Roasted Tomato Pesto Potato Salad
on Jul 30, 2018, Updated Aug 16, 2024
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No offense to classic potato salad recipes, but this pesto potato salad is different. There isn’t any mayo, and the potatoes are roasted instead of boiled. The potatoes go on one sheet pan, and you put tomatoes on another. What you end up with is an incredible side dish with the brightness of roasted tomatoes plus golden brown roasted potatoes. I toss everything in an herby pesto vinaigrette.
Looking for another non-traditional potato salad? Try this roasted red potato salad with corn.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
You roast the potatoes instead of boiling them. There is something so good about roasted potatoes with their browned, crispy edges and their fluffy middles. They add so much more texture and flavor to a salad than boiled potatoes could ever do.
This is a no-mayo potato salad. Full disclosure, I am not a mayonnaise person. You won’t find a jar of it in my fridge. For this salad, I make a 3-ingredient dressing with basil pesto as the base. Nothing says summer to me more than pesto, so it just makes sense to use it in a potato salad recipe.
This potato salad has tomatoes too. This adds variety in both taste and texture. Too often a potato salad can feel like to same thing in each bite. As you toss the roasted tomatoes and potatoes together, some of the tomatoes break apart also very lightly dressing the salad with the pesto vinaigrette.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Fingerling potatoes: Look for potatoes that have smooth skin with no sprouts or soft spots. You can use multiple types of fingerling potatoes or a single variety. It can be hard to find potatoes that are all the same size, which is why I slice them in half lengthwise. Then they are closer in thickness and will roast in a similar amount of time.
- Tomatoes: The recipe calls for cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes. These are my favorite kind of tomatoes to roast and combine with other ingredients because they hold their shape.
- Pesto: It’s best to go with homemade basil pesto. If you use store-bought pesto, look for it in the refrigerator case sometimes near the produce. While jarred pesto is ok, it has more of a cooked flavor than fresh pesto.
- White wine vinegar turns the pesto into a dressing. It has nice acidity.
- Chives: I finish the potato salad with lots of minced chives to give it mild onion flavor.
- Olive oil: For the best taste, use high quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Kosher salt & black pepper season the potatoes and tomatoes before you roast them.
How To Make This Roasted Tomato Pesto Potato Salad
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
1. Prep the potatoes. Toss the halved fingerling potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper. You can do this on the sheet pan. Then arrange the potatoes, so they are cut side down.
2. Prep the tomatoes. Toss the cherry tomatoes with oil, salt and pepper on another sheet pan. Make sure the tomatoes are cut side up.
3. Roast the potatoes. Allow the potatoes 40-45 minutes to roast. They should turn out golden brown on the outside and tender in the middle.
4. Roast the tomatoes. They don’t take as long to cook, so give the potatoes a 15-minute head start before you put the tomatoes in the oven. Then roast the tomatoes for 25-30 minutes until they are wrinkled but still juicy in the middle.
5. Make the dressing. Whisk the pesto, vinegar and oil in a small bowl.
6. Assemble the salad. Put the tomatoes in a large bowl, pour in the pesto vinaigrette and stir to combine. Then fold in the roasted tomatoes and chives.
Serving
Potato salad is a classic summer side dish, and this one ticks extra boxes with tomatoes and pesto. You can serve it with vegetarian mains such as bbq tofu veggie skewers or grilled halloumi and vegetables. This pesto potato salad also goes with proteins including chicken, shrimp, salmon or steak.
Leftovers & Storage
This roasted potato salad tastes best when you eat it warm or at room temperature. You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Warm them in a 350-degree F oven. The potatoes won’t be as crispy as when you first roasted them.
If you do have leftovers, I recommend pouring any vinaigrette from the bottom of the mixing bowl into a jar and also storing that in the fridge too. After you reheat the potatoes and tomatoes you can drizzle in the leftover dressing.
Recipe Tips
To make this potato salad vegan, use pesto without cheese. Other than that, the rest of the recipe ingredients are plant-based.
Use 2 sheet pans instead of crowding everything onto one pan. I have tested this recipe a bunch of different ways, and I find it’s best to use separate baking sheets for the potatoes and tomatoes.
Try to cut the tomatoes the same size. You just need to slice the potatoes in half lengthwise. Of course, no potato is exactly the same size. Fingerling potatoes are oblong shape with some variations. If you do have potatoes that are more round that’s ok too.
More Potato Salad Recipes
Roasted Asparagus Potato Salad
Salt & Vinegar Potato Salad
Smashed Pea Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Sweet Potato Salad
Roasted Tomato Pesto Potato Salad
Ingredients
For potatoes
- 2 pounds fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
For tomatoes
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For pesto vinaigrette
- 1/3 cup basil pesto
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For salad
- 2 tablespoons minced chives
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper on a sheet pan. Put them cut side down without overlapping. Roast the potatoes for 15 minutes.
- While the potatoes are roasting, toss the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper on another sheet pan. Arrange the tomatoes cut side up in a single layer.
- Continue roasting until the potatoes are golden brown and tender and the tomatoes are wrinkled, but still juicy in the middle, about 25-30 minutes.
- For the pesto vinaigrette, whisk the pesto white wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons oil in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the vinaigrette, and gently fold in the tomatoes and chives.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
