Quick & Easy Cajun Potato Salad

Spice up your next barbecue with this Cajun potato salad recipe. Loaded with vegetables and dressed in a tangy Cajun dressing, this cajun-style potato salad will wow your friends at the next potluck, picnic, or outing.

Cajun potato salad? Oh yes! Instead of plain, traditional potato salad, try this cajun style potato salad recipe. When I think about the taste of cajun food, it makes me warm and fuzzy inside. I love spicy food, but cajun potato salad is in a league all its own.  Cajun seasoning has a bold, spicy flavor with its subtle earthiness that adds a satisfying flavor to any food.

Jump to:

• What Does Cajun Taste Like? 
• Cajun Style Potato Salad Ingredients
• Vegan Cajun Potato Salad Ingredient Substitutions
• Cajun Salad Dressing Ingredients
• Cajun Dressing Substitutions
• How to Make Cajun Style Potato Salad
• Recipe FAQs
• Tips
• Recommended Salad Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

The results are astounding when you pair cajun seasoning with creamy potato salad. So, let's make a tasty vegan cajun potato salad recipe to bring to your next potluck or barbeque. 

The beauty of using any spice is adding the exact spice level to please the individual palate. For instance, I love it spicy. However, this cajun potato salad recipe tastes mild. If you want to spice it up, add more cajun spice. Remember, though, spice is easy to add but cannot be removed once added, so thread lightly. 

What Does Cajun Taste Like? 

Although many people make their own cajun spice blend, my favorite brand is Slap Ya Mama Cajun Natural Cajun Seasoning from Louisiana. Not too spicy and full of flavor, this cajun blend works with any dish. Use as a rub for grilling, smoking, or baking vegetables or tofu. Add cajun flavor to jambalaya, gumbo, vegan cajun pasta, or cajun pasta salad. Even add some spice to your Bloody Mary or beer if you dare!

Cajun Style Potato Salad Ingredients

Whenever I make cajun potato salad, I choose Yukon Gold potatoes for their thin, smooth, eye-free skin and yellow-tinged flesh, and buttery taste. 

• Yukon gold potatoes: Yukon gold potatoes' golden flesh is richly flavored and fairly firm and moist, with medium starch content. A perfect compromise between dry, fluffy russet potatoes and moist, waxy varieties, Yukon Golds are incredibly versatile. They're superb for mashing and in soups and chowders, and they're great for roasting and sauteeing, too.
• Green onions (scallions): Scallions have the sharp, somewhat spicy, peppery flavor that white and yellow onions produce. This makes them a nice substitute for small amounts of chopped onions, in a pinch. 
• Carrots: Carrots are sweet, woody, and earthy with a noticeable harshness.
• Parsley: Parsley has a bright, herbaceous, and slightly bitter taste that serves as a contrast to emphasize the other flavors in a dish, similar to lemon zest
• Celery: Celery has a strong yet subtle earthy and grassy taste while Lettuce has a mild grassy and slightly sweet flavor. It brings a fabulous crunch to potato salad.
• Red bell pepper: Red bells are sweeter, not bitter, and often have a slight citrus flavor.
• Jalapeno: Jalapenos are actually mild in comparison to many hot peppers. Always use gloves when handling jalapenos. Remove the seeds and veins. However, if you want to add more heat, add a few seeds.

Vegan Cajun Potato Salad Ingredient Substitutions

• Choose any desired potatoes; skins on or off.
• Use green or yellow bell peppers or baby bell peppers for various colors.
• Replace green onions with red onions for a sweeter onion flavor.
• Fresno chili peppers are often substituted for jalapeno peppers.
• Substitute parsley with cilantro or basil for a different herb flavor.

Cajun Salad Dressing Ingredients

To make the dressing, start with vegan cashew mayo and add the following ingredients:

• Dijon mustard: Dijon mustard has a tangy, sharp, and strong flavor with a bit of spice.
• Yellow mustard: Yellow mustard has a crisp, tart-and-tangy flavor that won't be clearing anyone's sinuses with spice.
• Garlic: Overall, garlic has a flavor profile of onion, herbaceous, and pungent with slight sulfurous notes.
• Smoked paprika: Smoked paprika has a smoky and spicy flavor with hints of sweetness. Mildly hot smoked paprika does not have much sweetness, but it has some heat in the flavor
• Cajun seasoning: Cajun Seasoning has a bold spicy flavor (from the cayenne and paprika) with a subtle earthiness (provided by the garlic, onion, and herbs)

Cajun Dressing Substitutions

• For a nut-free option, use silken tofu or white beans instead of nuts.
• For a less smokey flavor, choose paprika instead of smoked paprika.
• Stone ground mustard is a good substitute for dijon mustard.
• Make your own cajun seasoning with paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, pepper, and oregano.

Next, mix the dressing into the ingredients by folding it gently into the potatoes and vegetables in the large bowl. 

How to Make Cajun Style Potato Salad

1. First, cut the Yukon gold potatoes into equal bite-sized pieces. This ensures equal cooking and allows for easy eating! You can leave the skins on for optimum nutrition or remove them.
2. Once cut into pieces, boil the potatoes for 20 minutes or until the potatoes pierce through easily with a fork. However, time may vary depending on the size of the pieces of potatoes; larger ones require longer cooking, and smaller pieces, less time. 
3. To cool the potatoes correctly, drain them in a colander and immediately run cold water over them, making sure to reach all the potatoes in the colander. 
4. When the potatoes are cool to the touch, transfer them to a large bowl and add the assorted vegetables. 
5. Next, mix the dressing into the ingredients by folding it gently into the potatoes and vegetables in the large bowl. 
6. As a result, the potatoes remain intact, and the potato salad is ready for refrigeration. 

The flavors enhance as the cajun potato salad chills, so don't add any extra seasoning until after it chills for about an hour. Then, taste and adjust. 

I served this potato salad recipe with a buffalo chickpea wrap, but this slightly spicy potato salad goes well with tofu burgers, vegan sloppy joes, and grilled vegetable kabobs.

Recipe FAQs

Tips

• Leave the skins on the potatoes for added texture and nutritional value.
• Cut potatoes into equal sizes, so they cook evenly.
• Use a vegetable chopper for a quick and easy way to cut uniform-sized vegetables.
• Allow potatoes to cool before adding them to the other ingredients and dressing.
• Once dressed, place the salad in the refrigerator for an hour or more, so the flavors develop.

If you like your potato salad spicy, try this Cajun-style recipe at your next family barbecue or get-together!

Recommended Salad Recipes

If you love this cajun potato salad, give us a 5-star review and drop a comment below. We would love to hear from you!

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