Healthy Potato Salad Recipe with Homemade Avocado Oil Mayo
Ditch the Ultra-Processed Store-Bought Mayo – How to Make Healthy Potato Salad with CLEAN Homemade Mayonnaise!
Is it even possible to make a healthy potato salad recipe? That also tastes just as good as a classic potato salad? If you’re like most of us—knowing potato salad only as an irresistibly fatty, carb-ridden, unhealthy dish to be avoided—your answer is probably: no.
Poor, poor potato salad. The creamy, starchy, all-time-favorite BBQ side dish has gotten such a bad reputation! Yet, for all the wrong reasons… In fact, just a few simple substitutions can transform the traditionally demonized recipe into a totally healthy potato salad recipe!
And, with any kind of salad, there’s SO much room for variation and creativity here. Chopped celery is a classic crunchy addition in potato salad, but why stop there? You can VEGGIE-pack your healthy potato salad with chopped carrots, bell pepper, cauliflower—whatever you like!
Serve as a cookout side dish, as part of a weeknight family dinner, or include it in your next meal prep for the week. The 2 main ingredients in this healthy potato salad—potatoes and eggs—are some of the most affordable options for a cheap healthy meal prep. I highly recommend trying it out as part of my grilled BBQ chicken meal prep bowls!
Are Potatoes Healthy?
There are misguided potato haters out there, who have demonized potatoes as a blood sugar enemy with no nutritional value. So, if you’re one of ‘em, this healthy potato salad recipe probably isn’t for you!
But, if you’ve ever wondered about potatoes, let me reassure you: they’re actually quite wholesome and nutritious. (Especially when they’re not highly-processed or deep-fried…) Yes, potatoes are starchy, but those slow-digesting complex carbs provide our bodies with quality fuel. And, our healthy gut bacteria NEED resistant starches like those found in potatoes!
Also important to note, potatoes are a type of root vegetable known as a tuber—which is basically the portion of the root that stores all of the plants’ nutrients. That’s why potatoes are a nutritional powerhouse, loaded with essential vitamins and minerals! Above all, potatoes are a real, whole food—which is always the best kind of food for our bodies.
Best of all, potatoes are a super affordable, versatile ingredient, and they’re so easy to cook with! The ‘hardest’ part of this potato salad recipe is literally peeling and chopping your potatoes…only because it takes some time. Then, simply add to a pot with water, bring to a boil until fork tender, and let ’em cool before tossing all of your salad ingredients together!
When I made this recipe, I got an ENTIRE 5 lb bag of baking potatoes for just $2 at Aldi. So, plenty for my healthy potato salad recipe, and plenty leftover to use in another meal! (Cauliflower mashed potatoes, anyone?)
How to Make Healthy Potato Salad WITH Mayonnaise?!
The old low-fat diet craze inspired loads of health-conscious cooks to craft recipes for healthy potato salad without mayonnaise. And, with Greek yogurt or a nondairy yogurt as a creamy substitute, they can still be pretty tasty. But they’re just no match for true, old-fashioned potato salad.
Yogurts can’t compare to the lusciously thick, creamy texture of mayonnaise—because they’re lacking the rich fats that mayo contains. And, those dietary fats are not ‘bad,’ as loads of research has brought to light in recent years. Fat is one of the most important nutrients in our bodies, and most of us need MORE of it!
But, the different kinds of fats we eat affect the body differently. (Check out my Omega 3 6 9 Fatty Acids blog to learn more!) In store-bought mayonnaise, the problem is the kinds of fats (and other questionable additives) that it contains—and the havoc they can wreak on our bodies.
Homemade Healthy Potato Salad vs. Old-Fashioned Recipe: It’s All in the Mayo
Honestly, the main issue in traditional potato salad isn’t the carb-o-licious potatoes, or even the fat content of the mayo. The root of the problem lies in the ultra-processed, inflammatory, store-bought mayonnaise, made with not-so clean ingredients.
The main ingredient in most traditional mayonnaise—soybean oil—is one of the WORST inflammatory foods that we can eat. And, it sneaks into our diet all of the time in processed foods, condiments, sauces, dressings, etc. But, swap out that inflammatory mayo for a healthy substitute, and making healthy potato salad is easy.
That’s why I prefer to make my healthy potato salad with avocado oil mayo! Nowadays, you can find some great, cleaner mayonnaise options in some grocery stores or online. One of my favorites is Primal Kitchen’s Mayo made with avocado oil. It’s clean, simple, and made with an anti-inflammatory oil.
But, it’s also pretty dang easy and cheap to make your own healthy mayonnaise at home! Check out my personal favorite homemade avocado oil mayo recipe, which you can have ready in just minutes. It’s a clean, unprocessed, and totally Whole30 compliant mayonnaise option. And, I honestly think it tastes better than any store-bought variety!
Healthy Aldi Meal Prep for the Week & Haul!
Healthy Potato Salad Recipe with Avocado Oil Mayo
Ingredients
- 5 russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
- 5 boiled eggs, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup relish
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp yellow mustard
- ½ tsp salt, to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup avocado oil mayonnaise, or mayo of choice
Instructions
- Add peeled and chopped potatoes to a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, uncovered, and cook until potatoes are fork tender—about 10-15 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.
- If not using pre-boiled eggs, hard-boil eggs and allow to cool. (Learn my fool-proof method for hard-boiling eggs on the stove, or try hard-boiling eggs in the oven or toaster oven!)
- In the meantime, make avocado oil mayo—if desired, or if not using store-bought mayo! (Check out my homemade avocado oil mayo recipe here.)
- Once boiled eggs have cooled, peel and chop.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked and cooled potatoes, boiled eggs, celery, relish and seasonings. Add avocado oil mayo and mix well to coat.
- Serve and enjoy immediately, or portion and store for later.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-7 days.
- Yields 10-12 cups potato salad, depending on size of potatoes.
8 Comments on “Healthy Potato Salad Recipe with Homemade Avocado Oil Mayo”
Delish! What a nice healthy alternative! I might just replace my Dukes after all these years!
Hi there! So glad our healthy potato salad recipe appeals to you 🙂 we love it & we hope you’ll give it a try!
Usually I’m a classic mayo guy but this healthy potato salad recipe inspired me to try some avocado mayo. Didn’t make my own but I bought it and wow, I do actually like it better. Love this recipe thanks!
Hey Will, we’re so glad you’re enjoying this tasty potato salad with avocado oil mayo! Truly, I didn’t really like mayonnaise at all until I tried avocado oil mayo… Thanks so much for trying out the recipe & sharing your feedback with us 🙂
perfect!
🙂 🙂
It s hard to say I have not tried making this ahead of time with boiled potatoes. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
This is a great recipe to make ahead of time! 🙂