This tasty dill potato salad is just like Grandma’s: it’s bursting with fresh herbs and flavored with olive oil and vinegar.
Dill is often dwarfed by basil, but it’s one of the tastiest herbs around. Every year we grow dill in our garden and I’m always itching to find ways to use it. And this dill potato salad is a knock-out. Think: tangy potatoes, drenched in a naturally creamy sauce made with olive oil and vinegar, punchy fresh herbs, and savory capers to round it out. Like the German potato salad I grew up with, this dill potato salad has no dairy to speak of, making it vegan and plant-based too. And man is it flavorful! It disappeared very quickly at our house. Here are our secrets!
The secrets to a great dill potato salad
Alex and I modeled this dill potato salad off of our French potato salad, inspired by Julia Child. It’s a potato salad with no mayo: it features a simple sauce of olive oil and vinegar. Now, the way that the seasoning is added to the potatoes makes it into a naturally creamy, gooey texture. Here’s what we learned from Julia Child on the best way to make a dill potato salad that’s full of serious flavor:
- First, boil the potatoes whole until they’re fork tender. Drain and allow them to cool, then when they’re cool enough to touch cut them into bite-sized pieces.
- Place the warm potatoes in a bowl and mix them with white wine vinegar, shallot, kosher salt, and here’s the kicker: ½ cup warm water. Let this mixture stand for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The potatoes will absorb the water and and a runny sauce will form! (If you didn’t add water, the potatoes would simply dry out.)
- After the rest time, then add the olive oil, capers and herbs and mix to combine. The potatoes will continue to break down a little and form a gooey texture.
This dill potato salad recipe is…
Vegetarian, gluten-free, plant-based, dairy-free, and vegan.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds baby yellow potatoes
- ¼ cup minced shallot (about 1 large)
- ¼ cup fresh dill, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- 3 green onions, optional
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup capers, drained
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with cold water and add 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Add the whole potatoes and bring to a boil. When it comes to a boil, boil for about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the size. Cook until fork tender (taste test to check).
- Mince the shallot. Finely chop the dill and parsley. Thinly slice the green onions, if using.
- When the potatoes are done, drain them. When they are cool enough to handle, slice them into bite sized pieces. Place the potatoes in a bowl and gently mix in the minced shallot, white wine vinegar, kosher salt, and ½ cup warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. The potatoes will absorb the water as they stand.
- Add the dill, parsley, green onions, drained capers, olive oil, and a few grinds black pepper. Taste and add additional salt if necessary (we added ¼ teaspoon more). Serve warm or room temperature.