Creamy-Scallion Potato Salad
This time of year, I love whipping up lemon-y potato salads and am always looking for new variations. So, I was excited to make this creamy-scallion potato salad from Mehreen Karim’s new cookbook, Make It Plant-Based! Southern.
“The recipes in my book are classics — casseroles, cobblers, pies, and biscuits — and they express the cultural influences that I know to be part of Southern cuisine,” says Mehreen, who was born in Alabama and trailed through Texas, Kentucky, and Tennessee until her family settled in Georgia. She grew up enjoying Southern fare with Bengali flavors. “The South is one of the most densely populated places for immigrants and refugees, and there’s a thriving plant-based culinary tradition within soul food.”
What makes this potato salad next-level is the crispy potatoes, which are baked, not boiled. “It’s worth it,” says Mehreen. “The potatoes get perfectly crispy, and the roasted scallions add a real depth of flavor.” A splash of maple syrup balances the miso and scallions in the creamy mayo.
And if you’d like to turn the salad into a main dish, you could also toss in white beans and whatever fresh greens you’ve got on hand.
Creamy-Scallion Potato Salad
from Make It Plant-Based! Southern
You’ll need:
6 scallions, trimmed
1 ½ pounds (675 g) baby Yukon Gold potatoes (since they’re sweeter than red or purple small potatoes)
2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package (16 ounces/450 g) soft silken tofu
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral oil 1 tablespoon white miso
1 tablespoon maple syrup
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place 4 of the scallions on one side of the prepared baking sheet. Thinly slice the remaining 2 scallions and set aside for garnish.
Wash and dry the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into 1-inch (2cm) pieces and add them to a large mixing bowl. Add the olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the salt and toss to coat. Spread out the potatoes alongside the scallions on the baking sheet. Set the mixing bowl aside (to save yourself from washing it twice!). Bake the potatoes and scallions for 30 minutes, flipping the potatoes with a spatula once halfway through baking. Remove from the oven when potatoes are a deep golden brown and the scallions are brown and withered.
Using tongs, transfer the roasted scallions to a food processor or blender. Add the tofu, lemon juice, neutral oil, miso, maple syrup, the remaining teaspoon of salt, and red pepper flakes and blend for 1 to 2 minutes, until completely smooth. Taste for salt and acidity and adjust to your preference—if it tastes too salty or sour, add more oil or maple syrup.
Transfer the potatoes and ½ cup (120 ml) of the scallion sauce to the mixing bowl and toss to combine. Garnish with the reserved scallions and serve.
Store the potato salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Store the remainder of the scallion sauce in an airtight container or tightly capped jar for up to 1 month. It’s a great dipping sauce or condiment to have on hand.
Mehreen, thank you so much! Also, Mehreen shares 14 favorite things on Big Salad.
P.S. Eleven readers share their go-to recipes, and a trick for better summer salads.
(Potato salad photo by Emma Fishman. Photo of Mehreen Karim by Kelsey Cherry. Excerpted from Make It Plant-Based! Southern by Mehreen Karim. Copyright 2025 by Mehreen Karim. Reprinted with permission from Workman Publishing. All Rights Reserved.)
Tags: potatoes
Comments
21 commentsI will never forget when my dad taught me a similar lesson in the car. We were driving and my father who NEVER swears yelled co** $uck3r after he got cut off. I demanded to know what it meant but he refused to tell me. I geometry dash full version told him that if he didn’t tell me what it meant, I would ask my teacher. He told me and I instantly regretted it. Live ‘n learn.
As a content writer, I usually don’t have much time to cook, but this recipe definitely caught my eye—definitely adding it to my to-try list!
I can’t wait to read this book! This recipe is such a perfectly timed intro for me – we get to pick up our first CSA farm share of the season this evening, and it includes green onions, spinach, and sweet potatoes, which I am eager to swap here in the spirit of fusion! 🍠🥬
Really appreciate the diversity of flavors and perspectives in food, have been hoping to see this here!
I absolutely love this content!!! As a flexitarian who is trying to be even more plant based, and a lover of rich and creamy things, this really hits. I can’t wait to check out the book. On another note, I am semi famous for two of my potato salad recipes. One is DALS German potato salad, but I leave out the bacon, up the olive oil, vinegar, and dill. I sometimes add parsley in with the dill. The other I’ve adapted from an older french cookbook and could be plant based if made with vegan sour cream. -1.5 pounds small potatoes – a big scoop of sour cream -juice of half a lemon, plus more to taste (I usually use a whole) -0.5-1tsp. kosher salt, depending on preference -half a bunch of parsley, chopped -4 scallions, sliced -1 or 2 avocados Boil potatoes in generously salted water until done, drain, and let cool slightly. Chop into 1 inch chunks. Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients except avocados in the bottom of your serving bowl. Taste and adjust. The lemon and salt should be assertive. Once the potatoes are only slightly warm, add to the dressing and toss until well coated. Use a spoon to scoop chunks of the avocados into the potato salad and toss gently. People go bonkers over this potato salad and I love it.
I love avocado in potato salad too!!
As a Bengali myself, you know I was rooting for my sis on Next Level Chef! Growing up in NYC, the Bengali food we ate was infused with a lot of Hispanic and Chinese staples as that’s what we had available around us. I’m so curious to see Bengali food fused with Southern food!
Hi Joanna! This is a special message for you- I am so delighted that I got to meet you last night. My husband and kids, who have heard me talk about you and Cup of Jo for so many years, loved the picture of us together. I will cherish it! People have said before that you are gracious, and I agree. You are just as you seem on this blog = a wonderful person. Thanks for making the time for me at Adam’s event.
Aha! Another cook whose secret ingredient is white miso! I use it so often!
The use of soft silken tofu surprised me.
I just read about a quick potato salad hack where you toss steamed tender Yukon potatoes and toss them in your fav store prepared tzatziki. Smitten Kitchens Rosann Cash version adds diced pickles, pickle juice and hard boiled egg-very deli style. I always add celery salad to cold salads. A roasted version like this would be great for using up leftover roasted sheet pan Yukons. My onion of choice is either shallot or red.
And, thank you for introducing Mehreen to me (us). I am not familiar with her work until today and I’ll def be reading further. The “fusion” approach to cooking is such fun!
My old roommate (former German club kid) used to make the BEST German potato salad in the entire world. Anytime we had a household reunion we’d beg her to bring it. It remains my fave to this day… tho this one looks tasty.
What was the secret? :)
My friend in Germany made the best potato salad I have ever had. She would boil the potatoes, peel them while still hot by impaling them on a fork and using a knife to rub off the skin, pour over some vegetable bouillon, them add chopped onion, mustard, and herb vinegar. I have never been able to reproduce it, although I have certainly tried.
Ani, I have no idea! The rest of us (former household of 5 ladies) could never reproduce Monika’s genius! It was definitely vinegary over mayo-ey, which I always appreciated.
German here. I do feel quite passionate about no mayo in potatoe salad. Have you seen this recipe? It’s my go to and I even leave out the yoghurt/sour cream. I think it’s really good and tastes like something Oma used to make. https://wednesdaychef.typepad.com/the_wednesday_chef/2006/04/kurt_gutenbrunn.html
This recipe looks delicious and I’m definitely going to make it because I like potato salad with crispy baked potato. BUT the issue with taking potato salad to a picnic is NOT THE MAYO. It is the potatoes. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/it_must_have_been_the_potato_salad Bacteria like to grow in potatoes so when they are hanging out for long periods of time, that can be the culprit for making people sick, not the mayo. So saying using a plant-based mayo makes it safe is not true.
oh wow I didn’t know this! we’ll remove that sentence in the post!
Thanks for this info! It makes logical, scientific sense as potatoes are spongish and most people don’t make fresh mayo with raw yolks anymore.
thanks for sharing! I have never known this!