Healthy Potluck Salad Recipes

This delicious pasta salad recipe is made with zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes, arugula and chunk light tuna, which is lower in mercury than white albacore tuna. For the best flavor, combine the pasta salad with the dressing about 1 hour before serving. If you're looking for an environmentally sustainable canned tuna option, check the label--tuna that was caught by troll or pole-and-line is considered the best choice, according to Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program. Or look for the blue Certified Sustainable Seafood label from the Marine Stewardship Council.

Tossed with a minty vinaigrette, this healthy farro and cherry salad recipe can be served as a light lunch or as a side dish along with grilled chicken, duck or pork. Look for farro--a high-fiber whole grain that is an ancestor of modern wheat--with other whole grains in well-stocked supermarkets and natural-foods stores.

In this Buffalo wings-inspired chicken salad, Greek yogurt replaces more than half of the mayonnaise. We like the flavor of Frank's RedHot hot sauce, but Sriracha and Tabasco are delicious options too. Serve this healthy chicken salad as an open-face sandwich or scoop it on top of fresh salad greens.

This loaded baked potato salad recipe marries traditional potato salad with all the fixing of a classic stuffed potato. It's creamy and decadent thanks to sour cream, mayo, bacon and Cheddar cheese. Take it along to your next picnic or potluck--friends and family will love it!

This summer salad is based on the Southern favorite, succotash, and is a fresh-tasting combination of butter beans, corn, summer squash and tomatoes. Butter beans, the same species as lima beans, are the bean of choice in the South. When they're in season you may be able to find them fresh--shell them yourself. Or use frozen butter beans, baby lima beans or even edamame.

This Thai-inspired salad makes use of the papayas that grow throughout Hawaii. This version is tossed with tender, sweet pea shoots. Make an extra batch of the vinaigrette to keep on hand in the refrigerator--use it as a marinade for vegetables, a flavorful dressing for fresh melon or as a sauce to splash over grilled fish or chicken.

Barley matches up with earthy, tender beets and the crunch of fresh celery, radishes and nuts in this beet salad recipe. Red beets turn your salad a gorgeous magenta. For a softer color, use golden or chioggia baby beets instead.

Fattoush is a popular salad in Lebanon made with mixed greens, a lemony vinaigrette and pita bread pieces. Toasting the pita adds crunch and a sprinkle of ground sumac--which grows wild all over Lebanon--adds depth. Let the salad sit for a bit to let the pita soak up the lemony dressing.

Dressed with a tangy lemon vinaigrette and fresh mint, this invigorating—and dairy-free—potato salad makes the perfect summer potluck contribution.

An easy salad to serve with grilled chicken or steak for supper or on a bed of greens for a satisfying lunch. Substitute white beans or chickpeas for the black-eyed peas if you prefer.

This healthy date, carrot and lentil salad recipe is flavored with a spiced preserved-lemon dressing. While most salads taste best when freshly assembled, lentil salads appreciate time for the flavors to marry so try to make it at least a few hours ahead if you can. Bring the salad to room temperature before serving and adjust salt if needed.

Salmon and lentils are a familiar combo in French bistro cooking; here they combine in a quick and easy salad. For the best presentation, flake the salmon with a fork, then stir gently into the salad to keep it in chunks, not tiny bits.

This whole-grain wild rice and quinoa salad recipe is perfect for toting to summer potlucks. It features sweet cherries, crunchy celery, nutty aged goat cheese and toasted pecans. If you can find red quinoa, it's particularly pretty.

Avocado, fresh chives and spinach are blended right into the creamy, bright-green dressing in this healthy edamame salad recipe. Pink beans are popular in the Caribbean, but you can substitute pinto beans or light red kidney beans if you can't find them.

Tossed with mayo, celery, hard-boiled eggs, onion and relish, this is one of the most simple and traditional potato salad recipes around. Sprinkling the still-warm potatoes with vinegar infuses them with more flavor than if you had added the vinegar to the dressing.

This salad was inspired by one served during the peak of summer at Claire's Restaurant & Bar in Hardwick. Chef Steven Obranovich of Claire's likes the soft crumbly sheep's-milk feta for this recipe. He cautions that the subtle briny notes of feta can sometimes be overpowered by too much lemon or an olive oil that's too fruity. Saltiness varies from feta to feta too. Add the ingredients a little at a time and taste as you go.

This pasta salad looks like the classic picnic side, but in one bite you'll know it's special. It holds all the incredible flavors of deviled eggs and is creamy too, thanks to mashed avocado and hard-boiled eggs. For the best texture, don't make this more than a few hours before you plan to eat it.

Asparagus and pomegranate seeds are a fun addition to this easy tabbouleh recipe. Serve this healthy whole-grain side with chicken kebabs, tzatziki and pita bread for a Middle Eastern-inspired dinner.

This Instant-Pot potato salad is one-pot cooking at its best. The potatoes and eggs cook together in the multicooker. Mustard and apple-cider vinegar lighten the potatoes nicely and add a great punch of acidity while the vegetables stay crisp and bright. Be sure to dress the potatoes when they're hot to help them best absorb the flavor of the dressing.

Traditional three-bean salad gets a healthy, fresh spin with the addition of black soybeans, snap peas and a tarragon-infused dressing. Find black soybeans near other canned beans; they're a sweeter, creamier relative of the green ones you're probably familiar with.

You don't have to be vegan to enjoy this vegan macaroni salad! The colorful array of veggies give it texture and flavor and help make it lighter than traditional pasta salads. It's perfect to bring along to your next picnic or potluck.

In 1998, we did our first story about pairing craft beer and food. We visited Dock Street Brasserie in Philadelphia, where executive chef Olivier De Saint Martin served up food, like this salad, that had more in common with Parisian bistros than brew pubs. This was one of the favorites chosen from more than 1,000 salad recipes for our 30th anniversary issue. Try it with an American pale ale.

This tabbouleh recipe with chickpeas has lots of parsley, mint, tomatoes and cucumbers. Toasting brings out the flavor in the cumin, and cinnamon adds a subtle depth to the flavors. Bring this tabbouleh recipe as a side to a party or serve as a one-dish supper for 6 instead of 8.