These DELICIOUS pesto potatoes are the ultimate summer side. Perfectly cooked baby potatoes are tossed with basil pesto, and creamy burrata then finished with crispy prosciutto shards. Perfect for garden parties, cookouts, barbecues and meal prep.
Everyone needs a couple of quick potato salads up their sleeves, and this one is a real winner. There’s just something about the combination of fresh, herby basil pesto, crispy and salty prosciutto and creamy burrata with soft, buttery potatoes which is just so moreish.
It’s a perfect make-ahead side to take along to barbecues or parties – or make a big batch on Sunday and use it throughout the week.
Ingredients
- Potatoes. Go for a waxy variety (baby potatoes, new potatoes, Jersey Royals or Charlotte) so they keep their shape after cooking and being tossed with the pesto. Floury ones (Maris Piper, King Edward) are prone to falling apart if they’re cooked for this long.
- Pesto. I love using homemade basil pesto for this and really recommend you give it a go! If not, use a good quality, fresh pesto if you can find it. Because the pesto is such a dominant flavour you want to make sure you’re using a good one – the jarred ones don’t really compare.
- Prosciutto. Cooking prosciutto in the oven for just 10 minutes creates an UNREAL crispy garnish you can use with loads of dishes (it’s fab for salads, pasta, in sandwiches…)
- Burrata. The burrata provides a lovely creamy element to these potatoes that works so well with the pesto and salty prosciutto. I’m not the biggest burrata fan because I find it a bit much sometimes (it is basically a ball of cream!), but little bits of it in this salad is perfect.
MAKE IT VEGAN: Go for your favorite vegan pesto (or leave out the parmesan in my recipe), swap the prosciutto for 1 tablespoon of toasted cashews, almonds, walnuts or pistachios and replace the burrata with nutritional yeast.
How to make it
The key to a flavorsome potato salad comes from very well-salted cooking water, so you want to add a couple of big pinches. Boil the potatoes until they can be pierced with a fork, but are still reasonably firm so they can hold their shaped when mixed with the pesto.
If you’re not sure, take one out and cut it in half to check whether it’s cooked. Once they’re ready, drain the water and then put them back in the dry pan to cool slightly.
While the potatoes are cooking, make the crispy prosciutto. This, along with parmesan crisps, are some of my favorite things to jazz up any dish. They both look and seem more fancy and complicated than they are when in reality, you just throw them in the oven for 10 minutes!
When the potatoes have cooled slightly, it’s time to assemble the salad. Mix the pesto and potatoes in a large bowl and scatter over half the crispy prosciutto. Transfer to a serving platter, and then sprinkle the rest of the prosciutto on top and finish with the torn burrata pieces.
Three things to serve them with
- They’re lovely served alongside miso grilled chicken or sticky gochujang chicken.
- Go Middle Eastern inspired with lamb koftas with yogurt sauce and a crunchy chopped salad.
- Make a colorful salad spread with roasted butternut squash salad, peach and courgette salad and green goddess salad.
Got a question?
These pesto potatoes are brilliant to make in advance, and I will actually often do that to save time. They’ll keep for 5 days in a covered container in the fridge.
I’ll normally use my quick homemade basil pesto for this dish – it really is easy and the flavor is SO superior to anything from a jar. If you don’t want to make your own, try to find a fresh pesto from the store – these are much better than jarred. Because the pesto is such a dominant flavour in the dish I really recommend going for a good one or making it yourself.
You can! The potatoes will still be super delicious without it. If you’d still like to add a little crunch, use 1 tablespoon of toasted lightly crushed cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans or pistachios as an alternative.
Definitely! This recipe can easily be made vegan by replacing the pesto with your favorite vegan version (or make my homemade version and leave out the parmesan). Like the vegetarian option, you can replace the crispy prosciutto with 1 tablespoon of toasted, lightly crushed nuts and leave out the burrata. Sprinkle over some nutritional yeast if you like to get that umami, cheesy flavor.
I recommend using a waxy potato for this, so that they hold their shape after cooking and tossing with the pesto. Go for baby potatoes, new potatoes, Jersey Royals or Charlotte varieties.
Like this recipe? Here are more potato recipes to try
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
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Pesto Potatoes with Crispy Prosciutto and Burrata
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 side servings 1x
Description
These DELICIOUS pesto potatoes are the ultimate summer side. Perfectly cooked baby potatoes are tossed with basil pesto, creamy burrata and finished with moreish crispy prosciutto shards. Fab for garden parties, picnics, barbecues or meal prep.
Ingredients
For the pesto potatoes –
- 2lbs/1kg baby potatoes (or other waxy potato)
- 1/2 cup basil pesto
- 4 slices prosciutto
- Handful of basil leaves, torn
- 1 ball of burrata
- Salt
For the homemade pesto –
- 2 packed cups fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts (or cashews, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Cook the potatoes. Get the potatoes into a large pot along with a good pinch of salt. Cover them with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork, but still have a little bit of tension to them. You want them to be cooked, but firm. If you’re not sure, take one out of the pot and cut it in half to check if it’s cooked. Drain the potatoes, then transfer them back into the now-dry pot to cool.
- Make the crispy prosciutto. While the potatoes cook, heat your oven to 350F/180C fan and line an oven tray with baking paper. Lay the prosciutto slices onto the tray, and cook for 10 minutes until crispy. Set aside to cool (they’ll continue to crisp up during this time), then crumble them up into small shards.
- Mix the potatoes. Once the potatoes have slightly cooled, add them to a large mixing bowl with the pesto. Give the potatoes a really good mix through the pesto to make sure they’re all well-coated.
- Garnish and serve. Transfer the potatoes to a serving plate, then scatter over the crispy prosciutto. Tear small pieces off the burrata, and place them all over the top of the potatoes. Finish by scattering over the torn basil leaves, and a good sprinkling of flaky salt.
If you’re making homemade pesto –
- Add the 2 cups of basil leaves, ½ cup grated parmesan, ⅓ cup pine nuts (or alternative), 3 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and ½ teaspoon of salt to the bowl of a food processor and blitz for a minute, until it turns into a rough paste. Scrape down the sides. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil to create a lovely emulsified pesto. Done!
Notes
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: The pesto potatoes keep really well. Make them a couple of days ahead of serving them if you like, and keep them in a covered container in the fridge. They’ll last for 5 days this way. If you do prep them ahead of time, wait until you serve before adding the crispy prosciutto and burrata (the crispy prosciutto will soften if it sits in the pesto too long).
INGREDIENT NOTES: Play around with your pesto – these are also great with sundried tomato pesto, wild garlic pesto or even spicy zhoug sauce (a spicy cilantro pesto sauce). Use bacon rather than prosciutto, or leave it out for a vegetarian version. If you can’t find burrata, use a ball of fresh mozzarella, or use crumbled feta.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: salads
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: mediterranean
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 150g
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