This Greek Lemon Potato Salad bursts with sunny Mediterranean flavors. It’s a healthier alternative to classic potato salad ~ and no mayo means it’s perfect for outdoor picnics and barbecues, too.
I love potato salads that are a little bit out of the ordinary, the ones that stand out on the potluck table and scream choose me!!
Potato salad has a little bit of a reputation for being bland and boring, and that’s for good reason. But it doesn’t have to be that way. This Greek lemon potato salad pulls from delicious Mediterranean traditions with sunny lemons, garlic, fresh oregano, and heart healthy olive oil. The result is bold and bright.
we love potato salads here
I’ve got lots of out of the ordinary potato salads on the blog, like my Dill Pickle Potato Salad, it’s a longtime favorite and always a conversation starter ~ another great one for barbecues. I also love my New Potato Salad with Eggs and Mustard, it’s got the creaminess from the eggs and a nice bite from the mustard. It’s one of the prettiest potato salads I’ve ever made. And my New Potato Salad with 30-Second Aioli is an elegant version with a luxurious homemade garlicky dressing. My French Potato Salad features fingerling potatoes for a fresh new look.
There’s no reason to ever make another boring potato salad again 🙂
grandma’s easy secret to the most flavorful potatoes
There’s a simple secret to making the best potato salad, whether you’re making it with a classic mayo dressing, or doing it German or Mediterranean style with an olive oil base like I am today. Grandma knew all about it, and now you will too…
- After cooking and slicing your potatoes, add about half your dressing right to the hot potatoes and give them a gentle toss. Then cover in plastic and chill.
- Even if you’re using very small new potatoes, be sure to at least cut them in half, this allows the dressing to penetrate.
- The potatoes will soak in that dressing for the most flavorful, irresistible potato salad you’ve ever eaten.
- When you finish making the salad add more dressing as needed.
what are the best potatoes for potato salad?
I don’t know about you, but it’s a real turn off for me when a potato salad has the texture of mashed potatoes. I like a firm texture, and I like to see the actual potatoes in my salad!
- Use waxy potatoes for potato salad. Waxy potatoes are thin skinned, and are basically anything other than russets…which are the kind you use for baking. Russet potatoes are starchy and get a fluffy texture when cooked…great for baked potatoes, bad for salad.
- Smaller, thin skinned potatoes work great for potato salad, either red or white, it doesn’t matter.
- Look for potatoes that are similar in size, so you can cook them evenly together.
Tip: the second day we added some crumbled Greek feta cheese to our leftover salad and we liked it a lot, so I recommend trying that if it sounds good to you.
Greek Lemon Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds baby or new potatoes
- 8 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano, don’t use dried ~ substitute fresh dill, rosemary, thyme, or parsley
- salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
dressing
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp prepared mustard
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/8 tsp salt, or to taste
- several good grindings of black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the potatoes in boiling water until they are just tender, and easily pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Drain and cut into bite sized pieces, in quarters or in half, depending on the size of your potatoes.
- While the potatoes are cooking make the dressing. Put all the ingredients in a small jar or measuring cup and blend with a stick blender until bright yellow and creamy (emulsified.) Be sure to taste it now to see if you need more salt, more lemon, or whatever.
- While the potatoes are hot, dress them in several tablespoons of the dressing, gently tossing to make sure they all get coated. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate until cold.
- When the potatoes are chilled, add the green onions and fresh oregano. Season with salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste. Toss with more dressing and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Make this Greek Lemon Potato Salad your own ~
- Substitute fresh thyme, dill, rosemary, or even parsley for the oregano.
- Add crumbled feta to the top.
- Add pitted chopped or halved Kalamata olives.
Thanks for pinning
Yummy salad
Delicious. I used fresh tarragon, rosemary and chives because that’s what I had on hand. It was still delicous.
Excellent. I made this with baby red bliss potatoes. I had a lemon infused olive oil that a friend gave me and just went a little lighter on the fresh lemon and zest. I sprinkled some Greek seasoning in it for good measure and added some dried oregano. I garnished the salad with a chiffonade of fresh basil, some diced baby cucumbers, feta, and Kalamata olives.
Y U M 🙂
Delicious!
So delicious! The only issue I have with this recipe is the directions for cooking the potatoes. When I cooked them so that they were just tender and a sharp knife could easily poke one they were still a little crunchy on the inside. Otherwise delicious!
Greek potato salad includes tomatoes and cucumbers. This is just seasoned potatoes with none of the salad part.
There are, obviously, many versions of Greek potato salad. I just returned from spending three weeks in Greece. The potato salads that I had there didn’t contain cucumbers or tomatoes. They were just like this recipe. My nutritionist friend’s Greek potato salad recipe doesn’t contain tomatoes or cucumbers, either.
Do you have any idea of how many calories per serving?
Yes, that’s at the end of the recipe.
This salad is delicious! Since you didn’t specify the type of mustard, I used Dijon and substituted parsley for the oregano. Marinated and served at room temperature, it paired really well with barbecued spareribs.
I used Dijon, but anything creamy will work fine. Thanks for the spareribs tip, yum!!
Your potato salad is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing. I am going to save your recipe.