French Potato Salad is lightly dressed with olive oil, fresh herbs, salt and pepper. It’s a fantastic summer side dish for parties or picnics.
What foods come to mind when you think about summer? My mind immediately conjures up images of crisp green salads, red ripe tomatoes, lemony fish, steak and chicken on the grill, and potato salad. My all-time favorite potato salad is French potato salad. It’s light, with no mayo. The flavors are fresh and bright – a perfect summer side dish.
The beauty of this salad is in it’s simplicity – fresh russet potatoes are cooked to perfect tender doneness – steeped in wine – and then dressed with a light Dijon vinaigrette and fresh herbs.
The flavors are subtle but delicious. My recipe calls for parsley and scallions, but feel free to substitute your favorite herbs or whatever’s growing in your garden. It would be delicious with shallots, tarragon, chervil, basil or a combination of herbs.
I love to serve this for a casual lunch with cold cuts and green salad or as a side dish with a hot dinner. It’s great served warm or at room temperature, next to any grilled meat, chicken or fish!
I’m happy to tell you that I recently had the pleasure of partnering with The Idaho Potato Commission to develop some recipes for their website. This French potato salad is now part of their All Things Potato Salads gallery.
If you’re looking for more great potato salad recipes, the gallery has about 100 recipes, photos and videos of every kind of potato salad you can imagine.
Wishing you a great weekend and happy cooking! If you try this French Potato Salad recipe, I hope you’ll come back to leave a rating and comment. I’d love to know what you think.
PrintFrench Potato Salad
A beautiful light potato salad with fresh herbs – the perfect summer side dish.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 4-6
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Idaho® russet potatoes (3 large potatoes)
- 2 tablespoons potato-cooking water
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons finely minced scallions (white and green parts)
- 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh parsley leaves
- Kosher salt
- Fresh ground white or black pepper
Instructions
- Fill a large pot halfway with cold water. Add 1 tablespoon of salt.
- Peel one potato. Slice it crosswise into ¼ inch thick slices, dropping slices into the water as you go, to prevent discoloration. Repeat with the rest of the potatoes.
- Bring to boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook until potatoes are just tender, 3-4 minutes. Check doneness by tasting – don’t overcook.
- Scoop out about ¼ cup of potato cooking water and set aside.
- Drain potatoes and transfer to a large bowl. While potatoes are warm, add wine and 2 tablespoons of cooking water. Toss gently to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, allowing liquids to absorb.
- In a small bowl, combine vinegar, mustard, scallions, parsley, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Slowly whisk in oil. Pour dressing over potatoes and toss gently to combine. Serve warm or at room temp.
- Can be made up to two days ahead, kept covered in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Made this tonight with roasted yellow squash and onions and a side cucumber, tomato salad. Perfect! So easy, so delicious! Right down my alley! I substituted fresh squeezed orange juice for olive oil which I’m sure the olive oil would be great too. And I didn’t peel the potatoes. Loved it. I’m definitely keeping this recipe and thank you for sharing it.
★★★★★
This potato salad looks so much healthier than most! I love all the flavors you used!
What an elegant looking potato salad, and a great use of Idaho Potatoes. You’ve done potatoes proud with this dish, Lisa!
Thanks Alaiyo. I hope you have a great weekend! Lisa
Oh, I love the look and sound of this salad Lisa – so light and fresh – I am always looking for potato salads without mayo – thanks
Looks and sounds scrumptious. What an interesting idea to add some white wine. C’est tres francaise!
Oui, Hill, j’aime le vin dans cette salade de pommes de terre. How’s that for pulling out the old high school French!?