This creamy vegan pesto potato salad makes for the best summer side dish! New potatoes are tossed in a homemade pesto and mayonnaise dressing.
We all love a classic potato salad but if you’re looking to switch it up this pesto potato salad is for you! All the flavours of pesto with the added creaminess of vegan mayonnaise. It doesn’t get better!
It’s creamy, lemony, herby, nutty and just damn right delicious. Plus it comes together in 30 minutes!
What you’ll need for pesto potato salad:
- New potatoes – you can use any, jersey royal or British gems are my favourite
- Basil
- Pine nuts
- Nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan
- Lemon
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Vegan Mayonnaise
- Salt
- Black pepper
That’s 10 ingredients for the most delicious potato salad! The pesto really brings this potato salad to life.
It’s not just good on potatoes, add it to pasta, drizzle on pizza, add to toasties or serve with crisps! There’s not many things pesto doesn’t go with!
For cheesiness we are using nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan (Violife or Follow Your Heart are my favourite). But I tend to use nutritional yeast as I always have it in the pantry.
How to make vegan potato salad:
First start my boiling the potatoes in salted water. You want to make sure you cut the potatoes in similar sizes so they cook evenly.
Whilst the potatoes are cooking, prepare the pesto. Place the basil, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, lemon, garlic and salt in a food processor. Blend until the pine nuts have broken down and all the basil is finely chopped.
Whilst still blending, gently drizzle the olive oil until all combined and smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and then run under cold water to cool them down. Place in a bowl and add the pesto, mayonnaise, lemon zest and toasted pine nuts.
Carefully mix using a large spoon or gently toss the bowl until all combined. Top with some extra chopped basil and black pepper and serve!
What to serve with this pesto potato salad:
- BBQ food! Burgers, sausages, hot dogs, kebabs – you name it!
- Grilled veggies – peppers, courgettes, corn on the cob, asparagus
- Alongside other salads – coleslaw, beetroot salad, couscous salad
Whatever you serve this potato salad with, it’s sure to be delicious! It’s a great dish to make in the summer when you’re hosting!
For more potato recipes you may enjoy these recipes:
As always if you make this vegan pesto potato salad be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
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Pesto Potato Salad
This creamy pesto potato salad is the perfect summery side! With a homemade vegan pesto and mayonnaise sauce it's zesty, nutty and full of flavour!
Ingredients
- 1 kg / 2.2lbs new potatoes
- 30g / 1 cup fresh basil
- 45g / 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast / vegan parmesan
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 garlic clove
- Juice of half a lemon
- 60 ml / 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 heaped tbsp vegan mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- Black pepper
To top
- 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts
- Extra basil
Instructions
- Cut the potatoes in half so they are all roughly the same size. Place in a pan of salted boiling water for 20-25 minutes until soft through.
- Whilst boiling, make the pesto. Add the basil, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, lemon, garlic and salt in a food processor. Blend until the pine nuts are broken down and the basil is finely chopped.
- Keep blending and slowly pour the olive oil in until it is smooth and turns into pesto.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and run under cold water to cool them down.
- Place potatoes in a large bowl and add pesto, vegan mayonnaise, lemon zest and a generous amount of crushed black pepper.. Use a large spoon to gently coat the potatoes in the sauce or lift the bowl and toss to combine.
- Top with toasted pine nuts and extra basil and black pepper!
- Serve straight away or keep in the fridge in an air tight container for 3-4 days.
Notes
You can use any baby/new potatoes. My favourite are jersey royals or British gems.