You haven’t lived until you have tasted an aromatic French potato salad! This best ever potato salad has lavender flavors using authentic organic lavender. Ready in 15 minutes because it’s made in the Instant Pot.
How often do you put lavender on your potatoes?
Not often?
This potato salad is here to change all of that! Just one taste of it is going to awaken your taste buds!
Ingredients
Here is a quick look at the ingredients. It is to understand why these specific ingredients were chosen. To get the full recipe, go to the bottom of this post.
Bookmark my useful guide for vegans which shows which ingredients are or are not vegan.
Potatoes – My favorite red potatoes are these Organic Enchanted Rose Potatoes by Potato inspirations. They are also organic which makes them even more delicious! Believe it or not, potatoes can be good for you (especially if you are a woman). I list all the benefits of potatoes below.
Herbes de Provence – This herb is made with all your favorite dried herbs, but has one significant ingredient. That ingredient is lavender! It’s easy to make at home or you can get it from (Affiliate Link) Amazon. Many grocery stores and big box stores also carry it. But, I prefer amazon because they have the organic version.
Lavender – Lavender has many benefits to our bodies. It helps calm anxiety, Insomnia, great for digestive issues, hair issues, and also good for inflammation. Source: MtSinai.org, Indigo-Herbs.co.uk, DriedLavender.net. P/S: I used (Affiliate Link) Anthony’s Organic French Lavender
Mustard – Traditionally, French potato salad calls for Dijon mustard. However, Dijon mustard is not always vegan. So, I go for Gulden’s spicy brown mustard and it tastes delicious. Mustard has amazing antioxidant properties, has healthy omega 3 & 6 and has vitamins + minerals. Source: DrBerg.com, VeryWellFit.com
Garlic – Garlic is one of the most studied ingredients in the field of medicine because it is a very potent ingredient. It has benefits for every part of our body. From helping fight infections to helping circulation, this smelly vegetable will help our body function more efficiently. Source: Well+Good, American Heart Association.
👩🍳 Spice Tip: the Herbes de Provence seasoning is not always fresh. It’s probably been on the shelf for months! The lavender in it looses its potency, so I always add a ½ tsp lavender petals in my potato salad.
How to make French potato salad
- Start by washing the red potatoes.
- Place the washed potatoes in the container of the Instant Pot and add 1 cup of water to it.
- Close the lid and choose the “Pressure Cook” option and remove the Keep Warm, if lit. Set the time to 8 minutes and let it cook by itself.
- In a bowl, make the seasoning. Add 1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard, 2 Tbsp avocado oil, ¾ tsp of salt, 3 cloves of garlic (grated), 1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence and ½ tsp French lavender petals. Whisk the ingredients and set aside.
- Once the lid is safe to open, open it and let the potatoes cool to touch.
- Peel the skin of the potatoes.
- Cut the potatoes into 8 pieces and transfer to a bowl
- Add the seasoning created in step 4 and mix well.
- If it looks dry, add 1 Tbsp of avocado oil.
👩🍳 Cooking potatoes stove top: Add 6 cups of water to a strong bottom pan. Add the potatoes and bring it to a boil, then set it to simmer. Total cook time is about 12-15 minutes. Drain and let it cool to touch.
Storing and heating leftovers
Cooked potatoes don’t generally last too long. These French potato salad follows that law to the letter!
Any leftovers you have (I never have any!) should be refrigerated immediately. Use glass containers with lids to store this potato salad.
Once refrigerated, use them up within 2 days.
To reheat:
- Preheat oven to 250°F (121°C).
- Put the potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle avocado oil on the potatoes
- Mix using a silicone spatula. Cook for no more than 8-10 minutes.
- You may need to add more oil and seasoning, if they taste bland after reheating.
🍅 Handy Tip: Use up any leftovers within 2 days. Cooked potatoes and lavender don’t last too long, even when refrigerated. The potatoes start to become slimy and lavender gets rancid.
Benefits of potatoes
- Potatoes are rich in Vitamin B6 which is vital in hormone balancing, especially progesterone. For women, progesterone balance is vital part of healthy hormones.
- They are also rich in Vitamin C which is a huge antioxidant vitamin.
- Potatoes have a good dose of potassium in them.
- Add a variety of colorful potatoes to your diet because they bring various nutrients like polyphenols, Vitamin A and anthocyanins. Try regular sweet potatoes or purple sweet potatoes.
- A potato is a good source of fiber.
Source: Dr Mindy Pelz, Marion Gluck Clinic, Medical News Today, Hormones Balance.
Answering Common Questions
Any small sized potatoes are perfect for potato salad. Enchanted rose, baby red potatoes, honey gold potatoes, potato nibbles, and petite red potatoes.
Edible lavender is marked as “food grade” and is often shipped from a country growing it. France is very famous for their lavender flowers.
Translated, it is “Herb of Provence”. It comes from the Provence region of France where lavender is grown prominently. There have hills and hills of lavender growing in this area. That’s why they incorporated lavender into this herb. Along with lavender, it has dried thyme, dried basil and savory and fennel.
– Most groceries stores have it in their spice and seasoning aisle.
– Big box stores like Walmart and Target also carry it in their stores and online.
– Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Thrive market carry it.
– If all else fails, you can always buy it on Amazon.
How to serve them
These potato salad can be served by itself for a fun lunch. Or, serve it with butternut squash risotto, roasted cauliflower salad or kale salad.
If you like exotic potato recipes, you will love my breakfast potatoes with za’atar.
They are also great to take to picnics and potluck parties. How will you serve it?
Try this potato recipes
I have a collection of the best baby potatoes and sweet potato recipes that you will love.
Sharing is caring
Don’t be shy, chime in below in the comments. Let me hear your opinion on French potato salad recipe. If you enjoyed this, please give it 5 stars and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.
French Potato Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
To cook the potatoes
- 24oz red potatoes
- 1 cup water to cook in the instant pot
To make the seasoning
- 1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard I use Gulden's spicy brown mustard
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- ¾ tsp pink salt adjust to taste
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence see notes
- 1/2 tsp lavender see notes
To garnish
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil Optional
Instructions
To cook potatoes in the Instant Potatoes
- Start by washing the red potatoes.24oz red potatoes
- Place the washed potatoes in the container of the Instant Pot.
- Add water in the container and close the lid.1 cup water
- Choose the “Pressure Cook” option and remove the Keep Warm, if lit.
- Set the time to 8 minutes and let it cook by itself.
To make the seasoning
- In a bowl, add all the seasoning ingredients.1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard, 2 Tbsp avocado oil, ¾ tsp pink salt, 3 cloves garlic, 1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence, 1/2 tsp lavender
- Whisk well and set aside.
To make the French potato salad
- Once the lid is safe to open, open it and let the potatoes cool to touch.
- Peel the skin of the potatoes.
- Cut each potato into 8 pieces and transfer to a bowl.
- Add the whisked seasoning and mix well.
- If it looks dry, add 1 Tbsp of avocado oil.1 Tbsp avocado oil
The recipe states to serve immediately, so is it easy to mix together at a potluck?
Yes, you can mix it together when you get to your potluck place. Cook the potatoes and take the sauce ingredients with you. Warm up the potatoes before adding the sauce ingredients.
I never knew what I missed before trying this potato salad with lavenders. Omg so good.
Thank you, Shilpa. 🙂
The lavender here was so uniquely tasty..we really enjoyed it! Also, thank you for bringing to my attention that Dijon isn’t vegan. I never knew that! We used spicy brown and it turned out perfect. 🙂
Aww, Thank you so much Kris. That makes me so happy.
I’d never tried potato salad with Herbs de Provence before and I have to say it’s just spectacular! Thank you for the recipe, can’t wait to make it again!
Thank you Gen.
This potato salad is so good and I love that it is different from mayo based salads. It is light, flavorful, and I fried the leftovers for homefries the next day! Delish!
Thank you, Jenn
I could not believe the flavours in the salad! The lavender was beautiful and fragrant, and lent it a very unique air, I have never tasted a potato salad quite like this one
Thank you Ksenia.