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Welcome to the easiest pesto potato salad ever! Crispy roasted potatoes and onions come together with plenty of your favorite pesto, plus a few fresh herbs for good measure. Serve it as a side dish to your favorite main, whether it's summer barbecue or for any season.
This simple pesto potato salad is nothing short of delicious, and it is READY for all your upcoming summer barbecues! Whether you eat it warm, room temp, or cold, this potato salad is sure to become a new side dish favorite.
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Ingredients
Below are all the ingredients you need to make this delicious pesto potato salad.
- Potatoes - Potatoes are nutrient-packed, with a ton of protein and fiber to fill you up. I used the potatoes we got in our first CSA share of the season (yay!), which were a smaller, brown potato with a texture similar to red potatoes. Red potatoes, Yukon golds, fingerling, or any small potato variety will work well.
- Red onion - Once roasted, red onion will add an element of sweetness to the potato salad.
- Pesto - Use your favorite store bought pesto, or make your own pesto! I used my homemade vegan parsley walnut pesto recipe, but I subbed in a little bit of basil and fresh chives to use up some herbs.
- Extra virgin olive oil - For roasting the potatoes and onions.
- Salt and pepper - Also for roasting the potatoes and onions.
- Fresh parsley and chives - For tossing in at the end to add fresh flavor.
Instructions
Okay, so here's the long and short of making this potato salad: you'll roast the potatoes and onions, then toss in pesto and fresh herbs. Boom. See the exact steps below:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Toss large-diced potatoes and red onion in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread evenly onto a baking sheet.
Roast the potatoes and onions for 30 minutes, then broil for 2 minutes to crisp up the potatoes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Transfer the potatoes and onions to a large bowl, and add pesto, parsley, and chives.
Toss to coat evenly, then taste and add more pesto, herbs, and/or salt as needed.
Hint: Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to keep potatoes from sticking! Even with a good coating of olive oil, my potatoes stuck in some spots on my sheet pan (it's getting worn out). An extra nonstick layer always helps!
Substitutions & Variations
Try the following substitutions and variations to make this recipe work for you!
- Vegan - To make this pesto potato salad vegan, make sure you use a vegan pesto. My parsley pesto recipe is vegan if you want to make your own, otherwise you can use your favorite store bought brand!
- Reheat - While this recipe is intended to be a potato salad... we kinda-sorta love to crisp it up in our air fryer as leftovers! It's less potato salad-y and a lot more like pesto roasted potatoes, but gosh is it good.
- Breakfast wrap filling - If you reheat the potato salad on the stove, in the oven, or in an air fryer, those crisped potatoes are delicious in a breakfast wrap with eggs.
- Plant-based protein - Add some drained chickpeas (toss in olive oil and salt) to the roasting pan for the last few minutes of roasting the potatoes and eggs. They will cook slightly (but not overly so). Toss the lightly toasted chickpeas in with the potato salad for a plant-based protein boost!
- Hard-boiled eggs - Roughly chop 3-4 hard-boiled eggs and toss in them with the potato salad for extra richness and protein. I'm completed obsessed with using my Ninja Foodi to make hard-boiled eggs.
- Bacon - Need I elaborate?
Storage
Store pesto potato salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
You could freeze this potato salad in an airtight container for up to three months, but the texture of the potatoes and pesto is best when fresh, so I recommend enjoying this potato salad without freezing it.
Pesto Potato Salad FAQs
Yes! I use a homemade vegan pesto (so easy to make at home), and you could also use a store bought vegan pesto if desired. All the rest of the ingredients are from plants.
I love this pesto potato salad most at room temp, but honestly it's delicious warm or cold too. It's easily served as a side dish (double or triple the recipe for more people), but we've also eaten the leftovers in wraps or with eggs.
Easy Pesto Potato Salad
An easy pesto potato salad with roasted potatoes and red onions tossed in your favorite pesto, with fresh parsley and chives. Serve warm or room temp as a side dish for summer barbecues or any time of year!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: ~5 cups
- Category: Sides
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients
- 1 pound small potatoes, diced large
- 1 small red onion, diced large
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ⅓ cup pesto
- ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat & prep. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. If desired, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Prep potatoes & onions. Toss potatoes, red onions, olive oil, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Spread mixture in an even layer across the prepared baking sheet.
- Roast potatoes & onions. Roast the potatoes and onions at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are slightly browned and easily pierced with a fork. Set your oven to broil for 2 more minutes to help those potatoes crisp up, then remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the pan.
- Combine. Add roasted potatoes, pesto, and chopped parsley and chives to a large bowl. Toss to coat everything in pesto. Taste, and add more pesto, salt, and/or pepper if desired. Serve at room temp or slightly warm.
Notes
1. Storage Instructions: Store leftover pesto potato salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. After that, you can either enjoy it cold, allow it to come to room temperature, or reheat it in an air fryer, oven, or stovetop (in this case, it's less like potato salad and more like roasted potatoes... still SO good).
Keywords: pesto potato salad, vegan pesto potato salad
Celso
Delicious! Thank you.
★★★★★
Tera
Glad you liked it Celso!