Make my mum’s Greek Potato Salad once and it will become your go-to side dish for all picnics and barbecues. This healthy potato salad contains no mayonnaise, is gluten free, vegetarian and Slimming World friendly too!
Check out my Light Satay Chicken Salad
Every time I make one of my favourite Greek recipes I marvel at their simplicity. The ingredients list is typically short, yet the dishes are always packed with flavour.
The secret? Using the best ingredients, such as extra-virgin olive oil, lots of fresh herbs and lemon juice. I maintain that 99% of Greek dishes are served with lemon wedges on the side (more on that later).
What’s in my Greek Potato Salad
This potato salad uses just a handful of typical Greek staples – no mayo or sour cream to be found here!
- potatoes
- red onions
- feta
- capers
- lemon juice
- fresh dill and parsley
- dried oregano
- virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
A healthy potato salad
This salad is the Mediterranean Diet in action! Let’s have a look at the individual elements…
- Potatoes: choose salad potatoes (baby potatoes) leaving the skin on to maximise their health benefits. Alternatively you can use red potatoes, such as Rooster potatoes. Floury potatoes tend to break up too much if you boil them but they are still delicious in this salad, if a bit more mushy (pictured below).
- Feta: barrel-aged feta will bring lots of flavour to this salad even if used sparingly. You can leave the feta out for a vegan potato salad.
- Capers: I am addicted to the mini capers (nonpareil capers) but you could also use chopped black olives if preferred.
- Fresh dill (άνηθοs): I love using dill in my recipes. It adds a unique flavour and is known to aid digestion. If you are not a fan you could replace with parsley. I like to use both!
- Oregano (ρίγανη): dried oregano is used liberally in Greek cooking and has a more pronounced flavour than fresh. Try to find some wild Greek oregano which will knock your socks off in terms of flavour.
- Onions: red onions please and sliced as thinly as possible. A mandoline would be useful here.
- Lemon juice: full of vitamin C, increases iron absorption when eaten with iron-rich foods. Plus it adds a welcome blast of acidity that makes flavours sing.
- Olive oil: rather than cut out fats, the Mediterranean Diet embraces the use of good fats. Choose virgin or extra virgin olive oil for this salad – they are the least processed and most beneficial.
How to cook potatoes in the Instant Pot
I know that boiling potatoes is not exactly difficult… But trust me when I say that it is totally foolproof in a pressure cooker. Baby potatoes come out perfectly tender without you having to watch the pot and keep pricking them with a fork! Larger potatoes keep their shape better – a win-win all round!
You don’t have to adjust the cooking time if you are using more potatoes than specified below, you do however have to change it slightly depending on potato size. Potatoes over 250g each (around 9 oz) will need 12 minutes, medium potatoes should be done in 10.
Baby potatoes: Add one cup of water (250ml) into the Instant Pot, place the trivet in the pot and add a steamer basket. Place potatoes in the steamer and cook for 8 minutes at high pressure. Release the pressure manually when the beep sounds.
Larger potatoes: Add one cup of water (250ml) into the Instant Pot, place the trivet in the pot and add the potatoes directly on the trivet, stacking them if necessary. Cook for 10-12 minutes at high pressure then release the pressure manually.
Slimming World Potato Salad
To be totally honest a lot of the flavour in this potato salad is due to the liberal use of olive oil. Rather than leave it out completely I suggest you use an olive oil spray which allows you to control the amount for a a handful of extra Syns (1 tablespoon of olive oil is 6 syns).
The remaining ingredients are syn-free, or in the case of feta allowed as a healthy extra, so you can add this dish to your regular Slimming World recipes.
Turn this potato salad into a meal
Potato salad without mayo is the ideal summer side dish as it is much less perishable in the heat (and healthier). To make a meal out of this Greek Potato Salad, consider adding some drained tinned tuna or grilled cubed chicken.
For a vegetarian version you could add a tin of chickpeas or white beans, drained of course!
What to serve with Greek Potato Salad
This dish will happily accompany any barbecue fish or meat and you can pack it for picnics or lunches too. Serve it with
- Greek lamb Chops
- Souvlaki (if served on a skewer without the pitta)
- Greek lamb burgers (if served without buns)
HOW LONG DOES GREEK POTATO SALAD LAST IN THE FRIDGE?
This salad will last up to 3 days in the fridge. The potatoes will happily absorb the olive oil and lemon juice and become more flavourful.
You can make this dish in advance for gatherings and barbecues and use up any leftovers for your lunches.
HAVE YOU MADE MY GREEK POTATO SALAD?
Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes. I can’t wait to see your take on it!
Greek potato salad
Ingredients
- 900 g / 2 pounds baby potatoes, halved Jersey Royals, or small red potatoes
- 200 g | 7 oz feta cheese crumbled
- 5 tbsp mini capers or finely chopped black olives
- 1 red onion very finely sliced
- 1/2 lemon juice only
- 2 tbsp chopped dill or use more parsley
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 3-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or use Olive Oil spray for Slimming World version
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- salt and freshly ground pepper to season
- lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add a good pinch of salt.
- Add the potatoes and lower heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and cook until fork tender - about 20 minutes.
- Spread the potatoes out on a platter and allow to cool.
- Scatter the capers, feta and red onion over the potatoes.
- Drizzle with the lemon juice and plenty of olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with the parsley, dill and oregano and serve with extra lemon wedges.
Cook the potatoes in the Instant Pot
- Add 1 cup (250ml) water in the pot, place the potatoes in a steamer basket on top and cook for 8 minutes at high pressure. Release the steam manually and remove the basket from the pressure cooker to allow the potatoes to cool down.
Steve says
Can you freeze this gorgeous Greek pot salad
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Steve – I don’t think it would freeze well! But you can keep leftovers in the fridge for a couple of days or even use them to make breakfast hash 🙂