Our pesto potato salad recipe makes a quick and easy potato salad of baby potatoes and crunchy green beans in a creamy basil pesto dressing. Make the homemade basil pesto ahead to save time and stir the creamy pesto dressing through the potatoes and beans just before eating. It’s fantastic for picnics and barbecues served with roast chicken or barbecued meats and sausages.
If you’re a lover of recipes with potatoes, particularly potato salads, especially those old-fashioned creamy potato salads, you’ll love this pesto potato salad recipe. It makes a speedy potato salad of baby potatoes with crispy green beans in an aromatic creamy basil pesto dressing. Coming together quickly, it’s perfect for picnics and barbecues.
It was while testing this pesto pasta with potatoes and green beans recipe that it hit me how good pesto, potatoes and green beans would be as a potato salad – and they are! I had some homemade basil pesto in the fridge, so it came together in no time and was a perfect side to fat juicy herby sausages.
I made a few versions of this pesto potato salad, including with bacon, as well as with fresh basil – although I went with fresh flat leaf parsley for the final recipe – and a warm potato salad with extra virgin olive oil instead of cream and bacon and parsley. Both are fantastic with roast chicken.
Pesto lover? Try our recipes for pesto gnocchi with homemade pesto alla Genovese, my basil pesto pasta with potatoes and beans, my pesto spaghetti and meatballs with peas and broccoli, this pan-fried asparagus with pesto hummus, our pesto scrambled eggs, my cherry tomato burrata salad with asparagus, basil pesto and dukkah, this broccoli pasta with a creamy broccoli pesto sauce, and my Southeast Asian pesto.
Pesto Potato Salad Recipe for Potatoes and Green Beans in Creamy Pesto
Our easy pesto potato salad recipe is nothing if not versatile. While this potato salad of baby potatoes and crunchy green beans is coated in a creamy basil pesto made with sour cream or crème fraiche, you could substitute the cream for mayonnaise, creamy Greek yoghurt or extra virgin olive oil – as I did for a recipe that’s a bit same same but different, which I’ll also share here.
You can use basil pesto – I use this homemade basil pesto Genovese, which I make every couple of weeks – or use a store-bought basil pesto if you’re tight on time. Or go homemade but swap basil out for another herb. A pesto is simply a pounded paste in Italian, and you can make a pesto with any herb. Coriander (cilantro) is delish – if coriander doesn’t taste like soap to you.
I had to buy a massive bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley recently, as that’s all I could get, and I’ve been using it on absolutely everything. I made a pesto with the parsley, with some crushed mixed nuts I had leftover after making dukkah, the Egyptian nut, spice and seed condiment, and it was terrific. We’ve been eating it with spaghetti, sprinkled with pangrattato, crunchy Italian breadcrumbs, for even more texture.
You could also add peas or substitute the beans for peas. I’m sure a potato salad with sweet potatoes, pumpkins or carrots, or even a combination of those vegetables, would also be brilliant, cold or warm. I’m going to try those combos and get back to you.
Tips to Making this Pesto Potato Salad Recipe for Potatoes and Green Beans in Creamy Pesto
This creamy pesto potato salad recipe is a cinch to make, it barely needs a recipe. If you’re tight on time, you could make this homemade basil pesto recipe ahead. Although it really doesn’t take long to prepare – If I don’t have any in the fridge I usually make it while the potatoes are boiling or cooling.
You could always use a store-bought basil pesto if you have a favourite and you’re really short of time. I’m personally not a fan of commercial basil pesto brands and haven’t yet found one I like, but if you have, go for it.
The baby potatoes should be skin-on and only need a quick scrub. To cook the baby potatoes so that they’re evenly cooked, add the potatoes to a medium sized pot of salted water, bring the water to a boil, and reduce it to a simmer until the potatoes are just tender but still firm.
The potatoes are ready when you can slide a skewer or fork into a potato with an ever so slight resistance. The reason you don’t want the potatoes more cooked is because you’re going to add the green beans to the pot for a minute or so.
I like my green beans to be bright green and crunchy so if you want the beans more cooked, add the beans earlier. And, yes, you could cook the beans separately. Adding the beans to the potatoes is an Italian short cut.
Drain the potatoes and green beans in a colander, and set them aside to cool. If you haven’t made the basil pesto yet, and don’t have any on hand in the fridge, you could make that at this stage. When the baby potatoes are cool, slice them into quarters.
Make the creamy basil pesto dressing in a small bowl by stirring together the basil pesto, extra virgin olive oil, sour cream (or crème fraiche), finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, and salt and pepper.
Lastly, transfer the quartered baby potatoes and green beans to a salad bowl, tip in the creamy pesto dressing, and use a wooden spoon to gently combine the lot. Make sure to try it and add more salt and pepper if needed.
If you’re not serving this pesto potato salad straight away, refrigerate the salad until you are, but remove it from the fridge an hour before eating to bring it down to room temperature, then give it a final stir before serving.
If you want to pretty it up, you could garnish the salad with fresh basil, chopping parsley and basil, toasted pine nuts, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle of sea salt. Enjoy!
Pesto Potato Salad Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g baby potatoes - scrubbed, skins on
- 20 green beans - fresh, trimmed, sliced in thirds
- 3 tbsp basil pesto
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 150 ml sour cream - or crème fraiche
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley - finely chopped
- ¼ tsp salt - or to taste
- ¼ tsp ground cracked black pepper - or to taste
Instructions
- Add the baby potatoes to a medium sized pot of salted water, bring the water to a boil, reduce to a simmer until the potatoes are just-tender but still firm; you should be able to slide a skewer through the potatoes with an ever so slight resistance.
- To the same pot, add the green beans, boil for one minute, drain the potatoes and green beans in a colander, and set them aside to cool. (If you haven’t made the basil pesto yet, and don’t have any the fridge, now is the time to make it.) When the baby potatoes are cool, slice them into quarters.
- Transfer the basil pesto, extra virgin olive oil, sour cream (or crème fraiche), finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, and salt and pepper to a small bowl and stir to combine well.
- To a large salad bowl, add the quartered baby potatoes and green beans, tip in the creamy pesto dressing, and use a wooden spoon to gently incorporate the creamy dressing.
- Taste and, if needed, season with more salt and pepper. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until you are. Remove an hour before eating to bring to room temperature and give it a final stir before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make this pesto potato salad as we’d love to know how it turns out for you.
