Italian potato salad with roasted red peppers and tomatoes. This beautiful salad made with garden fresh ingredients is bursting with color and flavor. It's the perfect side dish for the summer alongside grilled meat or fish or hearty enough to serve as a main dish along with fresh Italian bread.
I'm not a fan of creamy, mayonnaise laden potato salads that are common here in North America. During a recent trip to Sicily, my dear cousin served this refreshing salad for dinner. Salad for dinner, you may ask?
Ok so it wasn't only salad! She served it with semolina bread, provola cheese and in case we were still hungry, a few slices of prosciutto and mortadella. But I was fine with just the salad and a few slices of bread!
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Here's why we love this salad
- This is a no mayo potato salad.
- You can vary the ingredients according to your taste or what you have on hand. See variations and substitution ideas further below.
- We Sicilians always add celery leaves to our salads for extra flavor.
- Roasting your own peppers is easier than you think. Follow my step by step instructions on how to make homemade red roasted peppers instead of purchasing them. You can also easily freeze them for future use.
- Along with fresh crusty Italian bread, it's the perfect meal salad or Italian side dish.
- You'll notice there is no vinegar added to this salad. That is because I enjoy dipping my bread in the juices that pool at the bottom of the salad bowl!
- Italian potato salad can be prepared ahead. In fact it is best prepared an hour or two in advance in order to let the flavors mingle.
What types of potatoes are best for Italian potato salad?
When it comes to making potato salad you want a potato that is less starchy that will hold it's shape when tossed in a salad. Best choices include new potatoes; fingerling; red; Yukon Gold and yellow potatoes.
Avoid Russet potatoes which have a high starch content therefore are best reserved for mashing.
Ingredient list
- Roasted red peppers: follow my step by step instructions for easy homemade roasted peppers.
- Tomatoes: any variety will do, including cherry tomatoes, as long as they are ripe.
- Celery: don't forget to add the celery leaves!
- Herbs: dry oregano and fresh basil
Substitutions and Variations
This salad can be varied according to taste or what you have on hand in your garden. Here are more suggestions:
- Use steamed green beans in place of roasted red peppers.
- Add herbs of your choice including parsley or mint.
- Toss in a crushed clove of garlic for flavor and discard before serving.
The following are step by step instructions with images to guide you through this recipe. Please scroll to the end of this post for the detailed printable recipe card.
How to make Italian Potato Salad
- Boil potatoes in a large pot of salted water until tender, about 25-30 minutes. Drain, peel and let cool before cutting into 1-inch cubes.
- Roast the red peppers as described in my homemade roasted red peppers post either under the broiler, on a gas stove top or grill.
- Peel off the charred skin and cut the roasted peppers into strips.
- Wash the celery and chop into small pieces, slice the tomatoes into wedges and thinly slice the red onion. Place the ingredients in a large serving bowl along with the cubed potatoes and red pepper strips
- Pour in olive oil, oregano and salt, to taste and gently toss all ingredients together and adjust seasoning. Lastly, gently toss in the olives and torn fresh basil leaves.
- Serve at room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
-Serve this Italian potato salad as a side dish alongside grilled meats or fish.
-Enjoy as your main dish along with fresh crusty bread and your favorite cheese.
-Keep leftovers refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring the salad to room temperature before serving.
If you tried this Lentil and Rice Stuffed Swiss Chard Rolls or any other recipe on my blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how much you enjoyed it in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
More delicious Italian salad recipes!
Italian Potato Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Tomatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs potatoes about 4 medium potatoes; choose new, fingerling, yellow, red or Yukon Gold potatoes
- 2 roasted red peppers
- 3 medium tomatoes ripe
- 2 small celery branches with leaves
- ¼ red onion thinly sliced
- handful olives of your choice
- handful basil leaves
For the dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano
Instructions
Boil the potatoes
- Place potatoes in a pot and cover by an inch with cold water, add a pinch of salt and let come to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 25-30 minutes.
- Drain the water and peel (if you didn't already peel them before cooking) while still warm. Let cool before cutting into 1-inch cubes.
Roast the red peppers
- Roast the red peppers (see link for roasted red peppers recipe in ingredient list) either under the broiler, on a gas stove top or grill. Cut the roasted peppers into strips
Prep remaining ingredients
- Wash the celery and chop into small pieces. Slice the tomatoes. Cut the onion into thin slivers.
Assemble the salad
- Place the cubed potatoes, red pepper strips, tomatoes, celery, and red onion in a large salad bowl.
- Pour in olive oil, oregano and salt, to taste. Toss ingredients together and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
- Lastly, gently toss in the olives and torn fresh basil leaves.
- Serve at room temperature.
Notes
-Use steamed green beans in place of roasted red peppers.
-Add herbs of your choice including parsley or mint.
-Toss in a crushed clove of garlic and discard before serving. To serve: -Serve this Italian potato salad as a side dish alongside grilled meats or fish.
-Enjoy as your main dish along with fresh crusty bread and your favorite cheese. Storage: -Keep leftovers refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring the salad to room temperature before serving. Please note that the nutritional information provided is approximate and may vary accoriding to exact ingredients used and portion size.
Audrey
Thank you! I love this recipe. I subbed green beans for the peppers and used lemon and olive oil for the dressing. So fresh such a great way to use my garden veggies. Thank you I love this site. ♥️
Nadia
You are quite welcome Audrey, I'm glad you enjoyed it and I like how you personalized it! Thank you for your kind words!
Anna Bucciarelli
I just know I'm gonna love this salad! I have made macherone salad with similar ingredients, cauliflower and broccoli added, but never thought to use potatoes in place of the macherone. Definitely will be making this more than once this summer. Thank you Nadia.
Nadia
Hello Anna, I am sure you will enjoy it! And thanks for sharing your idea of a similar macherone salad, sounds good to me as well!