This is the potato salad for people who have been disappointed by potato salad: no mayonnaise, no gluey dressing, no heavy sweetness — just small potatoes sliced thick, dressed while warm in a sharp wholegrain mustard vinaigrette, with red onion for bite and a great deal of parsley. The photograph is the bowl exactly: golden coins of potato, visible mustard seeds, herbs everywhere. It is French in spirit, picnic-proof in practice, and it tastes better at room temperature than cold, which makes it the most cooperative side dish you can bring anywhere.
It joins our Snacks & Sides collection as the deliberate counterpoint to Creamy Coleslaw and Creamy Pasta Salad — when the main dish is rich, this is the bright, sharp side that cuts through it. Because there is no mayonnaise or egg in it, it also sits happily on a buffet table without the two-hour anxiety clock that creamy salads run on.
The technique that makes it is dressing the potatoes hot. Warm potatoes absorb vinaigrette the way a sponge takes water; cold potatoes merely get coated in it. Slice them the moment they are cool enough to handle, pour the dressing over while steam is still rising, and the salad seasons itself to the centre of every slice.
Start the potatoes in cold water
Potatoes dropped into boiling water cook unevenly — the outside turns to mush while the centre is still firm — because the heat reaches the middle long after the surface has surrendered. Starting the pot cold and bringing everything up together cooks each potato evenly from skin to centre, which matters doubly here because the slices must hold their edges in the salad. Salt the water generously, like pasta water: this is the only chance to season the interior of the potato, and no amount of dressing fixes a bland centre.
Why no mayo changes the serving rules
A vinaigrette-dressed salad is stable in ways a mayonnaise salad is not: it serves warm, at room temperature or cold, it travels without an ice pack panic, and its flavour actually improves over the first day as the potatoes finish absorbing the dressing. The trade-off is that it wants a final refresh — a drizzle of olive oil and a scatter of fresh herbs just before serving wake it back up after a night in the fridge, when the potatoes will have drunk the dressing down and the bowl can look drier than it tastes.
Ingredients
- 2 lb baby potatoes (900 g), scrubbed, larger ones halved
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt (18 g), for the cooking water
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (80 ml)
- 3 tablespoons wholegrain mustard (45 g)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (30 ml)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (5 g)
- 1 teaspoon honey (7 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt (3 g), plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (1.5 g)
- 1/2 small red onion (about 60 g), sliced paper-thin
- 3/4 cup fresh parsley leaves (30 g), roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives or dill (8 g), optional
Amounts are for the yield below. US customary measures first, grams in brackets for scale users.
Step-by-step instructions
- Boil the potatoes evenly. Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water by 1 inch (2.5 cm), and add the tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a lively simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until a knife slides into the largest potato with no resistance but the potato does not fall apart. Even doneness is everything — test two or three potatoes, not one.
- Soften the onion's bite. While the potatoes cook, put the sliced red onion in a small bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. This takes the raw sulphur edge off without removing the onion's crunch or colour, so it seasons the salad instead of shouting over it. Drain and pat dry before it goes in.
- Whisk the vinaigrette. In a large serving bowl — the one the salad will live in — whisk the olive oil, wholegrain mustard, vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, fine salt and black pepper until it thickens slightly and looks creamy. The double mustard is deliberate: wholegrain brings the seeds and texture you can see in the photograph, Dijon brings the emulsifying strength that holds the dressing together.
- Slice and dress them hot. Drain the potatoes and let the steam die down for just 2 minutes. Slice them into thick coins, about 1/3 inch (8 mm), while still hot — halved ones can stay in halves — and tip them straight into the bowl of vinaigrette. Fold gently with a large spoon until every slice is glossy. The hot potatoes will drink in roughly half the dressing as they sit; that absorption is the entire point of this recipe.
- Rest, then add onion and herbs. Leave the salad for at least 15 minutes, folding once or twice, so the dressing settles into the slices. Then fold in the drained red onion, the parsley and the chives or dill. Adding the herbs after the rest keeps them green and fresh instead of wilting them against hot potato, and the onion keeps its crunch.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. Taste and correct with salt, pepper or a last splash of vinegar — the salad should taste bright and mustardy, never flat. Serve warm or at room temperature with an extra scatter of herbs over the top, in the bowl from the photograph if yours cooperates. It is the natural partner for grilled sausages, roast chicken and anything coming off a barbecue.
Nutrition estimate
| Nutrient | Per serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 196 kcal |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 24 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Saturated fat | 1 g |
| Sodium | 430 mg |
| Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 3 g |
Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from standard ingredient data for the yield stated. Your actual values will vary with brands, substitutions and portion sizes — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.
Storage & reheating
The salad keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and improves over the first day as the potatoes finish absorbing the dressing. Bring it back to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving and refresh it with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of vinegar and fresh herbs if it looks dry — chilled oil firms up, and the room-temperature rest fixes most of it. Do not freeze potato salad; potatoes turn grainy and the dressing separates.
Easy Herbed Mustard Potato Salad
Baby potatoes, grainy mustard vinaigrette, no mayo — picnic-proof.
Ingredients
Tick ingredients off as you prep, and tap a step below to mark it done as you cook. Scaling adjusts the listed amounts - seasoning to taste stays your call.
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes evenly. Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water by 1 inch (2.5 cm), and add the tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a lively simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until a knife slides into the largest potato with no resistance but the potato does not fall apart. Even doneness is everything — test two or three potatoes, not one.
- Soften the onion's bite. While the potatoes cook, put the sliced red onion in a small bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. This takes the raw sulphur edge off without removing the onion's crunch or colour, so it seasons the salad instead of shouting over it. Drain and pat dry before it goes in.
- Whisk the vinaigrette. In a large serving bowl — the one the salad will live in — whisk the olive oil, wholegrain mustard, vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, fine salt and black pepper until it thickens slightly and looks creamy. The double mustard is deliberate: wholegrain brings the seeds and texture you can see in the photograph, Dijon brings the emulsifying strength that holds the dressing together.
- Slice and dress them hot. Drain the potatoes and let the steam die down for just 2 minutes. Slice them into thick coins, about 1/3 inch (8 mm), while still hot — halved ones can stay in halves — and tip them straight into the bowl of vinaigrette. Fold gently with a large spoon until every slice is glossy. The hot potatoes will drink in roughly half the dressing as they sit; that absorption is the entire point of this recipe.
- Rest, then add onion and herbs. Leave the salad for at least 15 minutes, folding once or twice, so the dressing settles into the slices. Then fold in the drained red onion, the parsley and the chives or dill. Adding the herbs after the rest keeps them green and fresh instead of wilting them against hot potato, and the onion keeps its crunch.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. Taste and correct with salt, pepper or a last splash of vinegar — the salad should taste bright and mustardy, never flat. Serve warm or at room temperature with an extra scatter of herbs over the top, in the bowl from the photograph if yours cooperates. It is the natural partner for grilled sausages, roast chicken and anything coming off a barbecue.
Recipe by Ahsan ul Haq · FryDaily. Printing? This card is designed to print cleanly on its own.
