Vegan Potato Salad
We may earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase through our links, at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read our privacy policy for details.
Here’s a creamy vegan potato salad packed with lots of savory flavor and chunky potatoes. So yum-a-licious no one will suspect it’s vegan!
If you’re anything like me, potato salad is a big fav for so many reasons. Mostly because its key ingredient is potatoes and potatoes are incredible.
How can food this tasty and satisfying pack such a power-punch of vital nutrients like vitamins C, B6 manganese, and potassium? Thank you, potatoes!
Making this recipe for vegan potato salad only takes about 40 minutes from start to finish. So yes, it’s pretty quick!
With flavor-loaded elements like celery, onions, pickle relish, and smoked paprika, you can be certain it’ll be a winner when you dish it up at your next dinner or fun event.
Looking for a salad that is a delicious and full vegetarian meal? Try my Grilled Beet Flatbread Salad next!
Vegan Potato Salad Ingredient Spotlight
Talk about a simple ingredient list. Your’e gonna love this one. Everything is easy to find at the store and chances are, you have most items at home right now.
Potatoes – Use waxy, thin-skinned potatoes like Yukon Gold, White, or Red potatoes. These varieties perform well when cooked and mixed with mayo and other ingredients. Russets are fine if it’s all you can find. Just peel and cube before cooking.
Vegan Mayonnaise – Try my yummy and easy recipe for homemade Vegan Mayo! If you’re pressed for time, most grocery stores now carry some type of vegan mayonnaise.
Hellman’s/ Best Foods even carries a new shelf-stable version I spotted just the other day.
Celery – Celery provides an appealing, fresh, crunchy element to this recipe. It also gives it that certain special flavor that says ”Here’s some good potato salad!”
If you aren’t a fan of celery, you can try jicama or mild radish to keep that crunch factor.
Smoked Paprika – If smoked paprika isn’t in your spice cabinet, you’ve been missing out. Right now is a good time to add it! With a rich smokiness, it’s the perfect spice to enhance every flavor element in the dish.
If you must, you can substitute with regular paprika. It’s good stuff too.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Vegan Potato Salad
You’ll enjoy how easily this veg potato salad comes together. Quick and simple!
Total Time: 40 minutes
Step 1
On a cutting board, dice potatoes into large chunks. Fill a large pot with cold water and place potato chunks inside. Generously salt the water, cover, and bring a boil.
Cook potatoes until tender (roughly 25 minutes depending on the thickness of your potatoes). Drain the potatoes in a colander, return them to the pot, drizzle with vinegar and let cool until you can handle them.
Step 2
While potatoes are cooling, dice the red onion and celery stalks and set them aside. In a medium bowl, add the vegan mayo, dijon mustard, and celery salt. Mix until combined. 
Step 3
Once potatoes have cooled, gently peel off the skins and dice further to preferred bite size. Place the diced potatoes, celery, red onion, and pickle relish in a large mixing bowl. 
Step 4
Pour mayo mixture over the top and gently toss until the potatoes are evenly coated. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until you are ready to serve.
Step 5
Garnish with freshly chopped green onions and smoked paprika. Enjoy!
What’s not to love about a creamy, crave-worthy potato salad that contains no eggs or other animal products!
- So simple you can make it less than an hour
- Affordable ingredients you can find in almost any supermarket
- Such amazing flavor and healthy nutrients
Insider Pro Tips
Cook your potatoes with care
Don’t overcook the potatoes, otherwise, you’ll have mashed potatoes. They should be tender but not falling apart. To save the step of draining off water, you can also cook your potatoes in a steamer basket or in an Instant Pot.
Try cooking your potatoes the day before and keeping them in the fridge for perfect texture and a faster-to-the-table dish.
Coolness matters
Let the potatoes cool completely before mixing everything together. To hurry the cooling process along, consider setting your cooked potatoes in the fridge or freezer to cool or get chilled. If they’re nice and cold, they’ll hold together much better when mixed with everything else.
When to salt
Cook potatoes, starting with cold water, and season with salt. It helps the potatoes cook more evenly. If you wait till the end to add salt, it won’t reach the interior of the potatoes and they’ll be bland.
When you’re finishing everything up, be sure to taste your vegan potato salad and adjust the salt and other seasonings, so it’s just the way you like it.
Add more goodies
Feel free to toss in different mix-ins. You can’t go wrong by adding veggies, like bell peppers, olives, cucumber, radishes, jicama, or fresh herbs such as parsley, chives, or dill.
Vegan Potato Salad FAQs
It certainly can be, and this recipe for vegan potato salad is free of any animal products. Have I mentioned that it’s amazing and super tasty?
Yes, you can make it a full day ahead of when you plan to serve it. It’ll stay fresh, covered in the fridge.
*Another way to make ahead is to cook the potatoes and chop up the other ingredients and keep them all in separate containers until you’re ready to mix them together and serve
Small, waxy, thin-skinned varieties like Yukon gold, white, or red potatoes. If all you have are russets, just peel and cube them before cooking.
Well, you can, but I don’t recommend it. The texture will be weird and separation of dressing from ingredients is likely.
In an airtight container in your fridge, this potato salad should last 4-5 days. That is if no one gobbles it all up first!
Looking for more delicious Vegan Recipes?
Vodka Cocktails
Green Bean Salad
Vegan Cobb Salad
Vegan Baked Beans
Street Corn Salad
Vegan Black Bean Burgers
Vegan Egg Salad Sandwich
Vegan Mac & Cheese
Baked Cauliflower Wings
Now that you know how to easy it is to make this Vegan Potato Salad, please give it a star rating below and comment letting me know how it turned out for you.
Vegan Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 3 pounds yukon gold potatoes cubed into 1" cubes
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 1/4 cup red onion diced
- 1 1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise (see vegan mayo recipe)
- 1/3 cup dill pickle relish
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- sea salt and pepper
- chopped green onion and smoked paprika for garnish
Instructions
- On a cutting board, dice your potatoes into large chunks. Fill a large pot with cold water and place the potato chunks inside. Generously salt the water, cover and bring a boil. Cook potatoes until tender (roughly 25 minutes depending on the thickness of your potatoes). Drain the potatoes in a colander, return them to the pot, drizzle with vinegar and let cool until you are able to handle them.
- While the potatoes are cooling, dice the red onion and celery stalks and set aside. In a medium bowl, add the vegan mayo, dijon mustard and celery salt. Mix until combined.
- Once the potatoes are cooled, gently peel off the skins and dice further to preferred potato size.Place the diced potatoes, celery, red onion and pickle relish in a large mixing bowl. Pour mayo mixture over the top and gently toss until the potatoes are evenly coated. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until you are ready to serve.
- Garnish with freshly chopped green onions and smoked paprika. Enjoy!
Notes
- You may easily sub the yukon potatoes for russet potatoes.
- You can sub the red onion for white onion for a less intense onion flavor.
