This Gordon Ramsay potato salad is made with new potatoes, blanched cauliflower and green beans in a sharp turmeric and mustard dressing, ready in 25 minutes. No mayonnaise anywhere near it. Ramsay builds his as a piccalilli-style salad: warm spice, vinegar bite and crunchy vegetables.
In Ultimate Cookery Course, Ramsay calls this his “New Potato Piccalilli Salad” and pairs it with slow-cooked brisket. The sharp vinegary dressing cuts straight through rich fatty meat, which is why he uses turmeric and English mustard powder rather than cream or mayo.
The technique that matters most is dressing the potatoes while still warm. Hot starch is porous and absorbs mustard and vinegar into the flesh. Cold starch seals shut and repels everything you pour over it, which is why most home versions taste bland.
Gordon Ramsay Potato Salad
Course: Salads, Sides6
servings10
minutes15
minutes25
minutesFrom Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course, this piccalilli-style new potato salad swaps mayo for a sharp turmeric and wholegrain mustard dressing with blanched cauliflower, green beans and spring onions. Designed to cut through rich meats like brisket.
Ingredients
500g (1 lb 2 oz) new potatoes, similar size
1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
275g (10 oz) green beans, topped and tailed
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 small shallot, peeled and finely sliced
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
For the dressing:
Pinch of ground turmeric
1 to 2 tsp English mustard powder, to taste
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 to 2 tsp honey, to taste
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
100ml (3½ fl oz) olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Boil the potatoes: Put the new potatoes in a pan of salted water, bring to the boil and cook for about 15 minutes until tender and cooked through.
- Blanch the vegetables: While the potatoes cook, blanch the cauliflower florets and green beans by dropping them into boiling salted water for 2 minutes until the rawness is removed but they are still crunchy. Refresh immediately in cold water and drain.
- Make the dressing: Stir the English mustard powder into the wholegrain mustard, making sure there are no lumps. Add the honey and white wine vinegar, mix well, then slowly pour in the olive oil, stirring as you go to thicken. Season with salt and pepper.
- Assemble while warm: Mix the grated carrot, shallot, spring onions and turmeric together, then add the warm drained potatoes, cauliflower and green beans. Pour over the dressing, toss well and season to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay skip the mayonnaise?
He designs this salad to sit next to beef brisket, which is already rich and fatty. A mayo dressing would double the heaviness. The mustard and vinegar base cuts through the meat instead of competing with it. If you do want a creamier version, stir a tablespoon of crème fraîche into the finished dressing, but you will lose some of that sharpness.
How does this compare to Mary Berry’s potato salad?
Mary Berry’s version is the classic British approach: boiled new potatoes, mayonnaise, sour cream, Dijon mustard, chives. It is richer, milder and designed to please everyone at a buffet. Ramsay’s goes sharper and bolder with English mustard, turmeric and vinegar, and adds cauliflower and green beans for crunch. Berry’s is a side dish. Ramsay’s is closer to a piccalilli that happens to have potatoes in it.
Can you serve this warm or cold?
Both work, but warm is better. Ramsay dresses the potatoes while they are still hot so the mustard and vinegar absorb into the starch. At room temperature it tastes balanced and fresh. From the fridge the dressing thickens and the flavour dulls, so if you do chill it, bring it back to room temperature for 20 minutes and add a splash of vinegar before serving.
What should you serve potato salad with?
Ramsay pairs it with his slow-cooked brisket, and that is still the best match. It also works alongside grilled sausages, cold ham, roast chicken or barbecued lamb. For a summer spread, serve it next to his crunchy coleslaw and the caesar salad for three very different textures on the same table.
Can you make this the German way?
German potato salad uses a warm bacon and vinegar dressing rather than mayo, which actually puts it closer to Ramsay’s approach than most British versions. To push it in that direction, fry lardons until crisp and use the bacon fat as part of the oil in the dressing. Skip the turmeric and cauliflower, add chopped gherkins, and you are halfway to a proper German kartoffelsalat.
Does potato salad keep well?
Without mayo it keeps better than most. Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two days. The vegetables hold their crunch because they were only blanched for two minutes, and the vinegar-based dressing does not separate the way mayo does when chilled. Add a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of oil before serving leftovers to wake the flavours back up. See his summer salad picks for more that work at barbecues.
