Greek Potato Salad

A bowl of colorful potato salad with red, yellow, and purple potatoes, kalamata olives, capers, red onions, feta cheese, and fresh herbs is served on a wooden table beside Sautéed Mushrooms for Steak and a white and red striped napkin.

This is a potato salad with no mayonnaise in sight. Just waxy potatoes tossed warm in a bright lemon-oregano vinaigrette, then tossed with feta, kalamata olives, and capers. This Greek Potato Salad is light, punchy, and flavor-packed in a way mayo-based salads never quite manage. I was eating it straight out of the bowl while I shot it, which I never do.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Greek

Diet Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Cooling 10

Total Time 35

Servings

Calories 194kcal

Author Wendy Polisi

Ingredients

Lemon Dressing

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Potatoes

24 ounces fingerling potatoes or other firm, waxy potato
2 tablespoons salt

Salad

½ red onion sliced thin
½ cup kalamata olives drained
½ cup feta cheese crumbled
2 tablespoons capers drained

For garnish: fresh dill, parsley or chives; green onions

Instructions

Dressing

In a mason jar, bowl or blender mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, sugar, oregano, salt, and pepper.

Cook the Potatoes

Scrub the potatoes and slice in half. If you have large potatoes, you can slice them into quarters.
Place the potatoes and salt in a large pot. Add water to cover by 1-inch. Turn to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until fork-tender.
Drain the potatoes, reserving ¼ cup of the salted potato cooking water. Arrange the drained potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet.

Dressing the Potatoes

Add the reserved water to the vinaigrette and whisk well. Immediately drizzle with ⅓ cup of the dressing, and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes

Make the salad

While the potatoes are cooling, place the sliced red onion in a bowl of ice water to mellow the flavor. Drain and pat dry.
Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl. Add the onion, olives, feta cheese and capers. Add about ¾ of the remaining dressing. Toss gently with a rubber spatula to avoid breaking the potatoes.
Reserve the remaining dressing for a final toss just before serving. Garnish with fresh herbs.

Notes

Best potatoes: Fingerling or waxy red. Russets turn dry and floury; Yukon Golds go mealy once dressed.
Dress warm: Warm potatoes absorb the vinaigrette; cold ones won't. Don't skip the immediate drizzle on the sheet pan.
Salt: Olives, feta, and capers are all salty — keep added salt modest and taste before adding more. Chilling dulls seasoning, so re-taste before serving cold.
Make ahead: Make up to a day ahead, holding back the final portion of dressing. Bring toward room temp, toss with the reserved dressing, and re-season before serving. .

Nutrition