Finnish Summer Potato Salad ♥ An Ode to Finnish Potatoes

Today's Recipe: Perfect for your Midsummer celebration, a simple potato salad of new potatoes and a simple vinaigrette, made just like Finns make potato salad during summer. No mayo! Plus, a guide to the special spuds that come from Finland, one of the Nordic countries where there's an unapologetic obsession with potatoes this time of year.

A Simple Nordic Salad & Side Dish, Especially for Summer. 100% Plant-Based. Whole Food, Fast & Casual. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Budget Friendly. Little Effort, Big Taste. Not Just Easy, Summer Easy. Scales from Small Plates to Large Platters. Naturally Gluten Free. Paleo. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real". One of My Very Favorite Potato Salad Recipes.

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New Potatoes in Finland & Other Nordic Countries

I know, I know.

Is a potato worth so much adulation? A plain ol' potato???

Yes! Finnish potatoes are indeed special.

They're firm but soft when cooked, the flesh is a pretty yellow color with thin and light-colored skins that peel easily with no more than your fingers. They're less mealy than a baking potato but not at all creamy like a red potato.

But it's their taste, somehow better and more potato-y than other potatoes, that makes Finnish potatoes coveted, especially when they are "new" potatoes.

Mind you, "new" potatoes are for-real, not just an indication of small size. Finnish potatoes are bred for smallness but also harvested from the ground about half-grown, that's usually in mid-June near the summer solstice when Finland earns its name as the "land of the midnight sun".

Potatoes, Potatoes, Potatoes. Every Place. Every Meal.

So our timing was good! Earlier this month, my husband and I spent a week in southern Finland plus some days each in Sweden, Estonia, Russia and Copenhagen.

Yeah, I know, lucky us. What a trip!

But back to the potatoes. Everywhere we went, requested or not, potatoes appeared on the table.

Still not convinced? Here's what others have to say about Finnish potatoes.

When the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods traveled to Finland, host Andrew Zimmern named Finnish potatoes as his most-favorite moment. Check out the Top Five Moments in Finland video on the Travel Channel. No kidding!

Check out a story from the international edition of Helsingin Sanomat, the big newspaper in Finland's lovely capitol city, Helsinki. It's called Praise the Lord and pass the butter - the time has come for lovely, lovely new spuds. It's in English not Finnish!

During our trip, after a late and filling lunch with Pille Petersoo from Nami Nami in her hometown of Tallin, Estonia, we accompanied her home to a supper of boiled potatoes, fresh pickles, strawberries and a gorgeous rhubarb cake. Three kids and three adults went through a whole pile of potatoes, yes, they were "dinner" and soooo good! Pille's middle child, an adorable tow-headed boy of three, likes his new potatoes about 1:1 potatoes:butter. :-)

How Much Would You Pay for Very, Very Good Potatoes?

Now good Finnish potatoes may not come cheap.

We found all the food in the Baltic very very expensive but if I'm reading this sign from a stand in Helsinki's kauppatori (openair marketplace) right, last week Finnish new potatoes were selling for almost $30 a kilo, that's $13.50 a pound. Yikes!

So when new potatoes show up at your own farmers markets soon, ask about Finnish potatoes. The two varieties that come up in Finland are "timo" [pronounced tee-moe] and "siikli" [seek-lee] but in the U.S. I've also seen Finnish potatoes marketed as "Yellow Finns" and even just "Finn" potatoes.

No Luck Finding Finnish Potatoes? No Problem.

Do as I did when I made this recipe on our first day back, carefully picking the smallest Yukon golds from the potato bin at the grocery store.

My goal here was to replicate the potato salad that my Finnish "sister" Ritva made for a casual weeknight meal for four last week: "just" smoked salmon and smoked whitefish with good Finnish rye bread, butter, some cheese, sliced tomatoes – and potato salad, new potatoes boiled and then tossed in a simple vinaigrette of Dijon mustard, olive oil, white wine vinegar and chive.

"This is what we make in summer," she explained. And so I will ...

About This Recipe

Finnish Summer Potato Salad dresses new potatoes with a simple vinaigrette, spiked with fresh chives or another herb. It's a simple side dish for summer meals but also, for those who really love potatoes, the makings of an entire meal.
The distinctive ingredients are the potatoes (naturally!) and the homemade vinaigrette dressing (just mustard, olive oil, white wine vinegar).
Ingredient List = potatoes + salt & pepper + Dijon mustard + olive oil + white wine vinegar + chives
Finnish Summer Potato Salad can be made and served warm right away; or after a short while at room temperature; or cold after time in the fridge.
I love how Finnish Summer Potato Salad shows its stripes: it is what it is, just potatoes glistening with a simple dressing, colored with a few bits of chopped chive.

How to Make Finnish Summer Potato Salad

The detailed recipe is written in traditional recipe form below but here are the highlights in three easy steps. You can do this!

COOK THE POTATOES Start the potatoes in cold, well-salted water (vs adding the vegetables to boiling water) and bring the water to a boil. Then reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer, you don't want to boil potatoes hard, they'll fall apart. Cook the potatoes until they're soft, you can tell by slipping a knife into the center of one or two potatoes.

MIX THE VINAIGRETTE While the potatoes cook, do a quick-quick whisk of the dressing ingredients. If you like, use a small bowl, you can then mix the vinaigrette right in the pot where you cooked the potatoes (after draining, of course). Otherwise, use a bowl large enough to add the potatoes and hold the entire salad. Both ways work!

COMBINE THE TWO Timing is important here. Hot potatoes will s-o-a-k up the vinaigrette like nothing doing. So time combining the potatoes and the vinaigrette depending on when you intend to serve the salad. To serve it warm, use about half the vinaigrette to start, add more according to taste. To serve later, let the potato pieces cool before stirring in any vinaigrette. I like to stir in about half once the potatoes cool, then the remainder just before serving.

Here's What's NOT In This Recipe

Sometimes, what's left out of a recipe is just as important as what's put in. That's definitely the case here.

NO MAYONNAISE! Lots of folks get nervous about salads with mayonnaise during the summer, especially when served outside or left out in a buffet, say. But Finnish Summer Salad contains no mayo. Instead, the dressing is a mayonnaise-free oil & vinegar & mustard vinaigrette.
NO EXTRAS! This may well be my very simplest potato salad. In contrast, I grew up with Mom's Potato Salad and it's still my go-to potato salad for a traditional mayo-based potato salad. But it takes longer to make because it contains onion, celery, cooked eggs, cottage cheese and more.

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RECIPE for FINNISH SUMMER POTATO SALAD

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 40 minutes
Serves 8

POTATOES
2 pounds new light-skinned potatoes, preferably Finnish potatoes, otherwise small Yukon gold potatoes
Cold water to cover
2 tablespoons kosher salt

VINAIGRETTE (see ALANNA's TIPS)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Fresh chive, chopped
Salt & pepper, if needed

POTATOES Bring potatoes, water and salt to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and let water simmer until potatoes are fully cooked, a knife should slip easily into the center. Drain and if there's time, let cool. Cut into bite-size pieces; for a larger group, cut smaller pieces, it'll serve more with less waste.

VINAIGRETTE Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Toss Vinaigrette with either warm or cooled cooked potatoes.

TO SERVE Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled. May be made ahead of time, in fact, it may actually taste a bit better on the second day.

LEFTOVERS stay fresh for several days. My husband likes to fry some up for breakfast!

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
CHOOSE POTATOES CAREFULLY You'd think that those large bags of mini potatoes from Sam's Club/Costco and even the small bags of pricey mini potatoes from grocery stores and the mini Dutch potatoes from Trader Joe's would be perfect here: but they're not. To my taste, these potatoes taste completely flat and lifeless: you don't notice when they've loaded with butter or spices or mayonnaise but in this salad, the actual taste of the potatoes matters. Better to get larger Yukon golds and cut them up than to go for size over taste.
BOIL POTATOES IN COLD WATER We all know the general rule – right? – that when boiling vegetables that come from below ground – carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, say – that we start them in cold, salted water? But a word of caution is advised: do not boil potatoes hard, they'll break apart. Instead, reduce the heat on the stove for a nice little bubble of a simmer, not a hard boil. I fear that as boiling vegetables becomes passé, we'll forget these basics!
DRESSING HOT VS COLD POTATOES Hot potatoes will soak-soak-soak up the Vinaigrette which is great flavor-wise but may make the overall salad look and feel a little dry. To prevent it from happening, cool the potato pieces before tossing in the Vinaigrette. But if there's no time for cooling, toss the hot potatoes with about half the vinaigrette. If you're serving the potato salad right away, no problem, half the Vinaigrette is probably enough. But if you're serving the salad later, either at room temperature or cold, you'll want to toss it with the remaining vinaigrette just before serving.
SHARPNESS This is a slightly sharp Vinaigrette, if it's too sharp for your taste, thin it with a little more olive oil or even warm water, you could also add a teaspoon or two of agave (to stay vegan) or honey (if you like). Some times, I stir in a little sour cream, this also moderates the sharpness though the salad is no longer vegan.
HERB SUBSTITUTES Fresh dill, parsley or another herb may be substituted for the chives.
POTATO SALAD & FOOD SAFETY Did you know this? Me either. According to this interesting piece in Cook's Country, it's not the mayonnaise in potato salad which goes bad when left out for more than a couple of hours, it's the potatoes!

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving, using half/all the Vinaigrette: 111/135 Calories; 3/5g Tot Fat; 0/1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 28/51mg Sodium; 20g Carb; 3g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 2g Protein. Old Points 2 & PointsPlus 3 & SmartPoints 3 & Freestyle 3 & myWW green 3 & blue 2 & purple 1 & future WW points CALORIE COUNTERS for 100-calorie servings, use 9/11 servings (2g protein).

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