Vegan Potato Salad is the ultimate summertime dish! Serve this Plant Based Niçoise-Style Potato Salad as a side dish with grilled vegetables or your favorite vegan burger – or serve it on its own as a light lunch or dinner. It’s super easy to make in your Instant Pot. Because the dressing is made with aquafaba, it’s oil free. This easy recipe is from Kathy Hester’s new cookbook Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking in Your Instant Pot.
Vegan Potato Salad
I’m going to admit that I don’t use my Instant Pot as much as I should. But when I do dust it off and plug it in, it’s usually because Kathy Hester has a few delicious recipes I want to try. And that’s exactly why I found myself using it recently. Kathy’s newest book Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking in Your Instant Pot had arrived!
When I first get a new cookbook, I almost always gravitate towards tacos or mac and cheese. But because it’s summer and it’s a little hot out (or actually a lot hot out) I went with Plant Based Niçoise-Style Potato Salad first. I love vegan potato salad, Kathy’s a genius, because she created a Niçoise-style recipe with green beans and olives.
How to Make Vegan Potato Salad in Your Instant Pot
This Plant Based Niçoise-Style Potato Salad is super easy to make! Kathy layers the ingredients, so that they cook in the Instant Pot at the same time.
- First you add the water to your Instant Pot and then place the potatoes in a steamer basket at the bottom.
- Next you wrap your green beans in parchment paper and then foil, and place them in the Instant Pot, too.
- Then you cook the vegetables on high pressure for 6 minutes and release the pressure manually.
- Once they’re done cooking, you remove the potatoes and green beans from your Instant Pot and rinse them in cold water to cool them down.
- Now you mix together the dressing ingredients.
- Finally, you assemble the salad by placing the potatoes and green beans in a large bowl and mixing in half the dressing. You add the tomatoes and olives and mix in the rest of the dressing.
- Serve your salad over lettuce.
Aquafaba Dressing
The dressing for this salad is made with aquafaba, rather than oil-laden mayo. Aquafaba is the liquid that’s found in a can of chickpeas, and it’s great at replacing eggs — and sometimes oil – in recipes.
Aquafaba will whip up when mixed in a blender or food processor. If you’re mixing your dressing by hand, use a whisk and mix until it gets foamy.
Kathy gives an option of serving your vegan potato salad with lightly mashed chickpeas to mimic the tuna found in traditional Niçoise salads. Since I had to open a can of garbanzos to get the aquafaba, I went ahead and added them to my salad.
Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking in Your Instant Pot
Back in 2017, Kathy Hester wrote The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot. I was lucky enough to be a recipe tester for that book, and I learned a lot about pressure cooking in the process. Kathy’s back with another vegan Instant Pot cookbook, this time all of the recipes are gluten-free.
Kathy starts the book with a primer that includes everything you need to know about gluten-free cooking, as well as everything you need to know about cooking with an Instant Pot. It’s super handy if you’re not sure what all of those buttons on your pressure cooker do. She also dedicates an entire chapter to DIY vegan staples, which are all easy to make as well as economical.
The recipes in Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking in Your Instant Pot range from breakfast and lunch to dinner and dessert. You’ll find gluten-free versions of just about any dish you’re craving, from Chickpeas and Dumplings and Vegetable Pad Thai to Mini Vegan Corn Dogs and Banana Walnut Mini Muffins. Kathy also teaches us to bake in the Instant Pot, with recipes like Almond Berry Cake and Carrot Cake Sweetened with Dates.
Chapters in Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking in Your Instant Pot include:
- Staples
- Soups
- Casseroles and Pastas
- Beans
- Veggie and Grain Mains
- Layered Meals and Egg Mold Recipes
- Breakfast
- Desserts and Drinks
My vegan potato salad was delicious, and I have many more recipes bookmarked. I can’t wait to try the Soy Curl Fried Rice, Tofu or Chickpea Shakshuka, and of course, the Vegan Mac and Cheese.
Plant-Based Niçoise-Style Potato Salad
Equipment
- 3-quart, 6-quart, or 8 quart Instant Pot
Ingredients
Instant Pot Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 4 cups quartered baby potatoes
- 2 cups trimmed green beans cut in half
Dressing Ingredients
- ½ cup aquafaba
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt optional, or to taste
Uncooked Salad Veggies
- ¼ cup sliced kalmata olives or use Nicoise olives, optional
- 1 cup diced ripe tomatoes or quartered cherry tomatoes
- butter lettuce for serving
Instructions
For the Pressure Cooker
- Add the water to the electric pressure cooker liner. Put the potatoes in a steamer that fits inside your electric pressure cooker and lower it into the liner.
- Wrap the green beans in parchement paper and then in foil to slow the cooking process for them. Add the foil packet to the Instant Pot.
- Cook on high for 6 minutes. Release the pressure naturally.
- Carefully remove the steamer and foil packet. Run cold water over the potatoes and green bean packet until they are both cool.
For the Dressing
- Add all the dressing ingredients to a bowl, blender, or food processor. If you're using a bowl whisk until foamy and thick, or blend or process until it thickens.
Assemble the Salad
- Add the cooled potatoes and green beans to a large bowl. Add ½ of the salad dressing and gently mix.
- Add the tomatoes and olives, if using. Add in more dressing as needed.
- Serve over lettuce.
Notes
Gail D
I love Kathy Hester's recipes! Thank you for sharing this one and also for the giveaway!