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This French potato salad is a delicious simple side dish that’s bright and tangy, packed with capers and fresh herbs. An adaptation of Julia Child’s classic recipe, it’s a summer favorite that’s perfect for cookouts!
One of the first cookbooks I picked up when I was learning to cook was a book by Julia Child. After reading it, I fell in love with her personality: her passion for cooking is infectious! She then became my “TV friend” as I binged-watched her black-and-white cooking shows from the 1950’s.
A few years ago I made Nicoise salad, a recipe I learned from Julia, and a component of that bowl was this French potato salad. It was so good that I kept sneaking bites from the bowl! Now when summer rolls around, this French potato salad is what I make: it’s light, simple, no mayo, and everyone always loves it: even more than the classic creamy kind!
5 Star Reader Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This is the best potato salad I’ve ever made. YUM. It’s my new go-to. Wow. Interesting method but turns out fantastic.” -Stephanie
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “The easiest French potato salad I have made. I like the addition of capers. I cooked the potatoes in the pressure cooker and they turned out perfectly.” -Kn
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s a true crowd-pleaser. The tangy-briny-herby flavor is hard to stop eating: everyone I’ve served it to loves this combination.
- Make-ahead friendly. You can mix it a full day in advance and it tastes even better the next day.
- Works for many diets. It’s vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free so it’s great for cookouts with many types of eaters.
What is French Potato Salad, Anyway?
French potato salad is a vinegar-based salad, instead of creamy like the American version. While the ingredients can vary, it typically includes potatoes, vinegar and olive oil, fresh herbs like parsley or dill, onion, shallot or scallions, and sometimes capers. It’s got no mayo and works for many diets including vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, and gluten-free.
I also made a version of this French potato salad with dill that’s absolutely fantastic. To add an herby pop, go to our Dill Potato Salad.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Baby red potatoes: Their thin skins and waxy flesh hold their shape after boiling. It’s worth finding the right thing for this recipe — yellow skin potatoes also work.
- White wine vinegar. Bright but not aggressive. As a substitution, you can also try red wine vinegar though again, it’s worth finding the real thing.
- Capers. These give the salad a salty, briny pop. They’re a berry of the caper bush that’s native to the Mediterranean and sold pickled, in small thin bottles. See my best caper recipes for more info.
- Shallot. The flavor is milder than yellow onion, with a hint of garlic. (You can also make a great shallot vinaigrette with leftovers.)
- Fresh parsley. Adds a fresh and peppery kick. Here’s how to store parsley so it doesn’t go limp. You can also use dill and make this dill potato salad.
- Olive oil. My go-to heart healthy all-purpose oil.
Tips for Making French Potato Salad
This French potato salad is incredibly tasty: every time I make it I truly cannot help myself from sneaking bites: it’s just that good! Here are a few tips for this salad:
- Start the potatoes in cold, salted water. This is the move for any boiled potato: cold water means even cooking from the inside out.
- Let the potatoes stand with vinegar & water, then mix in olive oil. There’s no traditional vinaigrette here! After the potatoes are boiled and drained, you’ll mix them with white wine vinegar and warm water and let them stand for 5 minutes. At first when you mix in the water, the potatoes will be very watery. But never fear! As you gently mix the potatoes, they’ll absorb the water and vinegar and become moist and tangy. Then you can add a touch of olive oil. This method makes for perfectly moist potato salad!
- Don’t skip the capers. Capers add just the right final flavoring to the dish. This was an addition I made to Julia’s salad recipe, as I saw some other French potato salad recipes that incorporated capers. It really makes it shine!
How to Serve French Potato Salad
This French potato salad is perfect for all sorts of occasions and to pair with dishes of all kinds. Here are my top ways to serve it:
- Nicoise salad. The hands down best way to serve it: as part of Nicoise Salad! It’s a French main dish salad that’s off the charts good, with boiled eggs, green beans, tuna, olives, and greens covered in a tangy lemon dressing.
- With salmon. Try it alongside my Lemon Dill Salmon, Easy Baked Salmon, or Grilled Salmon.
- With chicken. Add my grilled chicken thighs or best chicken burger.
- At a summer barbecue. It’s the perfect summer salad for a cookout or barbecue (here are 30 more summer salads).
- With a plant-based main. Class up my veggie burger or portobello burger.
Make-Ahead and Storage Tips
This is a great make-ahead salad: you can mix it up to a full day in advance, keep it in the fridge, and pull it out about 30 minutes before serving so it can come back to room temperature. Leftovers store for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.
A quick word on warm-vs.-cold: I usually serve this at room temperature, which is when both the potatoes and the seasonings taste their best.
Dietary Notes
This French potato salad recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.
French Potato Salad
An adaptation of Julia Child’s classic recipe, this French potato salad is a favorite! It features zingy red potatoes, capers, and parsley.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 3 pounds baby red potatoes
- ¼ cup minced shallot (about 1 large)
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup capers, drained
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with cold water and add 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Add the whole potatoes and bring to a boil. When it comes to a boil, set a timer for 8 minutes. Cook until fork tender (taste test to check), up to 20 minutes.
- Mince the shallot.
- When the potatoes are done, drain them. When they are cool enough to handle, slice them into bite sized pieces. Place the potatoes in a bowl and gently mix in the minced shallot, white wine vinegar, kosher salt, and ½ cup warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. The potatoes will absorb the water as they stand.
- Add the capers, parsley, olive oil, and a few grinds black pepper. Taste and add additional salt if necessary. Serve warm or room temperature. Leftovers store up to 4 days refrigerated.
Notes
Inspired by The Way to Cook by Julia Child
Looking for salad recipes?
Outside of this French potato salad, here are a few of our favorite salad recipes:
- The BEST Kale Salad
- Incredible Chopped Salad
- Grilled Caesar Salad or Perfect Caesar Salad
- Wedge Salad with Potato Chips
- Greek Orzo Salad
- Roasted Eggplant Salad
- Watermelon Salad with Feta & Cucumber
- Radish Chopped Salad Recipe
- Mexican Coleslaw Recipe
- Favorite Potato Salad
- Massaged Kale Salad with Pomegranate
- California Salad with Avocado Oil Vinaigrette
- Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Cabbage Salad with Apples & Walnuts
- Purple Potato Salad
- Pea Salad with Lemon Dressing
- Healthy Potato Salad with Hard Boiled Egg
- Beet and Apple Salad
- Best Tossed Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
- Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Homemade Croutons Recipe
- Easy Salad Bar Ideas
- Best Creamy Coleslaw
- Gurkensalat (German Cucumber Salad)
- 40 Salad Recipes for People Who Hate Salad
Love this potato salad. No mayo! I’ve made it twice so far and it will be my go to all summer. Thanks for the recipe.
I love hearing this! Thank you so much for making it and so glad you love it!
Bonjour: I enjoyed your Julia Child’s take on potato salad. I tried your
method of boiling our French small red potatoes for 8 minutes…which
turned out to 18 to get to fork soft.
Maybe you have a typo? in your recipe. 8 should be 18.
Otherwise – I enjoyed making your salad, and your web site is very good.
(Yes – I did nibble some potato while making the dish)
Potatoes can be all over the place in their timing. We’ll add a range.
I made the French potato salad. However, the potatoes did not absorb the liquid when they sat in the vinegar. Also, when I cut the potatoes (maybe while too hot) all the skin fell off. I will ponder these missteps and try this again.
Thanks for your note! The potatoes don’t have to absorb all the water, but they should become seasoned and saucy. If the potato skin fell off, it seems that maybe you boiled a little too long. Next time try just until fork tender. Thank you for these comments!
Was skeptical about the method but I now love this! The easiest French potato salad I have made. I like the addition of capers. I cooked the potatoes in the pressure cooker and they turned out perfectly. And I cooked the shallot a bit in the olive oil first to take away some of the bite.
This recipe comes together quickly and is delicious. I served it with BBQ’d Alaskan salmon burgers from Costco. It was a big hit. Thank you!
This is the best potato salad I’ve ever made. YUM. It’s my new go-to. Wow. Interesting method but turns out fantastic.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Niçoise and not NIcoise.
Know your French, people.