The flavors of the iconic dressing inspired this flavorful potato salad. Green Goddess Potato Salad boasts fresh herbs and a buttermilk dressing.
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Here's an easy potato salad I love and know you will too: Green Goddess Potato Salad. It's a big step up from bland, pale grocery store stuff —this creamy potato salad has color and vibrant flavor from fresh herbs. It was inspired by the legendary green goddess salad dressing made famous by a hotel in California.
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Have you ever noticed that of all the food available at cookouts, it's the grilled foods like hot dogs and burgers that get all the glory? I do love a good burger or a dog—don’t get me wrong. But let's not forget that away from the sizzling grates of the grill there's a whole other array of wonderfully delicious dishes: the sides.
What's true of the Thanksgiving meal is also true of barbecues and cookouts: it's not just about the big, meaty main course. The truth is... we love the sides.
I'm talking about glorious side dishes like savory-sweet baked beans, buttery corn on the cob, salty chips, fresh salsas, and cold salads. And one of the all-time favorite cookout and barbecue sides is a great potato salad.
What is Green Goddess dressing?
Green Goddess is a thick, creamy, green salad dressing made with fresh ingredients that may include spinach, parsley, tarragon, and chives. Other ingredients commonly added are garlic and capers. The creamy texture comes from ingredients like yogurt or mayonnaise, and sometimes from a homemade mayonnaise (or aioli) made with eggs and olive oil.
The dressing was created in the 1930s at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California. It was named to honor movie star George Arliss who was staying at the hotel while working on a movie called The Green Goddess.
Today the term green goddess is more broadly applied to all kinds of bottled or homemade salad dressings, and even salads themselves, that feature lots of fresh, green ingredients. My Green Goddess Potato Salad includes many of the same ingredients as that original dressing from the '30s, like parsley, anchovies, mayonnaise, and garlic.
Have you ever had...
Steamed Cheeseburgers
When visiting central Connecticut, treat yourself to this regional fave!
Why you'll love this salad
Green Goddess is a lavish salad dressing that normally has a thick texture. In this recipe, the dressing for the potato salad is thinned with a splash of buttermilk. The thinner but still creamy texture coats the potatoes perfectly.
The creamy buttermilk dressing is tossed with roasted red potatoes and sliced shallots. The pale green dressing with flecks of dark green minced herbs is gorgeous with the roasted red potato pieces. Along with the brightness of fresh herbs, the salad has savory flavor from garlic, a little diced scallions, roasted shallots, and chives.
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Serve this red potato salad at spring and summer gatherings when fresh herbs and greens are abundant. It's delicious alongside all your cookout and barbecue favorites like burgers or grilled chicken. (Those meaty mains will be forced to share the spotlight when this potato salad shows up!)
We also love this creamy herbed potato salad with steak, meatloaf, or paired with a green salad for lunch.
🔪 How to make Green Goddess Potato Salad
Ingredients:
- Red Potatoes: This variety adds color to the cold potato salad and keeps its shape once cooked
- Shallot: Sliced into rings, the shallot roasts with the potatoes until tender
- Herbs: Gather fresh parsley, tarragon, and chives for flavor and color in the dressing
- Mayonnaise: Choose a quality mayonnaise such as Hellmann's or Duke's—or use homemade
- Buttermilk: It helps create the creamy dressing and also adds a tangy flavor
- Spices: Salt and black pepper
- Anchovies: Use boneless anchovy filets or anchovy paste. Anchovies add a hint of salty, umami flavor here, just as they do in Caesar salads
- Garlic: Just one small clove is enough for lots of flavor
- Vinegar: Just a little vinegar helps balance the flavor of the creamy dressing.
- Scallions: Sliced green onions add even more green to this green salad
Roast the potatoes and shallots
Slice the potatoes into small pieces, and the shallot into rings. Toss them together with some oil, salt, and pepper, then roast them in the oven.
Make the dressing
Blend the fresh herbs, anchovies, and garlic, then whisk in mayonnaise and buttermilk.
Finish the salad
Add the cooled potatoes to the herbed dressing and gently stir to coat them completely. Garnish with minced chives and serve Green Goddess Potato Salad at room temperature or chilled.
FAQs
In basic potato salads mayonnaise alone makes the salad creamy. Some potato salad recipes have a blend of ingredients like sour cream, Greek yogurt, aioli, cream, and buttermilk. In this Green Goddess Potato Salad, the creamy ingredients are buttermilk and a little mayonnaise.
Many herbs are excellent with potatoes, including dill, rosemary, thyme, and oregano—actually, it's difficult to think of an herb that doesn't pair well with spuds! The fragrant and flavorful fresh herbs in Green Goddess Potato Salad dressing are parsley, tarragon, and chives.
Both methods work well to cook potatoes for potato salad—the key is to not overcook the potatoes. Overcooking means they'll turn to mush in the finished salad. Use a waxy potato variety, like red potatoes, that will hold their shape after cooking. The finished potato pieces should still have a little bite.
I like roasting potatoes for Green Goddess Potato Salad because it's easy to cook them to the perfect doneness, with no excess moisture that could make the dressing runny. A bonus is that roasting the sliced potatoes adds extra flavor as the surfaces brown and the edges get a little crispy.
The long, slender, grey-green leaves of tarragon have a licorice or anise-like flavor. It's a favorite herb in French cuisine. A small amount blended into the dressing adds a beautiful flavor to this potato salad without overpowering the other ingredients.
Unlike many herbs, fresh tarragon has a stronger flavor than dried. This salad is all about fresh herb flavors, so it's worth it to find fresh tarragon sprigs. Check the fresh herb section of your produce department, farmer's markets, and natural foods stores.
If there is no fresh tarragon to be found, some substitutions you can try are diced fennel bulb fronds or a little fresh Thai basil, which has a stronger licorice flavor than other types of basil. While there are dried spices with that licorice flavor too, such as dried tarragon or crushed anise seed, fresh herbs are preferred for Green Goddess Potato Salad.
Tips:
- Look for fresh parsley and tarragon in the produce section with other fresh herbs. Or, get them from farmer's markets, local growers, or grow tarragon in your own garden.
- Not an anchovy fan? Don't worry: anchovies don't make this salad taste fishy. They add a little salty, umami flavor that nicely boosts the fresh herbs and tangy buttermilk in the dressing.
- You can use baby red potatoes or regular red potatoes for this salad—whichever you use, make sure to slice them to a consistent size of about one to one-and-a-half inches.
The lovely and tempting Green Goddess Potato Salad recipe is below. Need more cold salad ideas? Consider these!
💬 How do you like this recipe? Leave a comment for me below.
📖 Recipe
Green Goddess Potato Salad
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Ingredients
For potatoes:
- 3 pounds red potatoes (baby or regular)
- 1 medium shallot, peeled
- 1½ tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
For the dressing:
- ½ cup fresh parsley
- ¼ cup fresh tarragon
- 2-4 anchovy filets (or 1½ teaspoons of anchovy paste)
- 1 small clove of garlic (about 1 teaspoon of minced garlic)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1½ teaspoons white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon scallion greens, finely chopped
Garnish:
- 1 bunch chives, snipped (to garnish)
Instructions
Prepare the potatoes and shallot:
- Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Wash the red potatoes, then slice them into 1-inch pieces. Slice the shallot into rings.
- Toss the sliced potatoes and shallot in a large bowl with the vegetable oil, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Once everything is combined, spread the potatoes and shallots on the prepared baking sheet.
- Place the pan in the oven for about 25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and beginning to brown on the edges.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow the potatoes and shallots to cool to room temperature.
Make the dressing:
- While the potatoes roast, make the dressing. Place the parsley, tarragon, anchovies, and garlic into the bowl of a food processor or mini chopper.
- Run the chopper or food processor until everything is finely minced. Pour some of the buttermilk in with the herbs if necessary to help everything blend up well.
- Scrape the herb mixture into a large bowl. Add the salt, pepper, mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar, and chopped scallions to the bowl.
- Whisk the dressing until the mixture is smooth, and all ingredients are combined.
Finish the salad:
- Add the cooled, roasted potatoes and shallots to the dressing. Gently stir them into the dressing until they're coated completely.
- Transfer the potato salad to a serving bowl and garnish with the snipped chives.
- The salad can be served immediately or it can be chilled first in the refrigerator. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Makes about 7 cups.
Notes
- Look for fresh parsley and tarragon in the produce section with other fresh herbs. Or, get them from farmer's markets, local growers, or your own garden.
- Not an anchovy fan? Don't worry: anchovies don't make this salad taste fishy. They add a little salty, umami flavor that nicely boosts the fresh herbs and tangy buttermilk in the dressing.
- You can use baby red potatoes or regular red potatoes for this salad—whichever you use, make sure to slice them to a consistent size of about one to one-and-a-half inches.
Nutrition
Suze says
My husband is a South Texas boy and potato salad is a venerable food!
D.G. Hudson says
That looks yummy! I like the idea of buttermilk in the dressing and that you roast not boil the potatoes. Will try at the first opportunity. Thanks for sharing.