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!
Jump to:
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
It is!
Most supermarkets carry it near the regular mayo or in the natural foods section.
Absolutely! Red potatoes, yellow potatoes, or even purple potatoes will work just fine! I don't recommend using sweet potatoes.
More Vegan Summer Sides
- Best Ever Vegan Baked Beans
- Creamy Vegan Coleslaw
- Vegan Greek Orzo Salad
- Mexican Grilled Corn
- Vegan Macaroni Salad
📖 Recipe
Classic Vegan Potato Salad
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
- Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover them with a couple inches of water.
- Place the pot over high heat and bring the water to a boil.
- 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.
- 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.
- When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them, then cut them into 1-inch pieces.
- 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.
- Taste-test the potato salad and season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Adjust any other seasonings to your liking.
- Cover the bowl and chill the potato salad until you're ready to serve.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Do you have a recipe like this only using cauliflower instead? Or should I just substitute?
I don't have one with cauliflower, but I think it would work well in this recipe. I'd love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
I've used tons of your recipes over the time, from main courses to deserts and toppings- and I love all of them! I base all my cooking on these recipes and they never disappoint me. I just made this salad- it's cooling off in the fridge, but from what I could taste, it's, again, amazing.
I just want you to know that I absolutely LOVE your recipes and use them all the time. Thank you!!
I'm so glad you're enjoying them! Thanks so much Cindy!