French Potato Salad with Green Beans 🥔🥗🌿 is a mayo-free potato salad with soft potatoes and crisp-tender green beans! They’re tossed in a Dijon mustard vinaigrette for bright, big flavor. This EASY French potato salad will be your new go-to for summer cookouts, potlucks, picnics or a great weeknight side dish.
Easy French Potato Salad with Green Beans Recipe
- This is a French-style potato salad which means the addition of French green beans, or haricots verts, among the potatoes. The green beans add a gorgeous pop of color and a satisfying crisp-tender bite. Channel your inner Ina Garten in Paris while cooking for Jeffery vibes.
- It’s the perfect potato salad recipe for picnics, summer BBQs, holiday weekends, or whenever you need a crowd-pleasing side.
- Everything is tossed in a tangy whole grain mustard vinaigrette which is actually a very similar vinaigrette that I use in my Potato Salad with Bacon and it’s been a fan favorite. Since there’s no mayonnaise in it, this potato salad is great for summer cookouts and potlucks since this holds up better in the heat as is the case with my German Potato Salad too.
- Made with common, everyday ingredients including Yukon Gold potatoes, fresh green beans, red onion, parsley, and a handful of pantry staples for the vinaigrette.
- This easy potato salad ready is ready in about 30 minutes, and it actually gets even better as it sits and the potatoes soak up all that tangy vinaigrette!
French Potato Salad Ingredients
- Potatoes: 2 pounds of Yukon Gold or yellow baby potatoes, scrubbed and halved. Waxy potatoes are key here. Waxy potatoes are best. Yukon Golds, yellow potatoes, red potatoes, or fingerlings all work beautifully because their lower starch content means they hold their shape when tossed with the dressing instead of falling apart. Russets are not recommended because they’re too starchy and will disintegrate and not hold up well.
- Green beans: Fresh green beans are the way tp go for the best color and texture. You can also use haricot verts, also known as French green beans and they’re thinner and more elongated. Frozen green beans would work in a pinch but I wouldn’t used canned on account of both their texture and color.
- Red onion: For a little sharpness and pop of color. If you’re sensitive to raw onion, you can mellow the sharp bite by soaking the sliced onions in a small bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly and pat dry before adding it to the salad. It’s a simple step that makes a big difference!
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley: Adds brightness and a beautiful herby finish. Other fresh herbs such as fresh dill, tarragon, or basil can add an interesting twist. Scallions, green onion, or chives also amp up the flavor.
- Vinaigrette: White wine vinegar or red wine vinegar (or try champagne vinegar), Dijon mustard or whole grain mustard (don’t use yellow mustard), kosher salt, black pepper, and olive oil.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make French Potato Salad with Green Beans
- Boil the potatoes. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low and cook in the large pot of boiling salted water until fork-tender, about 12–15 minutes.
- Make the vinaigrette. While the potatoes cook, whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl.
- Blanch the green beans. Add them to the pot of water the potatoes boiled in, and cook them for 2-3 minutes to soften, and then place them in an ice bath.
- Dress the potatoes. Place the warm potatoes in a large serving bowl and pour about three-quarters of the vinaigrette over them.
- Toss and serve. Add the green beans, red onion, parsley, drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette, toss, taste and adjust seasoning with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm, at room temperature, or you may chill it if desired.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
what to serve with french potato salad
French Potato Salad with Green Beans
🥔🥗🌿 Mayo-free potato salad with soft potatoes and crisp-tender green beans! They're tossed in a Dijon mustard vinaigrette for bright, big flavor. This EASY French potato salad will be your new go-to for summer cookouts, potlucks, picnics or a great weeknight side dish.
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and halved or quartered if larger (red potatoes or new potatoes may substituted or another waxy potato; don't use starchy potatoes like Russet because they crumble)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, or to taste for salting the water
- ½ pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into thirds
- ½ cup red onion, thinly sliced , (if desired, soak in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes to remove some of the sharpness and bite, then pat dry with paper towel)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley, (I prefer flat-leaf to regular parsley for this recipe)
Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, (red wine vinegar or champagne vinegar may be substituted)
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, (or use 2-3 tablespoons whole grain mustard; do not use yellow mustard)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Potatoes: Place the sliced potatoes in a large pot or Dutch oven and cover with cold water by at least 1-2 inches. Add the kosher salt to the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 12-15 minutes.
- Once the potatoes are tender, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pot and set them aside in a colander.
- Green Beans: Bring the water that you cooke the potatoes in back up to a rolling boil.
- While you're waiting for the water to boil, make an ice bath in a large bowl with ice cubes and water; set aside.
- Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until crisp-tender.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the green beans to the ice bath to stop the cooking process and lock in their color. Once cooled, drain the green beans thoroughly. Tip – You need to shock them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process so they don't become mushy and to also lock in the vibrant green color.
- Vinaigrette: To a medium bowl, add all ingredients (except the olive oil) and whisk to combine.
- Then, drizzle in the olive oil slowly while whisking continuously to create an emulsified dressing.Taste and make any desired flavor tweaks such as more salt, more vinegar, more mustard, etc. Set aside momentarily.
- Combine: Place the potatoes in a large serving bowl and pour about ¾ of the vinaigrette over them. Toss to coat, allowing the potatoes to absorb the dressing.
- Add the green beans, red onion, and parsley, drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette, and toss well to combine and coat evenly. Taste and adjust seasoning and flavor balance with more salt, pepper, etc. if desired.
- Serving: Serve immediately, or at room temperature, or if desired, you may chill it.
- If you chill it, I recommend allowing it to come to room temp for about 20-30 minutes for best flavor and to allow any previously solidified oil to soften.
Notes
Vinaigrette adapted from my own Potato Salad with Bacon
Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 24 hours in advance. However, the olive oil in the vinaigrette will solidify slightly in the fridge, so letting the salad sit on the counter for 20-30 minutes prior to serving is recommended. The potatoes also will become firmer in the cold fridge and they’re better after they’ve sat at room temp for 20-30 minutes.
Storage: Leftover salad will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 206cal, Carbohydrates: 32g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.002g, Sodium: 1453mg, Potassium: 769mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 482IU, Vitamin C: 39mg, Calcium: 46mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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