Pesto Potato Salad

• In my book, you can’t go wrong when you combine bacon with potatoes.
• I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for an excuse to make fresh pesto. I make this recipe in the summer with fresh basil from my herb garden, but don’t worry it’s also delicious with store-bought pesto.
• This salad is the perfect excuse to use up any extra pesto you have on hand.
• It serves well warm, room temperature, or cold.
• The lemon juice and lemon zest give this creamy salad the perfect punch of flavor.
• There is no need for a food processor and there are very few dishes involved in getting this potato salad recipe completed.

PASTA – Swapping out the potatoes for pasta is a great way to create a pasta salad with these unique flavors.

BACON – Not a fan of bacon? Leave it out and add some of your favorite veggies.

FRESH HERBS – If it’s summertime and you have a garden full of basil, use some basil leaves in this salad. Fresh parsley can be a great addition too.

SERVE IT WITH A BURGER – My favorite way to serve this pesto potato salad recipe is with a good burger like these Cast-Iron Burgers and fresh green beans. This combination is a match made in heaven!

POTATOES – Fingerling potatoes are the perfect potato for this recipe. They hold up while boiling and they do not absorb too much water. Baby gold potatoes, small red potatoes or new potatoes are also a good choice.

Wash the baby potatoes and cut them into bite-size pieces.

Place potatoes in a large pot, then pour over enough cold water to cover potatoes by 1″. Season potatoes generously with salt. Bring water to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium and cook at a rapid simmer until potatoes are fork tender, about 10 minutes. At this point, drain the potatoes.

In a large bowl, toss the warm potatoes with 1/8 cup of vinegar and set aside. Hot potatoes absorb the vinegar flavor best.

In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup fresh pesto or store-bought, 1/3 cup mayonnaise, and the zest and juice from 1/2 lemon.

Drain any excess vinegar from potatoes.

Toss potatoes with bacon, green onions, and the creamy pesto mixture until all ingredients are incorporated.

Transfer to a serving dish. You can serve this salad either warm, room temperature, or cold.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comments below.