Mint and Pistachio Pesto Potato Salad
A fresh-tasting, summery pesto potato salad – with no mayo! Perfect for BBQs and picnics, or any other time the sun is shining.
A picnic is one of my favourite ways to enjoy good weather – and a potato salad is a must-have item! This pesto potato salad is a great no-mayo option, made instead with a fresh and summery homemade pesto, and plenty of fresh veg.
Homemade pesto
I used a super simple homemade pesto for this recipe, but I didn’t use the usual ingredients. Pesto is generally made with pine nuts and fresh basil, but these can easily be swapped out for pretty much any alternative nut, and any leafy herb.
This time I made my pesto with mint, parsley and pistachios, which made it feel so summery. I’m always wary of using mint (I’m one of those people who thinks that 90% of the time, mint makes everything taste like toothpaste), but it works so well in this. It’s just enough to freshen everything up without making you feel like you’re on your way to bed.
No mayo potato salad
I love how zingy the pesto makes this potato salad taste, instead of a heavy, mayo-based sauce – believe it or not, there is such a thing as too much mayonnaise, and when you’ve got a few pieces of potato swimming in mayo, that’s probably it. A light and fresh pesto dressing is much nicer! I did add a dollop of Greek yogurt to make it a bit creamy, but you can easily skip this if you’d prefer a vegan potato salad.
Don’t forget to add plenty of fresh veggies too, and your pesto potato salad is done! Easy peasy.
Mint and Pistachio Pesto Potato Salad
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Print Pin Comment(if you suffer from allergies, please double check all ingredients before eating)
Ingredients
- 750 g baby potatoes (~ 5 cups)
- 10 – 15 inch spears asparagus, cut into 2 pieces
For the pistachio pesto:
- 1 small clove garlic, peeled
- Small bunch fresh mint
- Small bunch fresh parsley
- 30 g shelled pistachios (~ 1/8 cup)
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 2 tbsp Greek yogurt (I used low fat) (optional)
To assemble:
- 3 tbsp sweetcorn kernels (I used tinned)
- 10 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
- 50 g shelled pistachios (~ 1/4 cup)
Instructions
- If ay of your potatoes are larger than the others, cut them in half so that all of the potato pieces are approximately the same size.
- Boil the potatoes in a large pan of water for around 15 minutes, or until soft. Add the asparagus for the last 4 minutes or so of cooking. When both vegetables are tender (the asparagus should still have a slight crunch), drain, and set aside to cool completely.
- To make the mint and pistachio pesto, add the garlic, mint, parsley and pistachios to a mini food processor, along with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Blitz to form a coarse paste. If using, add the Greek yogurt, and blitz again to combine.
- When the potatoes have cooled completely, add them to a large bowl, along with the pistachio pesto, sweetcorn, cherry tomatoes, and some more whole pistachios. Mix well to combine, and serve slightly chilled.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose.
Here’s another of my favourite vegetarian picnic recipes: vegetarian lentil sausage rolls!
Ohh what an interesting mix for a potato salad – I have to admit I’ve not tried anything like that so I may just have to give it a whirl. x
The spicy yogurt cucumber salad sounds and looks absolutely amazing! I need to make it!
Oooh yeah! Pass me the potato salad please! What a delicious twist on the traditional and I love that you have added pistachios to it.
I’ve been using nuts more often lately, I never used to be a fan but they add such a great texture!
Such a delicious summer salad :) I love pesto and I add to anything and everything (within reason!) I hope the weather improves soon so we can all go out for picnics!
That looks absolutely delicious!! I never would have thought of a potato salad like that, but it looks like something that I definitely need to try!
This is my idea of heaven. I will definitely be making this during the summer
Just the other day Husband said to me that the potatoes are probably going to be ready for harvesting very soon. Apparently when they start flowering it’s a sign that there are Interesting Things going on in the soil. On a tangent, potato flowers don’t look even remotely like I want them to look. My brain keep wanting them to be bright yellow like courgette flowers, but in fact they’re pure white with a yellow centre looking not at all unlike a fried egg. Anyway! This made me start wondering what to do with the very first potatoes. I thought it should be something rather more fancy than just cooked in something else. I do believe you’ve just given me the answer. I can imagine this along side a marinated quorn fillet, perhaps.
For the pistacios, do you use salted or unsalted?
Just Googled potato flowers and they’re quite pretty really! Very impressed that you grow your own veg, I’d love to learn how one day :)
I just used raw unsalted pistachios, I guess salted would be fine too but you probably wouldn’t need to add any extra salt :)
It’s Husband who’s the gardener around here. I have very little input. It is, however, greatly enjoyable that what you actually get out of it is very very cheap food. Took us nearly a year to consume all the French beans frozen down last year. :)
I really need to start doing this! Maybe one day, when I have a huge garden with a vegetable plot – and a gardener to maintain it for me ;)
We hosted a brunchy/lunchy sort of thing today and I made this among other things. (You may recall I asked you about some suggestions) Way too many things. I’m turning into my granny, basically. “Is there enough food? I hope there’s enough food. No, it won’t be enough food! I must cook more food!!!” Soooo many leftovers.
Anyway, I took this recipe, but I turned it into a pasta salad instead. Used about 300 g of penne pasta and that seemed suitable for the amounts of other ingredients. I added a bit more Greek yoghurt as well to make up for the pasta absorbing it. It worked rather well, I thought. :)
Haha well it’s better to have too much food than not enough. I do love leftovers :)
Brilliant idea to turn it into a pasta salad, I hadn’t thought of that! Hope you enjoyed it.
This looks great and sounds so easy to make! I love your photos too, they looks so fab. :D xx
This looks and sounds gorgeous! I love mint flavours for the summer, so refreshing <3
Jess xo
This looks perfect for those occasions when you have to take an offering along to a party or barbeque. I always feel that I should go above and beyond a packet of shop-bought sausage rolls, but don’t have the time to get too complicated. This would look so impressive, be really tasty, but not take me too long! Win win!! :)
Win win win! ;)