This vegan potato salad is a light, crunchy and creamy crowd-pleasing side dish for everyone. It’s oil-free, healthy, customizable and ready in only 30 minutes!
Looking for a classic vegan potato salad made with dairy-free mayo and healthy whole foods? Our easy recipe is sure to become a staple in your household.
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Made with only a handful of simple ingredients, easily customizable and perfect for meal prep, this old-fashioned potato salad is a classic side that’s on repeat in our kitchen!
No special occasion or equipment is needed for such undetectably vegan goodness. Bring it to a potluck or party or serve it with homemade mayo during your next BBQ!
It’s truly delicious all year long but especially during spring and summer.
Recipe overview
- Crowd-pleasing at any party
- Family-friendly and nutritious
- Perfect for meal prepping
- Easily customizable
- Kid-friendly and lower in calories
- Light, creamy and flavorful
- Full of different textures
Everyone will love this classic vegan potato salad with lots of fresh herbs and tangy dill pickles. It’s one of our favorite summer salads!
Ingredients needed
- Potatoes – Yukon gold or russet work best for this recipe.
- Celery — classic crunchy potato salad ingredient!
- Dill pickles – really recommended as the combination is so delicious!
- Parsley — this fresh herb takes any salad to the next level.
- Bell pepper — optional ingredient to add some more veggies!
- Onions and mustard – adding more zing to this creamy vegan goodness.
- Vegan mayo – our favorite potato salad dressing!
You can choose to make your own oil-free vegan mayo by following our quick recipe below or opt for a store-bought version.
In terms of kitchen equipment, you’ll need a large pot, mixing bowl, chopping board, measuring equipment and a blender for the cashew mayo.
How to make vegan potato salad
Cook potatoes
Place all of the cubed potatoes into a large pot and cover them with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let them cook for around 15 minutes.
Once the potatoes are fork-tender, drain them and let them cool.
Prepare the veggies
Wash and chop the other components: celery, parsley, dill pickles, bell pepper, radishes and green onion. Add them to a large salad bowl.
Make the mayo
Follow our simple 5-minute recipe for oil-free vegan cashew mayo. Adjust to your taste preferences and thin it out if wanted.
Assemble the salad
Add the cooked and drained potatoes on top of your chopped vegetables and herbs in the large salad bowl. Pour the dressing over everything and mix to combine.
Adjust to taste preferences with some mustard, vinegar, salt or pepper.
Serving & storage
Serve your homemade vegan potato salad immediately or store it covered in the refrigerator for an hour or so before serving. This allows the flavors to blend!
The salad can be stored in the fridge for up to 5-6 days but tastes best within the first 3 days. Don’t freeze it!
Enjoy it on its own or serve with fresh bread, coleslaw, baked beans, burgers, pasta salad, sandwiches or wraps.
Tips & adjustments
Mayo-free vegan potato salad
We sometimes like to make this potato salad with a simple olive oil, vinegar and mustard dressing or tahini sauce instead!
Make it ahead
This potato salad can be made a day or two in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Bring with you for a cold lunch or to a garden party!
If you let the potato salad sit in the fridge overnight, the mayo will thicken a bit, so keep this in mind. Add a spritz of lemon juice, dairy-free milk or more mayo if needed when serving!
Flavor adjustments
If you don’t like dill or pickles, simply omit them. The same is true for bell peppers and celery!
Especially if you want to make this salad for kids or picky eaters, it can be better not to overdo it on the veggies — classic vegan potato salad can be made with just three components: cooked potatoes, onions and mayo.
Add some lemon juice or apple cider vinegar for more zing in your dressing!
Optional add-ins
- Dill, chives or basil
- Cucumber, olives, carrots, broccoli
- White beans, corn, chickpeas
- Vegan sausage or tempeh
More vegan sides
If you enjoyed this vegan potato salad, try these side dishes next:
- Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Potato Vegetable Croquettes
- Vegan Chicken Wings
- Collard Green Wraps
- Vegan Pizza Rolls
Did you make vegan potato salad and like it? Feel free to share in the comments below, rate the recipe or Pin it here!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs white potatoes peeled and chopped (900 g)
- ¾ cup celery chopped (170 g)
- ½ cup parsley finely chopped (15 g)
- ½ cup dill pickles chopped (77 g)
- 1 green bell pepper finely chopped
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- 1 tbsp mustard optional
- Radishes chopped (optional)
- ¾-1 cup vegan mayo
Instructions
- Place the peeled and cubed potatoes into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let them cook for 15 minutes.
- Once the potatoes are fork-tender, drain and let them cool.
- Meanwhile, prepare the rest of your ingredients.
- Make the cashew mayo by placing all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Adjust to taste with salt and nutritional yeast; add more water if you want a thinner consistency.
- Add cooked potatoes, celery, parsley, pickles, bell pepper, and green onion to a large bowl.
- Top with your vegan mayo and mix until well combined with a large spoon. Adjust to taste with salt, lemon juice and mustard.
- Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to blend and taste even better!
Notes
- If you don’t like dill pickles, celery or bell peppers, you can go straight to a potato-and-onion-version instead or choose different veggies to add into your potato salad.
- To add a bit more zing, use some pickle juice to thin out the mayo.
- This vegan potato salad keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days but tastes best within the first 3-4 days.
- Feel free to use store-bought vegan mayo for this recipe.
So, I tried out the recipe but it was OK. The flavor combo is just not there, missing the mark. It was a little on the sweet side. I need to tweak this recipe but dont know where to start.
Hi Natalie,
thanks for your feedback! I do get that it’s a fairly simple recipe (we like it that way) and if you’re used to fancier food, this might not rock your socks. Interesting that you thought it was on the sweet side! I would add some more vinegar or lemon juice in that case. Which mustard did you use? They can be kind of sweet as well. Or maybe the balsamic vingear could add some unusual flavor…
Please let me know when you found the trick!
Best wishes,
Alena
I am rating the recipe based on reading, not eating. Found this while doing some research toward finding recipes that adhere to Dr McDougall’s ideas. Which, this one comes close, but, the avocado would have to go, for sure. And, I am not a big fan of corn usage in, oh, anything.
Hard to find non-gmo, etc.
But, all in all, it looks and sounds pretty tasty.
Hello, How many does this serve? Thanks!
Hi Marisa, this potato salad serves 2 people – depending on their daily energy needs and overall appetite, of course :)
was just looking for a recipe like this! Turned out great, thanks. The kids loved them
I love how this potato salad serves two, and is so creamy! When I’m on a vegan kick, I tend to crave creamy and it’s tough to satisfy. Such a great recipe!
thanks so much for the kind comment, Candice! you can always double the recipe for meal prep and leftovers ;)
I absolutely love this salad and it was so easy to make! My mayo turned out a little runny for some reason but I just added some more cashews and nutritional yeast and it was for me. Thank you for the recipe:)
yay, so happy to know, Jennifer! Thanks for sharing – it’s one of our go-to weekly meals for sure. Yes, the mayo texture can vary depending on how long you soak the cashews, how well you drain them etc. but it seems like you did a great job adjusting the rest of the ingredients :)
Now I’m confused. You say this recipe serves 2, but it states that it yields 6. Also how can I find out exactly what is a “serving” so that I can stay on my diet.
Hi Nancy, sorry for the confusion! I overhauled this recipe at some point and the nutritional values and ingredients changed. Please see the current information in the recipe card; the serving size is 6 right now if you want to enjoy this potato salad as a side dish (290 calories). If you want to make it your main dish, simply eat 1.5-2 servings! Sorry I couldn’t add any volume or weight per serving.
I think your site is going to be an important door to my vegan journey. Thank you for this beautiful and useful information.