Whole Food Plant Based Potato Salad (Oil-Free)

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Creamy, crunchy, and satisfying, this Whole Food Plant Based Potato Salad is an amazing low-fat side or entree. Made with no mayo, oil, nuts, or seeds, this healthy low fat potato salad is the perfect dish to take to a summer cookout, on a picnic, or just make it for meal prep! This potato salad tastes every bit as delicious as traditional but with healthier ingredients.

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One of the most common things I hear as a person who eats a high carbohydrate, low fat whole food plant based diet is, how are you not gaining weight from all the potatoes you eat? (I’ve been known to go through 10 pounds of potatoes a week!)

And the truth is, potatoes are great for you. Potatoes are full of nutrients! They’re only bad for you when you load them with oil (by frying them), salt, butter or other dairy, etc.

So how am I not gaining weight from potatoes? I’m keeping my condiments/toppings low fat as I always do and I always pair a starch with a vegetable during a meal.

Example: 2 large gold potatoes + a pound of broccoli. Note that I’m not telling you to eat those foods or that amount, I’m explaining what I personally do.

That’s a meal that fills me up. I don’t eat it plain, of course, I usually add my plant-based nacho cheese sauce and/or edamame guacamole or dip everything in a hummus like my butter bean hummus, traditional oil-free hummus, or beet hummus.

Another really nice thing I like to do with potatoes (especially with gold potatoes, which are my favorite because they’re so creamy) is make a whole food plant based potato salad!

This low fat potato salad is made with potatoes (duh), crunchy veggies, fresh herbs, and a low fat FLAVORFUL creamy sauce that takes the place of mayo or oil-laden vegan mayo.

There are plenty of substitutions, too, so I feel confident that you can make this recipe even if you can’t have/don’t like some of the ingredients! You’re going to love this healthy vegan potato salad.

Ingredients

See the recipe card below for the full ingredients list (with amounts) and instructions.

• Gold Potatoes: Gold potatoes are my favorite to use in just about anything (except a loaded baked potato, coming soon!), and they’re great in this potato salad! I don’t bother peeling them, but you can if you like (the skins are so thin I don’t notice them, and there are nutrients in potato skins!)
• Celery: I love the crunchiness of celery in a potato salad. Celery is a naturally salty vegetable so it also adds nice flavor. If you hate celery, just omit or see substitution ideas below.
• Green Onions: Also known as scallions or spring onions, this vegetable adds a lot of fresh flavor and more texture. It’s also the most mild variety of onion.
• Fresh Chives and Dill: I love the flavor that fresh herbs provide here, but you can use dried chives and/or dried dill weed in a pinch.
• Silken Tofu: So this recipe calls for 16 ounces silken tofu. You can find 16-ounce packages of silken tofu in the refrigerator section at your local grocery store, that’s where I buy mine even in my little town that has almost nothing. But if you can only buy your silken tofu in the shelf-stable 12-ounce aseptic containers, you can either use 1 + ¼ of those, or just use one pack and add 2-4 tablespoons of soaked raw cashews, soaked raw sunflower seeds, cooked white beans, or dehydrated potato flakes.
• Nutritional Yeast: This adds a lovely savory flavor AND helps thicken our sauce. If you cannot have nutritional yeast, see the substitutions below.
• Lemon Juice: While I love fresh squeezed lemon juice, I don’t always have it on hand. Bottled lemon juice works fine here, just use one you like.
• Dijon Mustard: This adds a great little zing to the sauce.
• Medjool Date, Pitted: I use one small pitted Medjool date to balance the flavors in the sauce. You can omit it and see if you even need it. I prefer the sauce with the date, which is why I included it in the recipe, but everyone has different tastes.
• Granulated Onion and Granulated Garlic: For flavor!
• White or Yellow Miso Paste: This is to replace the salt in the recipe, but I also love the little hint of umami flavors. Per Dr. Michael Greger of NutritionFacts.org, the soy in miso has a protective effect so the sodium in miso paste will not affect us negatively. Please feel free to omit or use a pinch of salt if that is what you prefer.

Substitutions

• Gold Potatoes: Red potatoes also work well in a potato salad and they also have a thin skin, meaning you don’t have to peel it. Russet potatoes tend to be a little less than ideal for potato salad because they have a different texture, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them. You may want to peel Russet potatoes as they have a thicker skin, but that’s up to you. This recipe also works with sweet potatoes, though I have a unique recipe coming out for that soon!
• Celery: Don’t like celery? Try diced bell peppers, sugar snap peas, or finely chopped carrots!
• Green Onions: If you don’t mind a bigger onion flavor, try finely chopped red onion.
• Fresh Chives and Dill: Use one tablespoon each dried chives and/or dried dill weed in a pinch, or substitute fresh parsley, basil, or cilantro.
• Silken Tofu: If you can only find soft or regular tofu (don’t use firm), you can use this and just add a little plain unsweetened non-dairy milk (just enough to blend). If you don’t want to use tofu at all, you can do 1+½ cups drained and rinsed canned (or cooked from dried) white beans, 2 cups boiled and drained peeled potatoes (or gold potatoes, which you can leave the skin on), or 1 cup of either soaked raw cashews or soaked raw sunflower seeds (and you will need water or plain unsweetened non-dairy milk to blend, and how much depends on how long you soaked them so start with equal parts nuts/seeds and liquid and adjust from there.
• Nutritional Yeast: Instead of nutritional yeast, you can use three tablespoons of dehydrated potato flakes OR 1-2 tablespoons of soaked raw cashews / soaked raw sunflower seeds, OR a quarter cup of cooked white beans.
• Lemon Juice: If you don’t have fresh or bottled lemon juice, you could do apple cider vinegar or white vinegar to taste. I’m not sure how lime juice would taste but you could try it!
• Dijon Mustard: This is an optional ingredient, so omit if you don’t like it. Any other mustard might be a little strong for this recipe, but you could try a half teaspoon of ground mustard seed.
• Medjool Date, Pitted: You can use a teaspoon or two of date syrup or pure maple syrup (or one tablespoon of date powder) if you do want the sweetness for balance but you don’t have dates on hand.
• Granulated Onion and Granulated Garlic: Skip or add your favorite spices if you can’t have these.
• White or Yellow Miso Paste: Instead of miso you can use salt or a potassium chloride salt substitute. Or leave it out, and maybe add a bit more lemon juice and seasonings.

How to Make Whole Food Plant Based Potato Salad

• Note about potatoes: This recipe calls for cooked AND cooled potatoes. While it’s possible to work with freshly cooked potatoes (I usually steam mine in the Instant Pot, but boiled works too), they can fall apart when stirred while they’re still warm. I tend to cook my potatoes whole, cool them on the counter for an hour, refrigerate overnight, then dice them when I’m ready to make my healthy potato salad. The other benefit to refrigerating potatoes is that they form resistant starch which has many health benefits.
• Prep potatoes: If your potatoes aren’t already chopped, cut them in similar bite-sized pieces (I do around ¾ – 1 inch, but if feeding to little kids, you might want to go with ½-inch). Add to a large mixing bowl.
• Add other veggies and herbs: On top of the potatoes, add the celery, green onions, and most of the herbs (you can do them all, I just like to reserve a few for sprinkling on top which is totally optional).
• Make the sauce: Add the silken tofu, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, pitted Medjool date, granulated onion, granulated garlic, and miso paste to the blender. Blend on high until smooth, stopping halfway through and scraping down the sides if necessary. Taste the mixture and adjust if necessary (more lemon, more spices, etc.)
• Combine: Pour all of the sauce into the potato and veggie mixture and stir well, but gently. I find it best to use a spatula to stir (my favorite for this task (and my favorite spatula overall) is called a spoonula!) so you don’t break the potatoes. Stir until all potatoes and veggies have been coated by the sauce.
• Refrigerate or Serve: I think this potato salad is delicious right away but also when it’s been refrigerating for a few hours, so go ahead and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator (for up to 4 days, but it’s best within the first day or so, since the veggies lose their texture after awhile) until you’re ready to serve.
• Serve: If you reserved a few herbs to sprinkle on top, do that when you serve the potato salad. Some people garnish with a sprinkle of paprika, but that’s up to you.

Expert Tips

• Work with cold potatoes: Make sure your potatoes are cooked AND cooled. Working with warm potatoes can break them quite easily, and if they’re too hot they can wilt the herbs.
• Add protein: Want more protein? Try adding crumbled tofu, lentils, or chickpeas/other beans to this whole food plant based potato salad.
• Don’t overcook the potatoes: Boil or steam your potatoes until they are just fork-tender (you can easily slide a fork into them), but not until they are falling apart. Potatoes that fall apart easily may make for a mushy potato salad (but they’re great for making mashed potatoes or a potato cheese sauce, both coming soon!).

Serving Suggestions

You can serve this whole food plant based potato salad as a side or a main and it’s great for picnics, cookouts, potlucks, or even meal prep!

I personally love to eat it as a main (with a large veggie side like a pound of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green beans, or cauliflower) over a big bed of lettuce. Sometimes I add halved grape or cherry tomatoes or I add broccoli sprouts or microgreens to the top.

But you could definitely enjoy my low fat vegan potato salad alongside the entree of your choice! See the list in the next section for ideas.

More Whole Food Plant Based Recipes to Try

• Bell Pepper Nachos with Edamame Guacamole and Plant Based Nacho Cheese Sauce
• Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff
• Kale Sweet Potato Salad
• Potato and Cauliflower Soup
• Healthy Chickpea Tuna Salad
• Portobello Pizzas
• Hummus Veggie Sandwich
• Cabbage Mushroom Soup
• Butter Bean Scramble
• Healthy Green Smoothie

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