Pesto Potato Salad

A few spoonfuls of flavor-packed basil pesto give this pesto potato salad recipe its herby, garlicky flavor, with creamy hard-boiled eggs, snappy green beans, and buttery toasted pine nuts, to make a quick and easy BBQ or potluck side dish.

With so much flavor packed into each spoonful, using jarred or homemade pesto as the base of this potato salad dressing is a fantastic time-saving trick. And who doesn’t love that?

A little extra olive oil and a touch of mayonnaise make the dressing smooth, creamy, and the perfect glaze for buttery red potatoes, snappy green beans, quartered hard-boiled eggs, and toasted pine nuts. So much flavor with such simple ingredients!

Where most potato salads are best served chilled, this pesto potato salad is equally delicious warm, because if you’re like me, you just can’t wait.

Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success

• makes this salad shine, but feel free to save time by using a good store-bought brand instead.
• Add half of the pesto dressing to the cooked, cut potatoes while they’re still warm to soak up all that delicious, garlicky basil flavor, then dress the rest of the salad later. If you’re like my mom and always want extra dressing, it’s simple to whisk up more.
• If serving chilled, make this potato salad a few hours ahead for the flavors to meld.

What’s in This Recipe

The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.

• Baby red potatoes — These creamy potatoes cook quickly, and with their soft skin, there’s no need to peel.
• Fresh green beans — Quickly blanched green beans add a fresh, snappy bite to this creamy salad
• Pesto — When basil is in abundance, I make , but feel free to use a good store-bought brand instead
• Extra virgin olive oil — Added extra virgin olive oil loosens the pesto and makes a dressing that flows evenly, coats thoroughly, and adds moisture to the potatoes.
• Mayonnaise — A few tablespoons of mayonnaise gives the dressing a bit of tang and depth, and helps emulsify the oil and pesto.
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper — The essential flavor boosters for any dish. If using table salt, cut the amount in half.
• Hard-boiled eggs — I’ve made this salad with and without the eggs, but my family likes it best with their creamy flavor.
• Parmesan cheese — Always use freshly grated Parmesan cheese for the most flavor and salty umami.
• Pine nuts — Creamy and buttery, these nuts taste best when toasted in a dry pan until golden brown.

Ingredient Swaps and Substitutions

• Use small, creamy white or Yukon gold potatoes rather than baby red potatoes.
• Instead of basil pesto in the dressing, try , , or .
• Skip the green beans and try fresh chopped orange, yellow, or red bell pepper for a textural contrast and sweet bite.
• Swap pine nuts for toasted pistachios or walnuts. Always toast them for more flavor and crunch.

How to Make Pesto Potato Salad

1. Cook the potatoes. Add salt to the water to flavor the potatoes while cooking until tender, about 15 minutes. Reserve the cooking water to blanch the green beans.
2. Mix the pesto dressing. Add the extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper. Mayonnaise adds a little body to the dressing.

Heidi’s Tip: Reserve the potatoes’ hot cooking water to blanch the beans so you don’t have to dirty another pot. I use to transfer the potatoes to a baking sheet to cool.

1. Peel and quarter the hard-boiled eggs. I quarter the eggs because I like them chunky. Chop to whatever style you like best.
2. Blanche the green beans in the reserved potato water. It only takes about a minute to turn the beans bright green and still retain their fresh snap.

1. Chop the potatoes and mix with half of the dressing. Keep the skin on the potatoes and cut into bite-size chunks. Adding the dressing while the potatoes are warm infuses them with flavor.
2. Assemble the salad. Add the green beans, Parmesan cheese, and toasted pine nuts, and gently toss with the dressing and hard-boiled eggs.

Heidi’s Tip: As the final step, add the eggs, then toss very lightly so they stay intact.

Storage Tips

• This potato salad is a meal prep dream and can be made the day before serving. Then, if the salad seems dry, mix a little more dressing and add it before serving.
• I’ve kept leftovers in the fridge for 4-5 days, but it’s probably best within one to two.