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Bavarian Style Potato Salad

This Bavarian style potato salad is naturally vegan, Whole30, easy to make and requires only a handful of ingredients! It's super fresh and great for summer!

As you know, it's almost Christmas time and believe it or not, potato salad paired with Wiener sausages is the traditional Christmas meal in Germany! Weird, I know. Traditionally, this is eaten for Christmas dinner on the 24th (which is when we celebrate Christmas here) and then there's a big lunch or dinner on the 25th with a roast or something.

As far as I know, my family has never done potato salad for Christmas dinner but maybe I just don't remember. To me, it doesn't necessarily sound like the best meal for cold weather but I love a hot meal any time of the day so I might be the wrong person to ask! Have you ever had potato salad on Christmas Eve?

Every region of Germany has their special way of doing potato salad and this is the common Bavarian way. In other parts, potato salad is traditionally done with a mayonnaise based dressing. But this is the one my family has been making for as long as I remember. You need boiled (or steamed) potatoes, cut into small-ish pieces, mixed with gherkins and a vinegar and oil based dressing. Some families add mustard, others don't but I love adding mustard, especially Dijon mustard. But don't worry, the salad just has a slight mustard hint. My 6 year old devours this and he's sensitive to spicy things.

What we do in my family is to add broth to the salad once it's mixed and then let it sit for at least 30 minutes. That way the potatoes can soak up some of the broth and the salad gets very juicy (if that makes any sense) without being drenched in oil. Before I met my husband (who is allergic to onion), I used to dice onions and simmer them in broth for a few minutes and then add both to the salad. That's also fabulous!

Will you make this salad soon? Or how about my Whole30 Cabbage & Apple Salad?

Cooking Method
Cuisine
Courses ,
Difficulty Beginner
Time
Prep Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 20 mins Rest Time: 45 mins Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins
Servings 4
Description

This Bavarian style potato salad is naturally vegan, Whole30, easy to make and requires only a handful of ingredients! It's super fresh and great for summer!

Ingredients
  • 2 lb potatoes
  • 4 medium-sized gherkins
  • 1/8 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp pickle juice (from the jar of gherkins)
  • 1 vegetarian broth cube
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
Instructions
  1. Add potatoes to a pressure cooker with enough water and cook on High for 15 minutes. Slow-release steam and let potatoes cool off until they're cool enough to handle (took me about 45 minutes).

  2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces. I like to cut them in half lengthwise and then into smaller pieces. Add the potato pieces to a bowl.

  3. Cut gherkins into small cubes and add to the bowl as well. 

  4. For the dressing, mix together olive oil, cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and pickle juice. Mix well and add to the potoates. 

  5. Mix broth cube and boiling water in a cup or small bowl and stir until dissolved. Pour over the potatoes in the bowl. 

  6. Mix everything together well and let sit for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to develop but not in the fridge! (This is very important because you don't want the potato salad to be fridge cold). Enjoy!

Keywords: potato, potato salad, side dish, salad, German potato salad, whole30, whole30 potato salad, whole30 salad, vegan, vegan potato salad, vegan salad, vegetarian,
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Andrea Epstein in her kitchen
Andrea Epstein

Hi, I'm Andrea, a full-time food blogger, mother of 1 wonderful son, 2 equally wonderful stepsons and wife to a darling husband. I live in Munich, Germany with my family. I loves traveling, sharing new recipes, and spending time with my family.