French potato salad is made with a simple olive oil based dressing, fresh herbs and potatoes. It's the perfect summer side salad, and can be enjoyed with any grilled meat or fish.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read more about it in the privacy policy.
Potato salads are popular all over the world, and everyone seems to have their opinions on what makes a potato salad great. French potato salads have a lot in common with other European types of potato salad, in that it's made with an olive oil based dressing, rather than a mayonnaise or dairy based dressing.
The potato salad incorporates herbs like dill and parsley, which gives it beautiful colors as well a fresh flavor.
🥘 Ingredients
Boiled potatoes are the key ingredient in this potato salad. Use waxy potatoes, such as red potatoes or Yukon Golds, for the best result.
You will also need olive oil. Keep in mind that the olive oil is the main part of the dressing, so using a high quality extra virgin olive oil is absolutely worth it.
Fresh dill and parsley, or other fresh herbs, give the dish a lot of flavor. The same goes for Dijon mustard. Add the mustard even if you don't normally like it - it rounds out the flavor of the potato salad without actually giving it a mustard flavor.
🔪 Instructions
Clean the potatoes, and dice them in bite sized pieces. Place the diced potatoes in a large pot, and cover with water. Bring the potatoes to a boil on high heat, then reduce them to a simmer on medium heat.
Leave the potatoes to boil for 5-10 minutes, or until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Drain off the excess water, and leave the potatoes to chill for at least 30 minutes.
Add the chilled potato pieces to a bowl along with Dijon mustard, olive oil, chopped fresh dill and parsley. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve the potato salad immediately, or keep it refrigerated until it's ready to serve.
💭 Top tips
Here are my top tips to get this recipe perfect:
- The fresh herbs are essential in this dish, and cannot be replaced with dried herbs. You can alternatively use a combination of other fresh herbs. Try adding thyme, rosemary or basil.
- The key to this recipe is cooking the potatoes perfectly. They should not be hard, but not too soft, or they will fall apart. Pierce them with a fork to check, and if you're in doubt you can do a taste test!
🥗 Serving suggestions
Potato salad is usually served as a side dish, but there are many ways to enjoy it! Here are some of my favorites:
- As a side salad: Serve it as a side with your favorite entrees, at a potluck, picnic or a garden party. Potato salads are very popular to serve with grilled meat or fish, or any other summer dishes.
- As a vegetarian main: Potato salad is also an excellent vegan main dish, served with some bread, or a protein rich side.
- In sandwiches: Serve as an easy lunch in sandwiches, wraps or baguettes.
🍲 Leftovers
Leftover French potato salad can be stored in a refrigerator for up to 3 days. This makes it perfect as a make ahead side dish for summer BBQ parties, picnics and more!
Keep the salad refrigerated as much as possible. I would not recommend freezing leftover potato salad.
🍴 You might also like these recipes...
If you love healthy side salads, you should try any of these recipes:
📋 Frequently asked questions
Absolutely! This potato salad stores really well, and can be made one or two days ahead. Keep the salad refrigerated before serving.
Both methods work, but it's easier to get nice chunks of potatoes if you cut them before boiling.
This depends on the size of the potatoes, but 15-20 minutes is typical. The pieces should be soft enough to pierce with a fork with little resistance.
This depends on your personal preference! Keeping the skin on will give the potato salad a nice color as well as extra fiber, but you can remove the skins if you like.
Use waxy potatoes for potato salad, as these will hold their shape after they are cooked, and not turn into fluff. Red potatoes and Yukon Gold are popular options.
Recipe
French Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lbs red potatoes (500 g)
- ½ cup fresh dill, chopped (15 g)
- ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped (15 g)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Clean the potatoes, and dice them in bite sized pieces.
- Place the diced potatoes in a large pot, and cover with water. Bring the potatoes to a boil on high heat, then reduce them to a simmer on medium heat.
- Leave the potatoes to boil for 5-10 minutes, or until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Drain of the excess water, and leave the potatoes to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Add the chilled potato pieces to a bowl along with Dijon mustard, olive oil, chopped fresh dill and parsley. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the potato salad immediately, or keep it refrigerated until it’s ready to serve.
Leave a comment