These pesto potatoes make for a hearty and flavorful side dish that packs in a ton of flavor from the pesto dressing. Made with fresh basil and pea pesto, this salad has no added mayo or cream, making this a healthier version of a classic potato salad. You won’t be on a guilt trip with this one!
Potato salads are quite the darling of summer potluck parties, you know you can’t go wrong with bringing over a hearty potato salad at your next potluck.
Some of my favorite potato recipes are Potato Bacon Salad, and my super easy Air Fryer Baby potatoes, however, I do like to switch things up a bit with this recipe, which calls for a pesto dressing instead of a mayo or cream-based one. Why pass up an opportunity to make some fresh pesto in the summertime?
What you need to make these pesto potatoes:
Basil and Pea Pesto: These potatoes are all about the pesto dressing, needless to say! Make a batch of fresh pesto with fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, good quality olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, and peas – the peas add a creaminess and mild sweetness to the pesto that rounds it off very well. You can make this a vegan pesto by subbing the parmesan cheese with vegan cheese. I like to leave some pine nuts for the garnish, and top it all off with some chopped up parsley.
Baby Potatoes: Use baby potatoes of your preferred variety. I have used regular white baby potatoes, around 1.5 inches wide, as that is what I had access to, but you could use baby red potatoes as well.
Customize these pesto potatoes with optional add-ins:
These pesto potatoes are perfect as they are, but there’s no rule against adding some of your favorite add-ins to take this from a side dish to a meal itself! Here’s what you could add to the potatoes:
Chopped up hard boiled eggs
Chopped-up fried bacon
Chopped up red onion
Capers or chopped olives
For more summer recipes, take a look at:
Grilled Chicken Tikka Drumsticks
Instant Pot Lemon Berry Pudding
Pesto Potatoes
Equipment
- Steamer Basket
Ingredients
- 1.1 lbs (500 gram) baby potatoes skin-on, washed
- For the basil-pea pesto:
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 3/4 cup peas if frozen, thaw before using
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/3 cup pinenuts
- Juice of half a lemon
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- A pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly cracked
Instructions
Cooking potatoes in the Instant Pot:
- Add 1.5 cups of water to the Instant Pot.
- Add a steamer basket and place the potatoes in the steamer.
- Close lid and turn the vent to ‘Sealing’ position. Pressure cook at 12 minutes and perform a quick release of pressure after the cooking time is completed.
- Once the valve comes down, open the lid, and transfer the potatoes to a vessel with cold water to stop them from cooking further.
Cooking potatoes on the stove top:
- Put the potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring them to a boil and until the potatoes are cooked through (18-20 minutes).
- Check for doneness with a fork
- Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a vessel with cold water to stop them from cooking further.
- While the potatoes are cooking, make the pesto
For the pesto:
- Add all the ingredients for the pesto, except the oil, into a blender and blitz until creamy. If you like a more textured and coarse pesto, just pulse the ingredients for a few second.
- Add the oil and blitz again.
To assemble and serve:
- Combine the potatoes with the pesto, and mix until the potatoes are well coated with the pesto. Add some parsley and pine nuts to garnish.
Nutrition
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Pesto potatoes sound like the perfect side dish!
I love pesto! These potatoes look so delicious and would make a great side dish!
thank you so much!
Pesto on Veggies is such a great combo! These potatoes look amazing!
thank you so much!
Oh yum, love the idea of adding peas to the pesto mix, I've never thought to try that but sounds like it will give it that extra touch of sweetness - just perfect for those creamy potatoes!
thank you, glad you liked it!