A simple French Potato Salad with fresh herbs – tarragon, parsley and chives, with a flavorful Dijon Vinaigrette. Healthy, vegan and light with no mayo!
Where do we possibly find peace in the midst of chaos, division, injustice, destruction of land, pollution of air and water, illness and death? We find it in the deathless Spirit that is here in each moment. We find it in the Mystery that is awake within each of us, in the Heart of Awareness that neither refuses nor attaches to our thoughts and emotions but holds everything in its Love. ~Dorothy Hunt
Savory, quick, and easy, this French Potato Salad is simple to make, yet deeply satisfying. It pairs well with so many things and is perfect for gatherings and potlucks.
It highlights fresh colorful potatoes that are abundant right now at local farmers’ markets- so many fun varieties to choose from!
Here we've used purple fingerlings, German butterball, red potatoes, and Yukon golds. Play around with different varieties for diverse flavor, shape, and color. Thin-skinned potatoes work best here.
Fresh herbs like tarragon, parsley, and chives enhance the flavors making it taste quite magical. Tarragon adds a unique complexity to the salad, and is a classic ingredient in true French Potato Salad – but if you wish, you can substitute different tender herbs like dill or basil.
The flavors are more intense warm or at room temperature but still quite good served chilled.
A perfect end-of-summer salad or side dish!
Slice the potatoes into 1/4-inch thick rounds.
Cover with water and add the salt.
Add whole garlic cloves to the simmering water.
While the potatoes simmer and soften (about 5 minutes) make the Dijon Vinaigrette and chop the fresh herbs.
Drain the potatoes and let them cool slightly.
Then gently toss the potatoes in a bowl with the flavorful Dijon dressing and the fresh herbs.
Serve immediately or at room temperature, or feel free to chill it! It will keep for 4 days in the fridge.
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We know you will enjoy the fresh flavors of this French Potato Salad and won’t miss the mayo one bit! Pair it with all your grilling this holiday weekend and please let us know what you think in the comments below.
Have a beautiful weekend!
xoxo
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French Potato Salad
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: salad, vegan,
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This French Potato Salad is loaded up with fresh herbs – tarragon, parsley, and chives and dressed in the most flavorful Dijon Vinaigrette. It’s vegan, with no mayo, and quick and easy to make. Healthy and light!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh potatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick (little, thin-skinned potatoes work best here)
- 2 tablespoons of sea salt
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, roughly chopped (or sub 1/4 cup dill or basil ribbons)
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives (or sub green onions), minced
Instructions
Boil the Potatoes: Place the sliced potatoes in a large saucepan cover completely with cold water. Sprinkle in salt and bring to a boil. Add the 2 cloves of garlic, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes or until potatoes are just tender.
Make the Vinaigrette: While potatoes are simmering, make the vinaigrette by whisking together dijon, oil, vinegar and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
Assemble: Drain potatoes and garlic. Place potatoes mostly single layer on a baking sheet to cool. Mince the cooked garlic and add to the vinaigrette. Drizzle the vinaigrette evenly over the warm potatoes. Let sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes.
Serve: Add to a serving bowl gently tossing with the chopped fresh herbs. Serve at room temp or refrigerate and chill.
Notes
This can be made ahead and chilled up to 4 days, but also really delicious served at room temp.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¾ cup
- Calories: 165
- Sugar: 1.3 g
- Sodium: 1813.1 mg
- Fat: 9.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.5 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 2.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
I love the multi-color potatoes in this beautiful salad! Thinly slicing them on my mandolin made the prep and cook time really fast. And the Dijon Vinaigrette and herbs gave it such great flavor. It is perfect for a picnic because you don’t have to worry about mayo spoiling in the heat. I plan to make a big batch of this for our neighborhood block party this year… Thanks!!
Wonderful Pam! So appreciate your reviews. 🙂
I love your recipes! I made several of them regularly.
My husband is not a fan of mustards. Do I need to add extra olive oil in its place or can I just leave it out?
Also wondering if one could substitute the fresh tarragon and chives with fresh cilantro and a little bit of minced red onion. I have parsley and cilantro at the moment and would love to make this with what I currently have on hand.
Hi Anne, Feel free to play around with the ingredients! The mustard gives a bright tang- so you may want to add more vinegar.
Thank you! I think I will try this tonight.
Love to hear what you think!
I love this potato salad so much!!!
Awesome!
Wonderful! This is my staple potluck contribution and it always gets compliments!
Awesome to hear Joanna!
What is the red ingredient please? Looks like sausage
Those are red potatoes. 🙂
I thought that too till I read On a bit. I’m not sure we have red potatoes in UK. But will still have a go. Like the idea of not his g mayo!
It is best with new potatoes or thin-skinned. Russets are not preferred. Let us know what you try!
Yum!! Also fantastic with small potatoes microwaved for a couple minutes. Thank you!
Oh good to know!
Amazingly flavorful and so easy! I dug up my fingerling potatoes yesterday and searched the internet for a recipe for
a party contribution. As always, I ended up at your site, and immediately settled on this recipe. It was a huge hit. Thank you!
Awesome Karen, what a perfect use for your fresh potatoes! This is one of my favorites.