Potato Salad with Peas and Mint – a zesty and refreshing spin on a classic salad.
To me, potatoes are a store cupboard essential; they are the most versatile of vegetables. If you have potatoes in the house, you have the beginning of numerous dishes. I use them to make gnocchi, bake them, roast them, use in soup, make chips or mash. That’s just the beginning for hot dishes.
There’s also a raft of recipes for the workhorse of salads, the potato salad, the salad which is almost guaranteed to make an appearance in one form or another at any barbecue.
I truly believe that potato salad is very much under-rated. Maybe it’s because grocery store varieties frequently look tired and gloopy. (And “gloopy” is a real word, defined by Collins Dictionary as “any messy sticky fluid or substance”. 🙂 ) It may also be that potato salads are frequently heavy on mayonnaise and light on inspiration.
However, in defence of potato salad, it is quick and it is easy to produce an attractive, flavourful dish.
I boil the potatoes, which only takes minutes, and then add the dressing and accompaniments. You can create diverse flavours with what you have on hand. The mellow flavour of potatoes marries well with a huge variety of ingredients. Potato salads generally have a mayonnaise or vinaigrette dressing, with accompanying ingredients added from there. Think hard boiled eggs, olives, crispy bacon, dill gherkins, celery, onion, sweetcorn. The combinations are endless and the potatoes so accommodating that most versions make an ideal accompaniment to fish, meat or poultry.
They’re great with the evening meal, very popular at a barbecue or ideal to transport to a “pot luck”.
The dressing here has a mayonnaise base, lightened by the addition of yoghurt. The baby peas add vibrant colour and are joined by one of their best friends, mint. My two favourite flavour boosters are lemon zest and mint, both used here. There are few dishes that do not benefit from the addition of one or both of these ingredients. You will notice I use them often.
Please let us know in the comments if you enjoy this recipe.
xx Alex and Faye
P.S. You might like to serve this salad alongside our delicious Greek Style Chicken and Salsa.
Potato Salad with Peas and Mint
Ingredients
- 500 gm baby new potatoes or larger potatoes cut to bite size
- ¾ cup frozen baby peas
- 1/3 cup good quality egg mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
- ½ cup mint leaves chopped
- zest of ½ large lemon
- ½ tsp honey
- 1 spring onion finely sliced
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook potatoes in lightly salted boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes until tender, then drain in a colander. Set aside to cool.
- Add some fresh water to the same saucepan, add some salt, bring to the boil and add the peas. Bring water back to the boil, drain, then add the peas to a bowl of iced water to maintain the green colour. Drain when cool.
- Mix together the mayonnaise, yogurt, mint, lemon zest, honey and spring onions to make the dressing.
- Keep aside a few peas and small mint leaves for the garnish.
- When the potatoes are cool, add them to a bowl, add the peas and fold through the dressing. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add more lemon zest and mint if desired.
- Garnish with fresh mint leaves, peas and a wisp or two of lemon zest.
I love that you added yogurt to tone down the mayonnaise! I’ll ave to give that a go!! I’m a big fan of olive oil and vinegar potato salads (more a French-inspiration, I think).
Oh Luci, I do agree, I also love the olive oil and garlic potato salads. I have one that will appear on the blog one day. Really can’t beat a lovely potato salad. 🙂
Peas and potatoes go great together but the addition of mint in this makes the whole dish pop.
Hi Andrea, I agree, I think mint gives many dishes a flavour boost. One of my favourite herbs. 🙂
Such a fresh and delicious way to make potato salad!
Hi Krissy, so glad you like it, thank you. 🙂
I never had a potato salad like this one before – I’m very partial to the whole French potato salad with Dijon mustard – but this looks yummy so I’m keeping it on reference for all the barbecues this summer!
Hi Emmeline, thank you for the lovely words. Please let me know if you try it. It’s a great barbecue side dish. 🙂
Yum! This sounds so great and perfect for a summer bbq. I love the mint in here for a burst of freshness!
Hi Rosa, thank you for the lovely words. I agree, mint brings brightness and freshness to many dishes. 🙂
Looks like great delicious food and I’ll definitely try this one. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Bindu – I look forward to hearing what you think!
I have never seen a potato salad like this before. It looks like it would be so good!
Aww, thanks, Becca – hope you’ll give it a try 🙂
Love the twist of this potato salad recipe with the peas
Thank you! 🙂
I have always love potato salad but this recipe is quite different from the one I always make. I must try this.
I hope you’ll enjoy this very much 🙂
Potatoes and peas is one of my favorite classic flavor combos. The addition of mint sounds amazing!
Thanks, Christa 🙂 I hope you will love it!