4 Cookout-Friendly, Summery Salads That Don’t Use Mayo

These are divisive ingredients that generate passionate feelings. Some people love them, some people loathe them. Mayonnaise, in particular, is the most ubiquitous of the bunch. 

Here at Cook’s Country, we don’t judge, and we want people to eat what they like. So with summer gatherings in mind, we present four salad recipes that are safe to bring to cookouts where mayo-haters may be lurking. 

Somehow, this comforting collection of staple vegetables feels surprising together. Potatoes, green beans, and tomatoes are common guests at the table, but they rarely party together, as a group, in a single dish. 

For this recipe, we boil chunks of potatoes and then, when they’re almost done, add the green beans to the bubbling bath and cook until both are tender. Then we drain the vegetables, spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet, and douse them with the dressing base (olive oil and white wine vinegar plus salt and pepper) so that they can soak up the seasoning while they cool. 

The tomatoes, meanwhile, take their own bath in more of the dressing base boosted with capers, shallot, and optional anchovies (which I urge you to use—they add depth and dimension without making the salad taste fishy). Then you toss everything together with some chopped parsley and dill and serve. 

If there is a list of vegetables that herald summer’s peak, zucchini and corn are toward the top of it. This salad features them grilled and then combined with a lively dressing and salty pops of feta cheese. 

It’s pretty easy to make. Coat the zucchini and corn with a seasoned garlic oil and grill until lightly charred and softened. Then cut zucchini into slices and nick the kernels from the cobs and toss everything with the garlic oil plus lemon juice and fresh basil. Then sprinkle feta over before serving. It tastes like summer on a platter. 

In considering mayo-free salads, it's smart to think about exactly what mayo brings to a dish. And the answer, in short, is that this egg- and oil-based creamy condiment brings richness. 

This warm potato salad covers the richness requirement with bacon—and its flavorful fat. The salad calls for crisping bacon in a skillet, removing it, and then simmering slices of small red potatoes in the same skillet with some sugar, celery seeds, and salt. 

The liquid in the skillet gets syrupy as the potatoes approach doneness. At this point you transfer everything to a bowl and add cider vinegar, whole-grain mustard, and a measured amount of reserved bacon fat. These ingredients form a bacon-y vinaigrette that coats the tender potatoes. Sliced scallions, chopped parsley, and chopped vinegar peppers finish the dish. 

Potato salad, hold the mayo. 

This salad has a Spanish flair and a long life in the open air. The recipe as written serves four, but it can easily be doubled or even tripled. 

The quality of the tomatoes matters here, and we recommend juicy, ripe heirlooms. Coring and chopping said tomatoes is the hardest part of making this recipe. 

Simply toss the tomatoes with drained canned chickpeas; chopped green bell pepper; toasted and chopped almonds; sliced shallots; and a dressing made with olive oil, sherry vinegar, minced garlic, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper. Chopped mint adds freshness and color. 

That’s it. Not only is this romesco-sauce inspired salad free from mayonnaise, it is vegan and gluten-free too.