juice, onion, carrots, celery, relish, salt, and pepper. Stir it up!
• Taste-test your vegan potato salad and make adjustments if needed — this might mean adding mayo to make it creamier, adding relish or pickle juice to make it more tart, or increasing the salt and/or pepper.

• Transfer your potato salad to a serving bowl and top it with some paprika and fresh chives. I recommend chilling it for a bit before serving.
• Tip: If you grew up eating potato salad with eggs in it, try adding a bit of kala namak to your potato salad. Kala namak is a type of salt with a high sulfur content, so it gives things an eggy flavor. It can be found in most Indian supermarkets.

Leftovers & Storage

Leftover potato salad will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days. I don’t recommend freezing it.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Vegan Summer Sides

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Classic Vegan Potato Salad

Creamy, delicious, and studded with crunchy vegetables…you’d never know this luscious vegan potato salad was dairy-free! Easy to whip up and perfect for summer cookouts!

Ingredients

• 3
  pounds
  russet potatoes
• 1
  cup
  vegan mayonnaise
• 1
  tablespoon
  yellow mustard
• 2
  tablespoons
  pickle juice
  (or white vinegar)
• ¼
  cup
  finely diced red onion
• ¾
  cup
  diced carrot
  (about 2 medium carrots)
• ½
  cup
  diced celery
  (about 2 medium stalks)
• 2
  tablespoons
  dill pickle relish
• ¼
  teaspoon
  celery salt
• ¼
  teaspoon
  salt,
  plus more to taste
• ¼
  teaspoon
  black pepper,
  plus more to taste
• Sweet paprika,
  for serving
• Chopped fresh chives,
  for serving

Instructions

1. Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover them with a couple inches of water.

2. Place the pot over high heat and bring the water to a boil.

3. Boil the potatoes until they’re easily pierced with a fork. This normally takes about 15 to 20 minutes, but may take longer for very large potatoes.

4. Drain the potatoes into a colander. Leave the potatoes in the colander and allow them to cool. In the meantime you can prep your other ingredients.

5. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them, then cut them into 1-inch pieces.

6. Transfer the potatoes to a large mixing bowl. Add the mayo, mustard, pickle juice, onion, carrots, celery, celery salt, salt and pepper. Stir until the dressing is well combined and evenly coats the potatoes and veggies.

7. Taste-test the potato salad and season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Adjust any other seasonings to your liking.

8. Cover the bowl and chill the potato salad until you’re ready to serve.

Nutrition Facts

Classic Vegan Potato Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories 310
Calories from Fat 165

% Daily Value*

Fat 18.3g28%

Saturated Fat 1g5%

Sodium 319mg13%

Potassium 752mg21%

Carbohydrates 29.7g10%

Fiber 4.6g18%

Sugar 3.8g4%

Protein 3.1g6%

Calcium 24mg2%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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