Easy Italian Olive Potato Salad

Easy Italian Olive Potato Salad is a serendipitous flavor explosion! Topped with nutty pumpkin seed and chopped eggs, it’s unconventional, straight forward and so, so good.

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What’s in the Pantry

This is one of my favorite games, and it’s a bit like being on Chopp’d.

• The task: to prepare a delicious, preferably interesting meal using only ingredients in the pantry, fridge and freezer. Extra points for speed.

I’ve been cooking a LONG time, so I have a basic idea of flavors, colors and textures that will play nicely together. But it’s still exciting to study what’s available and think about ways I can combine them to make something new. Especially when I have leftovers that I want to use up or less than fresh produce that needs to be used. Like today.

Recently I made a giant batch of olive salad to keep in the fridge for using on sandwiches and to liven up hummus. Why I still make giant batches of anything I’m not quite sure. Habit, I reckon, from when we had 5 kids living at home and also from when we ran a café and made everything in giant batches. So anyway, what was I going to do with all this olive salad?

It was when David and I were reminiscing about a warm potato salad recipe we used to make that it hit me: I could use olive salad to mimic the sharp, garlicky flavors of that salad! The addition of chopped egg and pumpkin seed were serendipitous — all in all a melange of unlikely ingredients that JUST WORKS.

Easy Italian olive Potato Salad Ingredients

You’ll need:

Potatoes. Any variety is fine, just use what’s in your pantry! If you’re buying potatoes for this recipe, go for Yukon gold as the color and flavor are nice and you really don’t have to even peel them.

Olive Salad. Using pre-made olive salad is the “easy” in Easy Italian Potato Salad! I would of course recommend that you make a batch of my New Orleans Style Olive Salad to use here (and in so many other ways). But you can also pick up a ready made jar at the store.

Hard Boiled Eggs. Here’s my favorite way to boil eggs. I won’t say it works every time, but it does work most of the time.

• Place eggs in a saucepan and almost cover with water. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
• Cover, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Turn off heat and leave in the pan, still covered, for 10 minutes.
• Drain off the water. Crack the eggs by GENTLY knocking them about in the saucepan.
• Add cold water to cover eggs, then let them rest for 5 minutes before peeling.

Toasted Pumpkin Seed. Add not only crunch but an earthy, nutty taste. You can toast pumpkin seed in the oven or in a cast iron skillet on the stove top. Be sure to watch closely as they burn SO easily!

Salt + Pepper.

You’ll also need:

Saucepan.

Chef’s Knife.

Vegetable Peeler.

Strainer.

Serving Bowl or Platter.

How to make easy Italian olive Potato Salad

1. Boil potatoes for 10 minutes until just tender.
2. Drain and rinse potatoes, then add to serving bowl.
3. Toss with salt, pepper and Olive Salad, letting the potatoes absorb the flavorful oil from the mixture.
4. Spoon onto/into serving platter or bowl and top with chopped hard boiled eggs and toasted pumpkin seed.
5. Serve!

How to store easy Italian olive Potato Salad

Store Easy Italian Potato Salad in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge. If making ahead, don’t add the pumpkin seed til just before serving so they don’t get all soggy.

recipe notes

Can I make this for a large group?

Yes. The recipe as written yields about 4-6 smallish servings, so if you’re making this for a crowd just double or triple the ingredients.

Does it matter what kind of potatoes I use?

You know my motto: start where you are, and use what you have! If you have red potatoes in your pantry, use those. Same goes for Yukon Gold, baking potatoes, assorted baby potatoes, etc. Use all of one kind or an assortment — just be sure to wash them before using.

Can I use store bought olive salad?

While you definitely can, it’s so easy (and so much cheaper) to make your own that you might want to give it a shot. Of course, there are times when convenience wins!