Potato salads are a staple summer food for barbecues and picnics, but this Olive Oil Potato Salad with Raisins is anything but ordinary! Sponsored by Sun-Maid Raisins.
We are in full summer mode in my house. Not only do I love the warmer weather, I also love the slower pace. San Diego summers means time at the beach or splashing in the pool.
The warm weather also means more time outdoors and that means more barbecues and picnics planned. Because summer is also all about the food!
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Why this recipe is so awesome
Summer picnics almost always means potato salad. And I’m one of the first to admit to having a love-hate relationship with this iconic dish. I cannot eat the store bought stuff that is drowning in mayonnaise and full of BLAH flavors.
But, I do love the mayonnaise based Persian potato salad (salad oliveah). And more recently, I discovered that I swoon over cider vinegar potato salad and my potato salad with mustard.
First of all, when you are entertaining outside, any mayonnaise based dish will quickly spoil in warm weather. It’s certainly not fun having friends and family get sick from the food you made. Secondly, most potato salads are drowning in mayonnaise, ruining the texture and flavor of a pretty delicious salad.
Extra virgin olive oil is filled with heart healthy fats and antioxidants. Plus, you can find a variety of flavor profiles for olive oil, including infused varieties. I love using extra virgin olive oil in new and untraditional ways.
And this olive oil potato salad is no different. Olive oil adds wonderful flavors and fabulous health benefits to all of your meals. So using olive oil in your potato salad instead of mayonnaise really kicks up the flavor of your dish.
Ingredients needed
- Yukon Gold potatoes: This potato salad uses waxy potatoes so choose gold or red potatoes.
- Green onions: I like the bite of raw onions in a potato salad. You can also use red onions. I find that white onions are too strong when eaten raw.
- Celery: I love the crunch and flavor celery brings to a potato salad.
- Bacon: This adds salt and flavor to the potato salad. For a vegetarian option, swap out and use capers or olives.
- Raisins: I use black raisins in this recipe.
- Fresh dill: I love the fragrance and flavor of fresh dill, but you can also use dried dill.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Since this potato salad does not use mayonnaise, I chose a fragrant olive oil. You can use a peppery or mild olive oil.
- Lemon: You will need the juice and zest from a lemon.
- Salt and pepper
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Step-by-step directions
- Cook the potatoes. Chop potatoes and cover with water in a small pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook until tender. Drain and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Prepare dressing. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a large bowl until emulsified
- Combine ingredients. Stir in cooled potatoes with green onions, celery, bacon, raisins and dill. Toss gently to coat.
- Chill. Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Expert tips and recipe FAQs
Because you are letting your ingredients shine in an olive oil potato salad, the key is choose high quality and high impact flavors. Since I love the sweet and savory combination, I chose to add some raisins in the potato salad.
The lemon juice adds zing, a bit of bacon adds salt, some celery adds crunch and this potato salad with raisins is anything but ordinary. And since there’s no mayonnaise in this potato salad, you don’t have to worry about it going bad from sitting outside for too long.
Say no to gloppy, gross, mayonnaise dripping potato salad and try something new this summer!
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftover potato salad in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
Olive Oil Potato Salad with Raisins, Lemon and Dill
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 green onions chopped
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 4 slices of cooked bacon crumbled
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup chopped fresh dill
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add chopped potatoes into a small pot and cover with water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook 5 minutes or until tender. Drain and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a large bowl until emulsified
- Stir in cooled potatoes with green onions, celery, bacon, raisins and dill. Toss gently to coat.
- Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
Hey, Laura, your recipe looks so delicious. I can not wait to try one! Is there any alternative to virgin olive oil?
Hi Daisy,
You mean an alternative to extra virgin olive oil not virgin. Virgin olive oil is not the same thing as extra virgin olive oil. It is lesser quality, worse in flavor and doesn’t have the health benefits to the real EVOO. Now if you don’t like extra virgin olive oil and you want a different oil, then you could use avocado oil or canola, but it won’t offer any flavor and you’ll have a bland, oily potato salad. Perhaps you would like an infused olive oil, one infused with lemon, your favorite herb or a pepper olive oil?
Thank you for this amazing recipe. I will have to try it.
This looks beautiful and delicious. I tend to go with golden when I bake oatmeal cookies – i find the taste isn’t as sharp. I wonder how they’d work in this salad. The visual would be less stunning, that’s for sure. I love the contrast the dark raisins provide.
Pinned!