Flying on Jess Fuel

Fueling my Navy pilot, one meal at a time...

Navigation
  • Home
  • A little about us…
    • Privacy Policy
  • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Gardening

Harvest Fridays – Creamy Pesto Potato Salad

July 10, 2015 by jessfuel 14 Comments

This Creamy Pesto Potato Salad is a great summer side dish and the perfect way to use up your garden basil! Pair it with steaks on the grill and a fresh tomato salad.

Creamy Pesto Potato Salad

Alright, so. When I started Harvest Fridays, I was super excited about it and was harvesting lots of great stuff. Lately, not so excited about it. Mostly because we’ve been having so many garden problems. We finally have the aquaponics system under control, and now I have grasshoppers and squirrels just decimating my outdoor garden. I get depressed when I see my Timehop photos from the past 2 years, full of bountiful harvests. This year, not so great. I’m getting tomatoes here and there, a couple zucchinis. But nothing compared to what we were getting the last couple years when we had 6 big raised beds planted full. It’s sad.

So… that being said, I’m going to take a little break from Harvest Fridays. I’ll post garden updates from time to time, but for now it won’t be a regular series. I kinda just feel like it’s full of disappointment lately and I don’t want it to be like that! When I have good stuff to share, I’ll share it.

Today I have something good to share– a delicious garden-fresh recipe!

One thing that is doing amazingly well is our basil. I keep taking little cuttings and letting them sit in water until they grow new roots, then planting them in the aquaponics system. I’ve gone from 2 basil plants to 12 just from taking cuttings. No new seeds or anything. It’s kind of awesome, but dang, I have a lot of basil. So I’ve been making tons of pesto!

We also have a ton of potatoes. Some of you might remember, a few months back we planted a whole bed full of potatoes, along with several burlap sacks full. They’re all coming ready to harvest and we’ve got tons of the little guys.

In an effort to use up basil and potatoes, I decided to do a basil pesto potato salad! To give this potato salad the classic p-salad creaminess, I added some Greek yogurt and mayo to the pesto. (Side note: this would be amazing on a turkey sandwich!)

Hope you enjoy it! Be sure to follow me on Instagram if you want more frequent peeks into the garden!

Creamy Pesto Potato Salad
 
Print
Author: Flying on Jess Fuel
Recipe type: Side Dish
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1½ lbs small potatoes (such as red bliss or yukon gold), cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 cup fresh basil leaves
  • 2 tbsp toasted walnuts (or pine nuts)
  • 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
  • 1 garlic glove
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • Olive oil
  • 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • Salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Using a large pot with a steamer basket, steam potatoes 15-20 minutes until fork-tender. Set aside to cool.
  2. Place basil, walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, lemon juice and 1 tbsp olive oil in a food processor. Blend to combine. With the food processor running, stream in additional olive oil, until pesto is smooth.
  3. Transfer pesto to a large bowl and stir in yogurt and mayo.
  4. Add potatoes and toss until evenly coated. Season with salt & pepper, to taste.
Notes
If you don't want to make pesto from scratch, you can use a jar of store-bought. Just combine it with the yogurt and mayo, then toss with potatoes!
3.3.3077

Creamy Pesto Potato Salad

You Might Also Like:

Buffalo & Blue Potato Salad
Harvest Fridays - Broccoli and Cauliflower!
Homemade Sun-Dried Cherry Tomatoes
{Weekend detox} Salmon Nicoise Salad

Share this:

  • Share
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Gardening, Sides Tagged With: basil, gardening, potato, salad

« Lemon Poppy Seed Mini Muffins
Buffalo Chicken Chili »

Comments

  1. marcie says

    July 11, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    Sorry to hear about your garden, Jess — what a bummer! This potato salad look phenomenal on the other hand — there’s nothing like a delicious pesto!

    Reply
  2. Kelly - Life Made Sweeter says

    July 11, 2015 at 10:06 pm

    Oh no, sorry to hear about your garden, Jess. Glad you have a lot of basil though. Love this potato salad, the yogurt pesto sounds so delicious!

    Reply
  3. Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says

    July 13, 2015 at 4:17 am

    This potato salad sounds SO good, Jess! I’m not really a fan of potato salads, even though I like mayo, which is weird. I think it’s because a lot use miracle whip. But I’m loving the pesto in here! I think I could eat pesto by the spoonful, so this sounds perfect!

    Reply
    • jessfuel says

      July 14, 2015 at 10:47 am

      Oh yeah, miracle whip is totally weird. This one is amazing, though!

      Reply
  4. Izzy says

    July 13, 2015 at 7:52 pm

    I’m so sorry you are having problems with the garden ๐Ÿ™ That sucks when you guys have worked so hard, but hopefully next year will be better!

    I’ve never thought to make a pesto potato salad before, but I am loving this so much!! Potatoes and pesto are so good together!

    Reply
    • jessfuel says

      July 14, 2015 at 10:46 am

      Thanks, Izzy! I think this drought is just really killing us. And it’s been even hotter than normal, too. The plants just hate it!

      Reply
  5. [email protected] says

    July 14, 2015 at 10:40 am

    Sorry about all the garden troubles! I’m not very good at growing anything except herbs- and I can never have enough basil. This looks like a delicious potato salad :).

    Reply
    • jessfuel says

      July 14, 2015 at 10:45 am

      Thanks, Sherri! I’m glad our basil has been wildly prolific. It’s definitely one of my favorites!

      Reply
  6. Kathy @ Olives & Garlic says

    July 14, 2015 at 6:36 pm

    Sorry about your garden Jess. ๐Ÿ™
    I love adding pesto to a potato salad, it adds so much nice flavor.

    Reply
  7. Denise | Sweet Peas & Saffron says

    July 21, 2015 at 12:46 pm

    I’ve been taking a big step back from my garden for the last 2 years, mostly because I’ve been pregnant/had a baby etc, but also because it was getting very frustrating. We have an endless supply of bugs, birds, squirrels, hail, etc to deal with and it’s just too hard. Love this salad! Looks so fresh and that basil pesto sounds amazing!

    Reply
    • jessfuel says

      July 27, 2015 at 8:44 pm

      I feel you! It makes me feel a little better about paying premium prices for organic food… it’s HARD to keep those critters away without poison!

      Reply
  8. Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says

    August 7, 2015 at 7:33 am

    PESTO in potato salad? Delicious brilliance it what that is.

    Reply
    • jessfuel says

      August 17, 2015 at 3:40 pm

      Thanks, Erin! It’s so, so yummy!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Pesto Caprese Pasta Salad | Flying on Jess Fuel says:
    July 28, 2015 at 8:43 am

    […] Creamy Pesto Potato Salad […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Kelly - Life Made Sweeter Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Fueling my Navy Pilot, one meal at a time…

Welcome to Flying on Jess Fuel! I love to cook and share my recipes and adventures in the kitchen with everyone. Take a look around... you might just find tonight's dinner!

Search Flying on Jess Fuel

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to Flying on Jess Fuel and receive notifications of new posts by email.

ABOUT JESS

Jess is home cook, foodie and proud Navy wife. She grew up in Boston and now lives on the West Coast. She loves to blog, travel, read and write. When she's not working or blogging, she can be found running or relaxing with a glass of wine. Read Moreโ€ฆ

Check out these healthy recipes!

Dilly Cucumber Bites
Kale and Black Bean Enchiladas with Avocado Cream and Homemade Enchilada Sauce (Vegan)
Banana Almond Chia Seed Pudding

*Click Here* to read Flying on Jess Fuel’s Privacy Policy.
This site contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase through them, we will receive a small commission.

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Child Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress