French Potato Salad

French potato salad gives classic potato salad a French twist. With tender potatoes, zesty lemon, briny capers, creamy Dijon mustard, lots of fresh herbs, shallots, just a touch of mayonnaise ensures it’s creamy and moist without being heavy. Whether you’re planning a picnic, a backyard barbecue, or simply dinner, French potato salad is always a hit. Make it a day ahead to save time, it's even better.

This French-style potato salad is one of my summer favorites and go-to potato salad recipes for summer meals and entertaining. It has light bright flavors and a creamy texture without being gooey or overpowering. And if you love French flavors, this potato salad is for you.

Why You'll Like This Recipe

• Such good potato salad and easy to make.
• Perfect for a summer meal.
• Sure to please potato salad lovers.
• Easily made ahead.

Potato Salad Ingredients

Here's your shopping list for French style potato salad:

• Potatoes: Use gold potatoes or yellow potatoes for potato salad. They are creamy, buttery tasting, and thin-skinned with golden flesh. They hold up beautifully and don't fall apart like russet potatoes.
• Celery: For flavor and crunch.
• Shallot: Softer flavored than onion and adds just a little color.
• Capers: For that salty, briny flavor.
• Herbs: Fresh dill and fresh Italian parsley are key and tarragon gives it French flair. A
• Mayonnaise: Just a little mayo in the dressing gives it creaminess without being heavy. Use your favorite or here's the mayo I use for it's light clean flavor (and good if you are sensitive to eggs or want it vegan).
• Lemon: For a bright lift of flavor and acidity.
• Mustard: Use Dijon mustard for it's complex flavor with a kick. Creamy style is good or use both creamy and whole grain mustard.
• Garlic: A must for flavor! Fresh cloves are best but you can use the organic paste in the tube.

Please see the recipe card for measurements.

Substitutions and Variations

• If you like hard boiled eggs in potato salad, add a couple of chopped hard boiled eggs. Try my method for making perfect easy peel hard boiled eggs.
• Don't like Dijon mustard? Use your favorite old fashioned yellow mustard or a grainy mustard.
• Swap the lemon juice for vinegar, using champagne vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
• No fresh herbs? Use dried herbs at ⅓ to ½ the amount of fresh, but try to get at least fresh parsley for color and better flavor.
• Fresh thyme is a nice substitution for tarragon or dill. Using a combination is good.
• No shallots? Use finely chopped red onion. After chopping, rinse them in cold water to remove some of the pungency, the dried well before adding to the potato salad.
• Fennel seed is another nice herbal addition and fennel seed it great for digestion.
• No gold potatoes? Swap red potatoes.
• For color, sprinkle the top with sliced green onion or chives.

Recipe Instructions

How to Cook Potatoes

Scrub whole potatoes, then simmer in a large pot of salted water (enough water to cover the potatoes) until tender when pierced with a thin metal skewer like a cake tester. Cook until potatoes are tender all of the way through, but don’t let them fall apart.

How long to boil potatoes for potato salad? Until they are done is the honest answer. You have to check until they are just right. It's about 18-20 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking make your mayo-based dressing.

To Peel or Not to Peel

You can peel potatoes or not. It's up to you.

• Cool hot potatoes until you can handle them, then peel with a paring knife (the peels should slip right off). Refrigerate until cold.
• Cool and chill potatoes completely leaving the peel on. If you change your mind you can peel them after chilling.

Cold potatoes are much easier to dice into clean cubes, making for a nice presentation. Either leave those skins on (they are good for you) or peel them. When they are just cool enough to handle they peel easily.

Finish the Potato Salad

After the potatoes are cooked and cold, cut potatoes into small cubes (about ¾"), adding to a large mixing bowl. To the cubed potatoes, add the rest of the ingredients saving the dressing for last.

For brighter lemon, use the zest too. Sometimes we like it with the addition of fennel seed for a light, sweet licorice flavor. All flavors of the sunny South of France.

Can You Make French Potato Salad Ahead of Time?

Absolutely! To save time, simmer your potatoes, chill and dice a day or two ahead. Chop your celery and shallot, rinse the capers and ready your herbs. You can make the dressing completely if you want and fold together with the potatoes the morning of serving.

Serving Suggestions

Herbed potato salad is terrific with grilled meats such as this lemon grilled chicken, baby back ribs, burgers, or steak. It goes with just about anything. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Summer Food Safety for Potato Salad

If you are serving outdoors on a hot summer day, keep it cold as long as possible, on ice if possible for food safety. If you can't keep it cold, it is safe to serve for up to two hours or only one hour if 90°F or higher outside.

Potato Nutrition and Resistant Starch

Potatoes get a bad rap as a starchy vegetable, especially for those on a low-carb diet but gold potatoes are a good source of vitamin C, potassium and fiber. When cooked and eaten cold potatoes provide something called resistant starch.

Resistant starch is a unique kind of fiber that's important for gut health and if your gut is healthy, so are you. Resistant starch resists digestion, feeding the trillions of helpful bacteria in your gut. Read more about it here.

And seriously, can you live without potatoes? Not in this house. Potatoes are part of a varied and healthy diet.

Recipe FAQs

More Summer Recipe Ideas

For more Mediterranean flavors try my Mediterranean chicken recipe or this terrific lemony gluten-free pasta salad.

⭐️Did you Make This Recipe?

If you make this herbed potato salad? If so, please add your comment. I appreciate your feedback and enjoy hearing from you. If you loved it, please give it a 5-star rating! They really help other readers.

📖 Recipe

French Potato Salad

Sally Cameron

A classic summer side, this potato salad  borrows from flavors of the Mediterranean with dill, lemon and capers. Cook potatoes a day ahead for easy assembly. If you don’t like dill, try thyme or tarragon. For more herbs, add chopped parsley and even a little fennel seed for more Mediterranean flavor. For brighter lemon flavor, use zest as well.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Chill time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course Side Dish, vegetables

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Calories 143 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  A large pot to cook potatoes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 ¼ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes 5 large potatoes
• ▢ ½ cup finely chopped celery 2-3 ribs
• ▢ ⅓ cup finely chopped shallot substitute onion
• ▢ 1-2 tablespoons capers rinsed and drained
• ▢ 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
• ▢ 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
• ▢ ½ tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or thyme sub 1 teaspoon dried
• ▢ ¼ cup mayonnaise or Vegenaise
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ 1 large garlic clove finely minced or zested
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

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Instructions

 

Cook potatoes

• Scrub potatoes and leave peel on. Place potatoes in a medium pot and add a little salt. Cover with cold water and bring to just under a boil. Turn down heat and simmer potatoes until completely tender when pierced with a thin metal skewer like a cake tester, 18-20 minutes.

  Drain potatoes, cool and refrigerate until cold. Gently peel potatoes with a paring knife, the skins almost slide off. You can do this a day ahead and keep potatoes refrigerated.

  Note - You can also peel potatoes when they are just cool enough to handle, then refrigerate whole.

Finish potato salad

• Dice cold potatoes into approximately ¾″ cubes and place in a medium bowl. Add celery, shallot, capers, dill, parsley. In a small bowl, stir or whisk together the vegenaise, lemon juice, garlic, and mustard until smooth, then gently fold into the potatoes until the they are well coated. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if needed, and add extra lemon or herbs if desired.

  Keep potato salad covered and refrigerated until serving time. May be served chilled or closer to room temperature.

Notes

• If you like hard boiled eggs in potato salad, add a couple of chopped hard boiled eggs. Try my method for making perfect easy peel hard boiled eggs.
• Don't like Dijon mustard? Use your favorite old fashioned yellow mustard if preferred.
• No fresh herbs? Use dried herbs at ⅓ to ½ the amount of fresh, but try to get at least fresh parsley for color and better flavor.
• No shallots? Use finely chopped red onion. After chopping, rinse them in cold water to remove some of the pungency, the dried well before adding to the potato salad.
• For vegan potato salad, be sure to use a no-egg mayo.

Nutrition

Calories: 143kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 3gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gSodium: 174mgPotassium: 535mgFiber: 3gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 38IUVitamin C: 24mgCalcium: 23mgIron: 1mg

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