No mayo needed to make Red Skinned Potato Salad! This lighter, toppings-packed potato salad will be a summertime hit.
Where are my mayo haters at?!
Although I’m a mayo lover, I understand that many of you gag at the mere thought of glancing at a jar of mayonnaise. Fear not, because you can have your potato salad with no mayo too – Ultimate Red Skinned Potato Salad is killing the mayo-free potato salad game!
So, what makes it the “ultimate”?
Let’s review: creamy, red skinned potatoes are mixed with caramelized onions (one of my love languages,) crumbled bacon (yasss) green onions (yum,) and chopped hard-boiled egg (oh yeah,) then coated in a creamy, zippy Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette.
It is, as they say, incredible! Light yet decadent tasting. Dare I say it’s a fresh take on potato salad?
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItUltimate Red Skinned Potato Salad is also good warm or cold so make then enjoy right away, or stash it in the fridge the night before a BBQ or picnic. Either way, this potato salad is double-serving-worthy!
How to Make This Recipe
Start by making the Honey-Dijon vinaigrette which will replace the mayonnaise in this potato salad. It’s thick, creamy, and popping with flavor.
Combine extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, plus salt and pepper in jar or bowl then shake or whisk to combine.
Set the vinaigrette aside then chop baby red skinned potatoes. If you can’t find baby reds, just use regular red potatoes and chop them up. Cut the potatoes into quarters then place in a big pot of salted cold water and bring to a boil over high heat.
Cook the potatoes until fork-tender, 10-15 minutes, then drain and pop them back into the pot off the heat for 5 minutes to help dry out the potatoes.
Add 1/3 cup of the vinaigrette to the warm potatoes then toss to combine.
Transfer the dressed potatoes to a large bowl with a lid then refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to overnight. This is a trick I learned from my Mom and her Classic Potato Salad recipe – dress the warm potatoes first and the flavor of the vinaigrette really sinks in!
While the potatoes are cooling in the fridge, get to work on the caramelized onions which will add a slightly sweet yet savory flavor to the potato salad that’ll make everyone say, hmmm, what IS that?
Chop a large sweet onion then add to a large skillet over medium heat with extra virgin olive oil and a dash of salt. Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the onions are deeply caramelized, stirring every so often and turning the heat down slightly if they start to brown too quickly. Set the onions aside to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, hard-boil eggs. Hard-boiled eggs are a staple in mayo-based potato salads and I couldn’t bear to leave it out of this vinaigrette-based version. It’s one of my favorite parts.
Place eggs in a saucepan filled with cold water then bring to a boil. Place a lid on top then remove the pan from the heat and let sit for exactly 12 minutes.
After 12 minutes, plunge the eggs into ice water or run under cold water until they’re cool enough to handle but still warm. Peel then chop. Eggs = done!
Once the potatoes have been chilling for at least an hour, add the caramelized onions and chopped hard-boiled eggs, as well as chopped green onions, and cooked then crumbled bacon.
Add enough dressing to coat the salad to your liking (I use about 1/2 cup total) then toss to combine.
Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary then stash the potato salad back into the fridge to chill completely or eat slightly-warm. It is totally awesome either way. I
hope you love this new, MAYO-FREE take on potato salad – enjoy!
More Salad Side Dish Recipes
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 lbs baby red skinned potatoes, quartered
- 1 jumbo sweet onion, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- 3 eggs
- 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 green onions, chopped
For the Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette:
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- salt and pepper
Directions
- Add Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette ingredients to a jar with a tight fitting lid or bowl then shake or whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Add potatoes to a large pot then fill with cold water and season with salt. Bring to a boil then cook until potatoes are tender, 10-15 minutes. Drain then return potatoes to pot off the heat for 5 minutes to help evaporate excess water.
- Toss warm potatoes with 1/3 cup Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette then refrigerate for 1 hour or up to overnight.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat then add onions and a dash of salt. Cook, stirring every so often until onions reach a caramel brown color, 20-25 minutes, reducing heat slightly if they start to brown too quickly. Remove skillet from heat then let cool slightly. Can be done a day ahead of time. Cool then store in the refrigerator.
- Place eggs in a saucepan then cover tops by 1 inch with cold water. Bring to a boil, place a lid on top, then remove pan from heat and let sit for 12 minutes. Drain then plunge eggs into ice water or run under cold water for a few minutes. Peel eggs when cool enough to handle then chop and set aside. Can be done several days ahead of time. Cook then peel eggs and store in the refrigerator.
- Combine marinated potatoes with caramelized onions, chopped hard-boiled eggs, bacon, and green onions with as much Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette as you like then toss to combine. Taste then adjust salt and pepper if necessary.
Notes
- To enjoy as a warm salad, combine warm potatoes (do not refrigerate) with caramelized onions, bacon, and green onions then dress with vinaigrette.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
I’ve made this so many times and it is always a hit. It’s a lot of work so I always double it.
LOVE to hear this, Jill!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
We are making this tonight with chicken thighs on the grill tonight. We were wondering though since we are both on a new weight loss journey with better eating and exercise and we are counting our nutrition. Do you have the calorie, carbs and protein info? Thank you
Hi hi! I totally understand! I don’t use a recipe nutrition calculator plugin on my site because I can’t verify them to be 100% accurate and I’d hate to steer someone who is eating with a medical issue in mind (diabetes, for example) wrong. I recently saw a comment on another recipe website where a reader calculated their own nutritional information for the recipe and it was completely different than the counts provided. Since I’m not a dietitian or nutritionist and can’t verify the accuracy of these numbers, I can’t confidently provide them using the services/plugins currently available to me.
I’m sorry I can’t be of more help in this area, again, just coming from a place of not wanting to provide inaccurate information to my readers!
This dressing is delicious- though may be slightly too sweet for my taste. I’ll cut back on the honey next time. The caramelized onion is a great addition!
Would adding some mixed garlic to caramelize with the onions make it too strong? Has anyone tried this?
I made this for a cookout over the weekend and it was delicious! The caramelized onions were a great addition, and the dressing was fantastic. Thanks Kristin!
Oh I’m so glad to hear it, Stephanie! Thank you so much for letting me know, and for the recipe rating!