Go Back
–+ servings
creamy vegan potato salad with dilll in a white bowl on a green backdrop
Print Recipe

The Best Vegan Potato Salad

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings: 6 to 8
Calories: 196kcal
Author: Nisha Vora

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds (900g) baby red potatoes, fingerling potatoes, or new potatoes

Dressing

  • ¼ cup (56g) tahini well-stirred
  • 4 ounces (112g) unsweetened coconut yogurt*
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed with a press or finely minced
  • 1 medium lemon, zested (2-3 teaspoons zest)
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon
  • 1 teaspoon celery seeds (optional but recommended)**
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Freshly cracked black pepper
  • ⅓ to ½ cup (5 to 8g) fresh dill leaves, finely chopped***
  • 1 tablespoon caper brine****

Salad ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons capers, drained
  • ½ cup (50-55g) thinly sliced or shaved red onions
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, de-seeded and thinly sliced (this is optional; keep the seeds in for a spicy kick)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped chives (or thinly sliced scallions)
  • Flaky sea salt

Instructions

  • Wash and scrub the potatoes but leave the peels on. Cut baby/new/fingerling potatoes in half; cut larger potatoes into chunks.
  • Transfer the potatoes to a saucepan and cover with an inch of cold water. Season generously with kosher salt. Bring to a simmer and maintain a decent simmer for 8 to 12 minutes until just tender. If the fork pierces the potatoes with the slightest bit of resistance, the potatoes are done.
    Note: For reference, the halved baby red potatoes I used took only 8 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, make the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together the tahini, yogurt, Dijon mustard, yellow mustard, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, celery seeds, caper brine (not the whole capers), 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper until well combined. Add 1 tablespoon of the chopped dill and stir together.
    Note: If the dressing is too thick, whisk in a tablespoon of cold water.
  • Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them in a colander (reserve a little of the cooking liquid in case it's needed). Let the potatoes rest in the colander for 5 minutes to dry out, but don’t wait until they have cooled down.
  • Add the warm potatoes to the dressing and coat evenly and well. If needed, add a spoon of the cooking water to bring everything together (I didn't need to).
  • Add the capers, red onions, and jalapeños to the potato salad, and toss again gently. Sprinkle the remaining dill and the chives on top before serving. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Serve warm, or chill for at least 1 hour.

Video

Notes

* If you can't find a good-quality plain coconut yogurt, you can use use vegan sour cream. My preferred brands are Kite Hill Foods and Tofutti (this one is quite thick, so you might need to add a spoon of water). If using sour cream, you'll likely need less lemon juice and salt. 
** If you don’t have celery seeds but have celery salt, substitute 1:1 and use ½ teaspoon kosher salt instead of 1 teaspoon. Or, add 3 tablespoons finely chopped celery leaves when you add the dill to the dressing.
*** Use the lower end if you’re not a big fan of dill (I love dill, so I use the full ½ cup)
**** Don’t have capers? You can substitute them with 1 finely chopped dill pickle and 1 to 2 tablespoons of the pickle juice.