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No summer picnic or patio party is complete without a potato salad! Our modern take on potato salad is sure to be a hit around the table this season. Baby potatoes and leeks are tossed in a delicious aioli sauce with capers, celery and dill to make a delicious aioli potato and leek salad.
One of our favorite ways to eat potatoes is with a side of aioli sauce. And we used that as inspiration to create this aioli and leek potato salad. This potato salad isn’t heavy on the sauce but we made sure to pack it with fresh tangy flavors that will pair well with a lot of your favorite summer dishes.
We recommend serving potato and leek salad with:
Prosciutto Crudo Focaccia Sandwich with Burrata and Arugula
Pretzel Crusted Chicken with Creamy Dijon Mustard Sauce
Aioli Potato and Leek Salad
What You’ll Need
Baby potatoes: we used tri-color potatoes because we love the less starchy flavor and the beautiful colors they add to the salad.
Garlic: Adds a nice flavor to the aioli sauce.
Mayonnaise: We love olive oil mayo because it doesn’t have seed oils and that is what we used in this recipe. If you don’t have olive oil mayo on hand, regular mayo works perfectly fine.
Lemon: Adds acidity and tanginess to the mayo sauce.
Salt: Just a pinch for seasoning!
Fresh Dill: fresh dill is a must! It adds a punch of yummy flavor!
Leeks: Leeks have a similar flavor profile to onions but are much more mild. You don’t want something too overpowering in this dish because you want the bright flavors of the aioli sauce to shine.
Celery: Adds a nice crunch to the potato salad.
Capers: we love an excuse to use capers! They’re so salty and briny and Really give the salad a strong flavor it needs
Green onions: We used them decoration and to add more subtle onion flavor to the salad.
Recipe Snapshot:
- Boil potatoes and cool.
- Make potato salad dressing.
- Cut and toss the potatoes in the dressing.
- Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.
What are the best potatoes for this potato salad?
We have a couple favorite potatoes for potato salad. Everyone has a different opinion on what potato is best but we typically lean for a sweeter, less starchy potato variety like the two listed below.
- Tri-color baby potatoes: cook faster, taste a little sweeter and less starchy and also add a lovely color to the potato salad.
- Yukon gold potatoes: soft and buttery. They would taste delicious in this potato salad.
Tips for making the best potato salad
- Don’t over cook the potatoes. Smaller potatoes don’t need much time to cook at all, so make sure you occasionally check the doneness of them as you cook. If the potatoes are too soft, the potato salad can become mushy.
- Let your potatoes cool before mixing in the dressing. No one wants to play hot potato! We recommend letting the potatoes cool for at least 15 minutes to make sure they are a safe temperature to handle. Also, if the potatoes are too hot when you mix them in the dressing, the dressing can become too runny.
- Mix in different textures and flavors. We added leeks and celery which add a nice crunch to the salad with the soft potatoes. We also chose to add in fresh herbs like dill along with capers to add a
- Allow some time to chill the potato salad. It is best when served cold. And when you allow time for the salad to sit, the flavors will become more enhanced. We recommend chilling for at least an hour.
- Sprinkle lemon juice over the potatoes after cooking. Adding a little lemon juice to the potatoes will enhance the tangy flavor of the potato salad.
More potato salad mix-ins
If you want to play more with flavors and textures, we feel these mix-ins will complement the flavors best.
- Boiled eggs
- Dill pickles
- Walnuts
- Slivered almonds
- Shallots (a swap leeks)
Want a bit of sweetness? Try adding in some dried cranberries!
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Aioli Potato and Leek Salad
Description
A bright and refreshingly light potato salad, full of color and flavor!
Ingredients
1 lb tri-color baby potatoes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 lemon, zested
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh dill
1 stalk celery
1 leek
2 tbsp capers
3 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Cook Potatoes. Fill a large pot with water. Enough to cover the top of the potatoes. Bring the water to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, pour in your baby potatoes and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 10-12 minutes. Strain and place on a plate to cool. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon (1 tbsp) over the potatoes.
- Make aioli sauce. In a medium bowl, add mayo, lemon juice and zest, dill, salt and pepper to season.
- Chop up your leeks and slice chilled potatoes in halves or fourths, so they are bite-size.
- Add leeks and potatoes to a bowl and toss in the aioli sauce. Mix in some capers and chopped green onions. Serve and enjoy!
