Italian Potato Salad is a delicious and authentic Italian recipe that’s perfect for your next get together. Made with gold potatoes, green beans, cherry tomatoes, and red onions, and tossed with a simple Italian Vinaigrette, this a great recipe for any occasion!
My family recipe for Italian Potato Salad is a traditional way to prepare potato salad with just a few ingredients. This light and flavorful recipe is the perfect alternative to heavy mayo potato salad and features a variety of summer vegetables.
For more delicious summertime side dishes, be sure to try my Italian Green Bean Salad or this Italian Arugula Salad. For a more traditional potato salad, try this Red Potato Salad recipe.
You’ll Love Italian Potato Salad
This classic Italian Potato Salad recipe is a family recipe that I have been making for years. It’s so simple to make and I love that it features a simple olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing.
As opposed to traditional potato salad, this recipe uses larger pieces of potato and green beans for a hearty bite. It comes together in the time it takes to cook the potatoes and goes great with anything from grilled meat to a simple side salad.
The potatoes and vegetables are the star of this recipe and pair perfectly with the simple dressing. You’ll love that you can follow this recipe or add ingredients, plus no need to peel the potatoes.
I like to have this recipe on hand when I’m feeding a crowd because I don’t have to worry about keeping the potato salad cold. It’s great served at any temperature, but room temperature is the best.
Ingredients
- Potatoes: use a thin-skinned potato like Yukon Gold, red potatoes, or even baby potatoes.
- Green Beans: fresh green beans are a classic component to any Italian potato salad.
- Tomatoes: slice your cherry tomatoes in half. Or, if you are using small grape tomatoes, you may not need to slice them at all.
- Red Onion: thinly sliced red onions add great crunch and flavor.
- Oil: use a good quality extra-virgin olive oil.
- Vinegar: I recommend using red wine vinegar, but you could use lemon juice instead.
- Basil: finish off the dish with chopped fresh basil or whatever fresh herbs you like.
How to Make Italian Potato Salad
Classic Italian Potato Salad is simple to make and truly great for any occasion. I have served this for summer barbecues and for holidays and special occasions.
You can serve Italian Potato Salad immediately after making but I recommend letting it marinate for a few minutes before serving. Unlike classic potato salad, this recipe can sit a room temperature.
Cook the Potatoes
Add the diced potatoes to a large pot of salted water. Bring it to a boil and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and set aside.
Cook the Green Beans
While the potatoes cook, bring another pot of salted water to boil and add in your trimmed green beans. Cook just until they are fork tender and place in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Drain and pat try with a paper towel.
Make the Dressing
In a small bowl, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, salt and black pepper until it is well combined. You can add other ingredients if you want to the dressing such as dijon mustard, garlic or Italian seasoning.
Combine Ingredients and Toss
In a large bowl, combine the warm potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and red onion. Then, pour on the dressing over the Italian Potato Salad and toss gently to combine. Sprinkle on chopped basil and add more kosher salt if needed.
Recipe Tips
- Use thin-skinned potatoes. Choose waxy varieties like Yukon Gold or red potatoes — they hold their shape well after boiling and soak up the dressing beautifully without getting mushy.
- Season the potatoes while warm. Toss the potatoes with the dressing while they’re still warm to help them absorb more flavor.
- Let it marinate. Let the Italian Potato Salad marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or in the fridge so the flavors meld. It tastes even better the next day!
- Change it up. Change up the flavors of your Italian potato salad by adding in ingredients such as capers, black olives, chopped fresh parsley, or even a diced hard-boiled egg.
Serving Suggestions
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or review in the comments section further down the page.
Italian Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (unpeeled and cut into large cubes)
- 8 ounces green beans, trimmed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ red onion, sliced thin
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water (just enough to cover the potatoes). Bring to a simmer and cook until fork tender, about 11-13 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- While the potatoes cook, bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add in the trimmed green beans and cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Remove from water and use a dish towel or paper towel to pat the green beans dry.
- Place the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and red onion into a large serving bowl.
- To make the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk in the chopped basil and pour the dressing over the vegetables. Toss well and serve.
Notes
- Use thin-skinned potatoes. Choose waxy varieties like Yukon Gold or red potatoes — they hold their shape well after boiling and soak up the dressing beautifully without getting mushy.
- Season the potatoes while warm. Toss the potatoes with the dressing while they’re still warm to help them absorb more flavor.
- Let it marinate. Let the salad marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or in the fridge so the flavors meld. It tastes even better the next day!
- Change it up. Change up the flavors of your Italian potato salad by adding in ingredients such as capers, black olives, chopped fresh parsley, or even a diced hard-boiled egg.
My favorite. 5 stars
Thanks! 🙂