Vegan Smashed Potato Salad (High Protein!)

When you think potato salad you don't usually think of it as a meal and more of a side dish, however I'm changing that with this vegan bacon crispy smashed potato salad recipe because I think it deserves the whole plate!

Packing serious protein at 36g per serving, this roasted and smashed potato salad has protein from two places: homemade textured soy protein bacon bits, and a creamy silken tofu dressing that mimics the creaminess of mayo without all the added fat. 

This potato salad is a top level meal, but to get there you will need to give it a little more love than your average bbq side dish. That's because we're double baking the potatoes to get them incredibly brown and crispy. Making our own homemade bacon bits from protein rich textured soy protein. Moreover we're making our mayo style dressing from scratch with much healthier ingredients like silken tofu, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and sea salt. It's a flavour explosion while being a super nutritious, healthy salad you can prep yourself for the week ahead OR bring to your next BBQ and be the MVP of the hosting table. 

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Why You'll Love This Crispy Smashed Potato Salad Recipe

• Not your grandmas potato salad, this is packing serious flavour and nutrition. 
• Move over boiled and steamed potatoes and welcome in crispy, golden roasted potatoes. 
• Dairy free, whole food based dressing. 
• Packing 36g of protein PER serving, if you're eating it as a meal. The whole thing has 145g of protein, so you break that down into as many servings as you prefer.
• Plant-based, vegan, egg free, and gluten free.
• A hearty meal, appetizer, or side dish that's sure to impress.

What You'll Need To Make This Vegan Smashed Potato Salad

Baby golden potatoes or nugget potatoes. These are the perfect little potatoes to smash and add to your salad without additional chopping.

Textured vegetable protein or textured pea protein (soy free option) for the bacon bits. 

Liquid aminos or soy sauce for the bacon bits. 

Loads of fresh herbs. I used dill, flat leaf parsley, and cilantro. 

Silken tofu, or soft tofu. This is the base to the mayo inspired dressing. 

Seasonings like lemon, garlic, apple cider vinegar, paprika, maple syrup and dijon mustard. 

Cracked black pepper and salt. 

Substitutions

If you want to make this quicker, you can substitute the homemade bacon bits for a pre-made tempeh bacon, or chopped vegan sausages. 

Any fresh herbs that you like are great.

For soy free you can use textured pea protein instead of soy protein, and in place of the silken tofu dressing you can make a mayo based dressing with similar seasonings.

Add in additional fresh veggies to bulk it up.

Storing

Smashed potato salad will last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. I use these glass, non-toxic meal prep containers for absolutely everything.

 

Need More Summer Recipe Inspo? Check Out These Summer Dishes:

Green Goddess Dressing (and Dip)

Italian Chopped Salad

Vegan Summer Cobb Salad

 

Please note: all calories and macros have been calculated to the best of my ability but may vary slightly.

 

Vegan Crispy Smashed Potato Salad Recipe

Recipe makes 4 meal size servings (or 8 sides)

Macros per serving (4): 

462 cals - 18g fat - 39g carbs - 36g protein 

 

Ingredients:

• 20 baby potatoes, or nugget potatoes
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• 1 cup fresh herbs, I used parsley, cilantro, and dill 
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 - 300g package silken tofu (soft tofu)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt 

 

Vegan Bacon Bits

• 1 cup textured vegetable protein 
• 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• 2 tbsp liquid aminos or soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp smoked paprika

 

Instructions:

Potatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Wash and dry the baby potatoes, then season with 1 tbsp olive oil. 
3. Spread the oiled potatoes across the prepared baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes.
4. At 20-25 minutes (depending on the size of your biggest potato) the potatoes should be soft enough that you can smash them flat with the bottom of a cup. If they're not soft enough yet, continue cooking until they are!
5. Smash all the potatoes flat with the bottom of a cup and season with 1 tbsp olive oil, and 1/2 tsp each salt and black pepper. 
6. Place the potatoes back in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until super crispy.
7. Allow to cool.

Vegan Bacon Bits

1. Make the Bacon Bits by bringing 3 cups of water to a boil. Then add the boiling water and the 1 cup textured vegetable protein to a bowl to hydrate. Let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Drain the textured vegetable protein, pressing any excess water out with the back of a spoon. 
3. Add the drained textured vegetable protein to a bowl with all the bacon seasonings: oil, liquid aminos, balsamic vinegar, hot sauce, maple syrup, and smoked paprika. Toss well to coat the textured vegetable protein.
4. Spread the seasoned textured vegetable protein across a parchment lined baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and toss the bits around before placing back in the oven an additional 5-10 minutes or until crispy. Set aside to cool.

Silken Tofu Dressing

1. Make the dressing by adding to a high speed blender: silken tofu, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, garlic powder and salt. Blending until smooth. Set aside. 
2. Prep the red onion, and fresh herbs by washing and dicing. 
3. To a large mixing bowl add: roasted smashed potatoes, crispy textured vegetable protein bits, diced red onion and herbs, and the silken tofu dressing. Mix everything well to combine.
4. Adjust salt and pepper if desired. 
5. Set the salad in the fridge to cool completely.

Crispy smashed potato salad only gets better as it sits and the flavours get a chance to marry.

Enjoy!

 

Let us know in the comments if you made this recipe and how it went for you!