Do you love potato salad but hate the mayonnaise dressing? This pesto potato salad is a healthier and lighter alternative. New baby potatoes mixed with thinly sliced crunchy radishes, sweet green peas and a sprinkling of chopped bacon, this salad will become a BBQ favourite.
The pesto dressing is loaded with spinach, parsley, cilantro and made creamy with walnuts and a drizzle of olive oil.
Serve this gorgeous salad with our Best Homemade Burgers!
In the season of barbecues and outdoor eating you can’t find a more suitable side dish to a grilled steak or a burger than a nicely made potato salad.
I grew up with my mom’s best potato salad, which made me a bit of a snob. I give no excuses but I do offer recipes and this pesto potato salad is a great one!
Recipe Tips and Notes
I absolutely love that this potato salad is made without mayonnaise, which makes it much lighter. This creamy pesto flavoured salad is absolutely packed with nutrients, found in spinach, herbs and vegetables without using cream or dairy of any kind.
What potatoes to use
One of the most important part of making a potato salad is starting with the right kind of potato. There are two types of potatoes that exist. Floury or starchy and waxy.
The waxy ones are what you are looking for in a potato salad as they cook up soft but still hold their shape. New potatoes are always great as well since they haven’t developed much starch yet.
Add Bacon
Another great feature of a potato salad is a contrast of the creamy and the crunchy. In this recipe I paired sliced radishes and peas with creamy pesto smothered potatoes.
Then I sprinkled everything with bacon because everything is improved by a bit of salty, crunchy bits that bacon brings!
Salad Dressing Recipe
The dressing has the basic ingredients for Italian basil pesto but instead of using basil and pine nuts as the base, I am using spinach, cilantro, parsley and walnuts.
I made so much of that pesto, and literally fell in love with the flavour that for the next two weeks I’ve been putting it in everything. My morning eggs, my sandwich and finally potato salad.
Making your own pesto is very easy. Just add spinach, cilantro and parsley, walnuts lemon juice, red wine vinegar, garlic, olive oil, salt and chilli flakes to a blender or a food processor and blend until smooth.
Alternatively, you can buy already prepared pesto. However, I would recommend making your own spinach pesto as its taste is truly what makes this potato salad.
If you choose to purchase your pesto sauce, go for the refrigerated pesto over jarred ones. They are so much fresher and more flavourful!
More salad recipes for your BBQs and picnics:
- Summer Tomato and Cucumber Salad
- Green Goddess Pasta Salad
- Cabbage Salad
- Summer Picnic Couscous Salad with Feta
This recipe was originally published in 07/2013. Updated and re-published in 06/2019.
Pesto Potato Salad with Bacon
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp spinach pesto recipe
- 1 lbs new baby potatoes cut in half or quartered
- 10 radishes sliced
- 250g/1 cup frozen and thawed green peas or fresh shelled peas
- 4 strips bacon chopped
- 1 tbsp microgreens optional
Instructions
- Cook the potatoes in a large pot until tender but not falling apart, they should be firm. I prefer to cook mine with the skins on. If you are using large potatoes, quarter them after they've been cooked. Let them stream dry and set aside.
- Coat the potatoes with the pesto sauce while they are still warm. That will allow for the flavours to blend properly. Put in the refrigerator for the potatoes to cool. Cook the bacon, cool slightly, then chop.
- Before serving toss the salad with sliced radishes, peas and chopped bacon, taste and add salt if necessary. Sprinkle with microgreens or chopped herbs.
Erin says
You are so right. The potatoes you use make the difference in the recipe. I love how creamy and delicious this potato salad is.
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Thanks so much, Erin! My potato salad texture improved so much once I realised that waxy potatoes are a must!
Andrea Thueson says
Potatoes and pesto = the perfect combo! I loved this dish
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Thanks so much, Andrea! I love how much flavour this spinach pesto brings to the table!
katerina says
This is totally my kind of salad!! I can’t wait to try it! YUM!
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Anastasia says
The salad looks divine! I’m also admiring the wood on your background! Gorgeous!
Monique Bartley says
If people are trying to pinch your food while you’re back is turned, it’s always a good sign that it smell/looks/tastes amazing!
emanuelle lee says
yum!!!
Vikalinka says
It really is ;-). Thanks for stopping by!
tinywhitecottage says
A wonderful looking…and sounding potato salad.
Sarah says
Yum! LOoks awesome. Sometimes being a food snob pays off, huh?
Vikalinka says
Yup, just like I said I make no excuses for my food snobbery. lol