Pesto Smashed Potato Salad
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Boiled, then baked garlic, parsley smashed potatoes are tossed in basil pesto with arugula & green onions for a delicious twist on traditional potato salad!
Growing up, I was never a fan of potato salad. To be fair, I wasn’t a fan of a lot of foods. Blasphemy, I know! The food blogger that was a picky eater growing up, say it ain’t so, oh, but it is!
A few years after moving to California for college, I started trying new foods and recipes, and realized what I had been missing all of these years! Ahem, guacamole, the green stuff, freaking delicious! Fish, sushi, yes, please! But one thing I can say I’ve never really taken a liking to is potato salad. I’m guessing my aversion to mayonnaise might have a little something to do with that!
So today I’m making a potato salad that’s colorful, flavorful, sans mayonnaise and filled with tons of green goodness!
The recipe inspiration for this dish came after picking up a bag of baby potatoes at the grocery store. There’s just something about mini versions of anything that gives me the overwhelming feeling of “I need to buy this now!”
I knew I wanted to make a potato salad for summer with these mini taters but I wanted to keep their cute mini-ness somewhat in tact which is why I decided to do smashed potatoes.
They’re obviously baked in buttery, garlic goodness, because is there really any other way to do smashed potatoes?!
Pesto Smashed Potato Salad Ingredients
- 24 oz baby potatoes
- 3 tbsp butter (melted)
- 4 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 1 tbsp parsley
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup basil pesto
- 1 cup arugula
- 3 green onions (thinly sliced)
- ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
Pesto Smashed Potato Salad Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Add the potatoes to a large pot of boiling water, cook until tender, 15-20 minutes.
Drain the potatoes then place on a baking sheet and smash each potato with a fork. (You’ll probably need 2 baking sheets for this, or one really really large baking sheet!)
In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic, parsley and sea salt. Brush over each potato.
Place into oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and place in a large bowl, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then toss with the pesto, and gently mix in the arugula and green onions. Serve topped with fresh grated parmesan cheese.
This salad is best served warm or at room temperature.
I promise that this twist on potato salad will become your new favorite summer side dish!
Pesto Smashed Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 24 oz baby potatoes
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp parsley
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup basil pesto
- 1 cup arugula
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Add the potatoes to a large pot of boiling water, cook until tender, 15-20 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes then place on a baking sheet and smash each potato with a fork. (You’ll probably need 2 baking sheets for this, or one really really large baking sheet.)
- In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic, parsley and sea salt.
- Brush over each potato.
- Place into the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and place in a large bowl, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then toss with the pesto, and gently mix in the arugula and green onions.
- Serve topped with fresh grated parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Facts
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