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.
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!)
- 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
- Using a large pot with a steamer basket, steam potatoes 15-20 minutes until fork-tender. Set aside to cool.
- 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.
- Transfer pesto to a large bowl and stir in yogurt and mayo.
- Add potatoes and toss until evenly coated. Season with salt & pepper, to taste.
Enjoy! And if you’re still hungry for potato salad check out this Buffalo & Blue Cheese Potato Salad or this Honey Dijon Potato Salad.
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!
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!
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!
Oh yeah, miracle whip is totally weird. This one is amazing, though!
I’m so sorry you are having problems with the garden š 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!
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!
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 :).
Thanks, Sherri! I’m glad our basil has been wildly prolific. It’s definitely one of my favorites!
Sorry about your garden Jess. š
I love adding pesto to a potato salad, it adds so much nice flavor.
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!
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!
PESTO in potato salad? Delicious brilliance it what that is.
Thanks, Erin! It’s so, so yummy!