Crispy Vegan Potato Salad

It’s officially summer and that means cookouts! I’m always on the hunt for a dish that I can take to a neighborhood or family gathering that even the non-veg community will love AND one that I don’t need to worry about spoiling if it sits on a picnik table for a few hours and this Crispy Vegan Potato Salad checks all the boxes!

This Crispy Vegan Potato Salad recipe is the perfect plant-based dish to take to your July 4th Holiday BBQ or cookout this weekend because potato salad in general is 99% plant based anyway! I love using opportunities like this to introduce things like, plant based mayo to people who would normally never, ever try it! Let them gobble up a helping of this…and then spill the beans!

What you are going to need to buy:

3 lbs of Potatoes - (We could go on and on about the kind of spuds to use, but honestly, we say, use what you like! For this recipe we like to used the tiny, golden, baby potatoes and just cut them in half one time!)

Vegan Butter

Yellow or White Onion

Celery

Vegan Mayo

Sour Cream - (On this page we are big fans of Tofutti Sour Cream!)

Vinegar

Lemon Juice

Mustard

Dill Pickles or Dill Relish

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Onion and Garlic Powder (or whatever you like to season your spuds with!)

Paprika

Fresh Herbs, dill works great, but so would parsley or even thyme.

What you are going to need to do:

The Spuds:

This recipe is so super flexible but there is one trick to it all and that’s how you prepare the spuds!

I like to leave the skins on my potatoes but that’s a person preference, so if you would rather reel them, be my guest. Cut into 1/2” cubes, or in this case with the tiny, golden potatoes, I just cut them in half and they end up as the perfect sized bite!

In salted water, boil your potatoes until they are just fork tender…not too soft because they are going to continue to cook in the oven.

Gently drain potatoes and let sit for 1-2 minutes to make sure they are good and dry! You will see the steam continue to escape and that’s what you want. The more dry they are, the easier they will crisp up in the oven and that’s what we want!

Toss with 1-2 tablespoon of melted vegan butter and salt and pepper and roast on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven OR on a low broil setting until the potatoes become crispy. Check often and stir/flip so that they pick up color on all sides.

Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet. Do not assemble the potato salad until the spuds are 100% cool.

The Dressing:

Into a large mixing bowl combine the following:

(Note: If you like a sweet potato salad feel free to add some sugar to this dressing)

• 1 cup of vegan Mayo - (like THIS ONE from Hellmann’s)

• 1/4 cup of Tofutti vegan sour cream

• 1/4 cup of diced dill pickles, cut fine or your favorite dill pickle relish

• 2 Celery Stalks, diced small

• 1 small onion, diced small

• 2 teaspoons of vinegar

• a splash of lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon of yellow mustard

• Salt, pepper, and paprika, to taste.

• Handful of fresh herbs, chopped fine

To Serve:

The trick to this recipe is that the potatoes are nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. To maintain that texture you don’t want to mix up this salad too far ahead. In fact, if you can, I recommend making sure that both the potatoes and the dressing is nice and cold, but waiting to toss until just before service.

Gently toss the crispy potatoes with the dressing and mix well. Garnish with more fresh herbs and a dash of paprika.

Southern Style, Mushroom, Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Vegan Slaw

Remember 20 years ago before vegan food got cool? Before we had fake burgers and pea protein, and seitan at our fingertips in our local grocery stores? Back then, we ate, um…mushrooms, and we ate a lot of them! These Mushroom Pulled Pork Sandwiches are the perfect summer cook-out or picnic food…made with love and just a little sprinkle of nostalgia for the simple plant-based recipes that got me into this lifestyle to begin with!

I have had an awful lot of requests for this recipe after posting it last week as what we enjoyed for our Memorial Day festivities! If I’m honest, this is another one of those recipes that I feel a little guilty calling a “recipe” because it’s so simple…I’m sure we could have some heated debate over sauce and slaw but I’ll share with you how I made mine and you can always customize it to your own tastes when you make it at home! (And you SHOULD make it at home because, YUM!)

What you are going to need to buy:

Mushrooms! - (figure on 6oz of mushrooms, per serving!)

(Ok, listen, friends! I know there are a lot of fancy mushrooms on the market these days but for this recipe I just used what my local Publix had on sale, which was, plain, ol’ white mushrooms!)

Liquid Smoke

Minced Garlic - (we like these jarred options from Spice World!)

BBQ Sauce - (Buy or make your own!)  

Cole Slaw Mix (this is another reason why this recipe is so easy…I simple bought the pre-shredded slaw mix from the produce section and made my own dressing!)

Vegan Mayo - I have really been into the egg-free option that Hellman's has these days!)

White Wine Vinegar

Maple Syrup

Mustard

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Burger Buns (Sara Lee has great dairy-free options)

What you are going to need to do:

The main part of this recipe and, dare I say, the only really skill needed to make it much of a success is slicing the mushrooms! I order for this recipe to really mimic the texture of pulled pork you want to slice your mushrooms as thin as possible.

I actually bough the pre-sliced white mushrooms and then took the individual slices and cut them into tiny “sticks” - think like the thickness of a tine on a fork. It takes a bit of time, but it’s worth it…and it’s still less time than the 8 hours it takes to make traditional pulled pork!

Once your mushrooms are all sliced, we are going to saute them in a medium skillet, with minced garlic and a few splashes of liquid smoke until they are cooked down and soft.

Be careful here! Because you cut them so thin, you’ll need to be a little on the gentle side when stiring them in the pan!

Once the mushrooms are cooked, simply add your favorite bbq sauce and let simmer for another 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn the sauce.

Onto the Coleslaw!

In my world, there is simply no other way to eat this sandwich than with it being topped with slaw!

Like i said, above, I buy the prepackaged coleslaw mix that has the shredded cabbage and carrots all ready to go, but feel free to shred your own!

For the dressing we are going to mix:

1 cup of vegan mayo

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

1-2 tablespoons of mustard, depending on how much you like mustard

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

Salt and pepper, to taste.

In my experience this is going to make enough dressing for one bag of coleslaw…(4 servings)

Toss your shredded cabbage and carrots with the slaw dressing and park in the fridge for 20 minutes or so! You can even make this the night before!

The Assembly!

Bun

Mushroom “Pulled Pork”

Coleslaw

Bun.

It really is that easy! Some people I know top theirs with potato chips, fresh sliced or caramelized onions, melted cheese, homemade pickles, and even pickled jalapeños! We served them with some grilled street corn and baked beans! Does it get any more “summer” than that?

Enjoy!