When thinking about picnic salads or summer salads, potato salad is always a crowd-pleaser.
There are lots of varied potato salad recipes out there, including our delicious no mayo Broccoli Potato Salad Recipe With Roast Garlic Vinaigrette, but this Pesto Potato Salad is a celebration of traditional creamy potato salad recipes and fresh summer basil.
I love the simplicity of this salad. You simply boil the potatoes, blend your pesto dressing in a food processor, and combine. You can make this salad up to four days in advance or whip it up in less than an hour for an impromptu picnic or party.
Which are the Best Potatoes for Potato Salad
Choose a waxy potato over a starchy potato for potato salad. Look to potatoes such as Red(also known as Red Bliss Potatoes), New Potatoes or Fingerling. They will be less starchy than white and have a finer skin which is better for potatoes salads.
Choose smaller, firm potatoes. Stay clear of potatoes that have sprouted, have a green hue, are soft or wrinkly.
Ingredients
Process
Creamy Pesto Potato Salad
This fragrant and creamy pesto potato salad loaded with fresh basil is perfect for summer picnics and cookouts. So easy to make, it's a great make-ahead salad, or you can whip it up fresh in under an hour.
Ingredients
- 2 lb potatoes
- ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- ½ cup walnuts or pine nuts
- ½ teaspoon salt, adjust to taste
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
Instructions
- Before cooking the potatoes, you need to choose if you want to keep their skin or not. If you like the texture, keep it. If not, peel them before the next step.
- Chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.
- Cook potatoes – add the potatoes to cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until fork-tender. You can also use a steamer. Do not overcook the potatoes, as they will not hold their shape or become mushy. Another way you can cook the potatoes is whole; it will take longer, but once they’re cool, the peel comes off easily.
- While the potatoes cook, prepare the pesto dressing: You’ll need a hand mixer or blender to make the dressing.
- Add basil leaves, cream, mayonnaise, garlic clove, walnuts, salt, olive oil, and ground pepper and blend until you have a well combined and smooth consistency.
- Add parmesan cheese to the dressing mix and stir to combine.
- Once the potatoes have cooled, combine them with the creamy pesto. Optional: add some roughly chopped fresh basil and whole or rough chopped walnuts for extra flavour and texture.
Notes
Recipe Tips & Variations
- Choose a waxy potato such as a red new potato over a white starchy potato.
- Make sure you let your potatoes cool properly before adding the dressing.
- If you feel the dressing is too thick, add olive oil or mayonnaise.
- You can switch heavy cream for sour cream or a light version of either.
- To make this recipe vegan-friendly, replace parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast and heavy cream and mayonnaise with vegan mayo.
- You can switch walnuts for pine nuts
Storage
- Keep leftover potato salad covered in the fridge for up to three days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 699Total Fat: 51gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 39gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 579mgCarbohydrates: 53gFiber: 6gSugar: 4gProtein: 11g
Nutrition data provided here is only an estimate
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