This Niçoise inspired potato salad is perfect for people who would prefer their potato salad without mayo. While I do like a creamy, mayonnaise-based potato salad sometimes, I understand why someone might want to steer clear. A potato salad without mayo means less stress about keeping your salad cool (and safe to eat) at outdoor events. Plus, there are plenty of people who are simply adverse to mayonnaise. This is a great option to keep a crowd happy.
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This potato salad replaces mayo with a bright, tangy Dijon vinaigrette which is a great foil to rich and fatty BBQ foods like ribs and steak making it the perfect summer side salad. This recipe also includes a handful of ingredients found in a Niçoise salad. Since potatoes are one of the key ingredients in Niçoise salad, this seemed like a pretty obvious flex. The result is a very delicious and flavorful potato salad without mayo but with loads of texture and flavor.
I also have a couple of helpful meal planning hacks for you while making this dish. Since it doesn’t take too much extra time, double the number of green beans that you prep and cook. And make more hardboiled eggs than you need for the salad. Later in the week, you will have some ready-to-go sides. Just toss your warmed-up green beans in some garlic butter or chili crisp for a quick dinner side dish; and whip up some egg salad for lunch!
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Niçoise-style Potato Salad (without Mayo)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs red potatoes cut into 2-3-inch chunks
- ¼ cup cider vinegar
- 6 oz green beans trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces, and cooked until tender crisp; see note
- 4 eggs hard boiled and chopped into 6ths or 8ths; see note
- 20 olives pitted and halved; your favorite mix
- ¼ cup capers drained and rinsed of extraneous brine
- ¼ cup parsley roughly chopped
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp shallot finely minced
- 1 clove garlic grated on a microplane or finely minced
- 1 tsp thyme leaves about 5-6 stems
- 3 anchovy fillets chopped finely
- ½ tsp white pepper
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp sugar or honey
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Place your cut potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Place on the stove over medium-high heat, bring to a boil. Boil until the potatoes are fork tender.Remove from heat, drain, and place into a large bowl. Toss with cider vinegar. Let cool to room temperature about an hour. The potatoes will soak up the tangy vinegar while they are cooling.
- While the potatoes are cooking and cooling, prepare the other ingredients. Cook the green beans and eggs. Chop the olives and parsley.
- While the potatoes are cooling, make the dressing. Place the lemon juice and shallots in a medium bowl. Add the garlic, thyme leaves, anchovies, white pepper, salt, sugar, and Dijon mustard. Whisk to combine well. Then slowly drizzle in the olive oil whisking constantly to make sure the oil emulsifies into the dressing.
- Once the potatoes are cool, add the green beans, olives, capers, and hard boiled eggs, and parsley. Toss gently to combine. Then add the dressing. Mix gently until everything is coated. If you are going to refrigerate and serve this salad later, reserve about ¼ of the dressing to add fresh when you serve.
Notes
- I like using my Instant Pot to cook the green beans and hard boiled eggs.
- For the green beans, cook on high pressure with 1 cup of water for 3-4 minutes; 3 minutes if you like a crisper green bean and 4 if you like one that’s more cooked. Release the pressure immediately and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and cool the green beans.
- For the hard boiled eggs, place 4-8 eggs on the Instant Pot trivet. Add 1 cup of water, and cook for 8 minutes. Release the pressure immediately and put the eggs in an ice bath to cool quickly.
- This salad would make a good light dinner or lunch, too. I’d add 1 can of drained Italian-style canned tuna to add more protein to the meal.
- Shop: Instant Pot
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