Potatoes, regardless of the type, are my favorite! With a little love, potatoes transform into the most delicious side dishes or entrees. Pesto potato salad, without a doubt, holds a special place in my heart. Even though I love my Vegan Potato Salad recipe, pesto potato salad screams flavor!
When the kids show up for dinner, which is an often occurrence on the weekends, I always try to make unique meals. Most of the time, we barbeque, so I like to make a bunch of side dishes to go with whatever entree I prepare. This weekend, for instance, I made my Beet Burgers, which my kids love.
Since the kids recently visited and I made my Vegan Potato Salad, I decided to give my traditional vegan potato salad by making it with pesto instead of my Vegan Cashew Mayo. Surprisingly, the crowd went wild!
WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN MY PESTO POTATO SALAD?
I order to change it up a bit, I added vegetables I think go well with pesto. So, when I went to the farmer's market this week, I picked vegetables with vibrant colors, but ones that go naturally with the basil flavors in my oil-free pesto recipe.
- Red onion
- Celery
- Grape tomatoes (red and yellow ones for added color)
- Radishes
- Red bell pepper
- Baby gold potatoes
TWO OIL-FREE PESTO OPTIONS FOR PESTO POTATO SALAD
Because many people have nut allergies, I have two options for oil-free pesto. As a result, you can pick whichever pesto you prefer; both work well with the pesto potato salad recipe.
NUT-FREE PESTO SAUCE OPTION
Of course, fresh basil is essential in a pesto sauce, but in this version of vegan pesto, the beans provide the creaminess. The nutritional yeast, on the other hand, provides the cheesiness.
- 1 ½ cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves. The more the merrier.
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 15 ounces can navy/cannellini beans (1.5 cups); rinsed and drained
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt
Then, it is just a matter of using a high-speed blender to blend all the ingredients together. As a matter of fact, making vegan pesto sauce takes 5 minutes from start to finish.
If you add nuts to your plant-based plan, this pesto sauce is made from cashews and similar ingredients. The cashews provide the creaminess for this version of oil-free pesto.
OIL-FREE CASHEW PESTO SAUCE
- 1 ½ cups fresh basil, washed and roughly torn packed cups
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 2 garlic cloves or more to taste
- 1 ¼ cups organic vegetable broth
- juice of 1 lemon (2 Tablespoons)
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
Once the potatoes are boiled and cooled, combine the vegetables and cooled potatoes in a large bowl. Then, dress with one of the two pesto sauce recipes.
Both the pesto sauce and the pesto potato salad can be made ahead of time. Actually, making the pesto potato salad a few hours before serving, enhances the flavors of the pesto with the potatoes and vegetables.
Let's just say this potato salad is a keeper! If you are looking for a unique salad with a ton of flavor, give pesto potato salad a try. It's dressed to impress!
TRY THESE GREAT SIDE DISH SALADS FOR YOUR NEXT BARBEQUE!
- Vegan Potato Salad
- Vegan Macaroni Salad
- Charred Corn Salad
- Vegan Bean Salad
- Vegan Coleslaw
- Mango Salad
- Mexican Chopped Salad
- Cajun Pasta Salad
- Healthy Greek Pasta Salad
- Marinated Vegetable Salad
Pesto Potato Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Potatoes and Vegetables
- 1 pound baby gold potatoes or red potatoes, cut into quarters (equal-sized)
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- ½ red onion diced
- 4 stalks celery diced
- 8 radishes sliced thin
- 1 pint grape tomatoes cut in halves
Nut-Free Pesto Option
- 1 ½ cups tightly packed basil leaves
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 15 ounces navy or cannelloni beans 1.5 cups rinsed and drained
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 lemons juiced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Cashew Oil-Free Pesto Option
- 1 ½ cups tightly packed fresh basil washed and roughly torn
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 ¼ cup vegetable broth
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
Instructions
- Prepare the potatoes and vegetables
- Cut potatoes (skin on) into quarters (all the same size, so they cook evenly)
- Place cut potatoes in a pot with a teaspoon of salt and cover with water.
- Bring to a boil, and boil for 15 minutes until cooked through.
- Removed the pot from the stove and drain cooked potatoes in a colander and run cold water over the potatoes to stop cooking.
- It is important to move the potatoes around, gently, while running the cold water through the colander, so all the potatoes are cool.
- Set aside.
- Diced all the vegetables and cut the tomatoes.
- Place the cooled potatoes and the vegetables in a large bowl.
- Choose which pesto recipe you prefer, or use your favorite store-bought brand.
- Regardless of which recipe you prepare, use a high-speed blender to blend until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour the basil dressing over the potatoes and vegetables in the bowl and gently fold in the dressing, so not to smash the potatoes
- Cover and place in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.
- This recipe can be made a day ahead as well.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
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