This Olivier Salad (Russian Potato Salad) recipe is such a unique recipe. It’s a traditional dish in Russian cuisine and is served in most restaurants and at parties. This salad is also well known as the Russian Salad or Olivye in the Ukrainian community.
Other traditional Russian/Ukrainian recipes to try are the hearty borscht and meat pelmeni.
What is Olivier Salad?
Sharing the recipe for the traditional Russian potato salad, also known as Olivier Salad (Olivye) and referred to as Russian salad in our times.
Olivier Salad usually has peas, potatoes, carrots, onions, meat, pickles, and eggs all mixed with mayo. The meat used is either bologna, chicken, or ham.
The potatoes, eggs, and carrots are cooked by boiling the skin in water and then peeled.
Perfect cubes: Use this SLICERto get the perfect-sized even pieces every time.
When to serve Olivier Salad (Olivye)?
Olivier salad is popular around the traditional New Year’s, Christmas, and Easter holidays.
It is also a salad served at most parties and family get-togethers in the Russian/Ukraine communities. Those of us who live in the United States and are slowly adjusting to more Americanized food don’t serve this salad as often as our parents did, but still considered a treat for parties.
This salad will keep well for days in the refrigerator. Mix everything and add the mayo at once, or add mayo to the salad fresh when serving.
Tips to make Russian Potato Salad
Cooking the vegetables.
Cook the potatoes and carrots together. Check the readiness of the potatoes and carrots with a knife; it should pierce through the center easily. Cooking them the night before is a great idea; once cooked, refrigerate (skin on).
NOTE: The secret to the BEST olivye is allowing the cubed pickles to drain overnight in a sieveor squeezing out all the juices if in a hurry (add the pickles to a few paper towels and squeeze). This way, the juices from the pickles don’t overpower the flavors of the remaining ingredients and add sogginess to the salad.
What meat can I use?
You can use cooked chicken, ham, or bologna for the recipe. If purchasing bologna in the deli department, ask for low-sodium bologna. It makes a huge difference. You can also ask them to cut the slices thicker so they are cubed evenly.
A twist on Olivye Salad:
I like to add new twists to traditional recipes. My biggest favorite addition I added to this salad is fresh cucumbers and using fresh peas instead of canned (fresh frozen peas, thawed). The crunchiness of the fresh cucumbers gives it so much flavor. The canned peas are so soggy and taste mushy using fresh peas takes the salad to a new level. You’ll never want to go back to canned peas again.
Our tradition with Olivier Salad:
So we have this tradition with Olivier Salad (Olivye salat) my mom started. If we serve Olivye, we must also serve stuffed cabbage rolls.
Other Traditional Russian Recipes to Try:
- Dill Pickle Soup– A unique soup with pickles as the main ingredients.
- Russian Bread– So easy to make with wonderful results.
- Potato Pierogi Recipe– Cheesy onion potato-filled pierogi.
Olivier Salad Recipe (Russian Potato Salad)
Author: Valentina
4.94 from 16 votes
This Olivier Salad (Russian Potato Salad) recipe is a traditional dish in the Russian cuisine and served in most restaurants and parties. This salad is commonly known as the Russian salad and Olivye in the Ukrainian community.
Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour
Servings: 10 servings
Ingredients
- 3 potatoes, cooked and cubed
- 3 carrots, cooked and cubed
- 6 eggs, cooked and cubed
- 3/4 lb meat, cubed
- 3 dill pickles, cubed
- 1 sweet onion, cubed
- 1 cup frozen fresh peas
- 1/2 english cucumber (2 small cuces), cubed
- 1 cup mayo
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tsp sugar, optional
- dill to taste
US Customary – Metric
Instructions
In a large pot, add potatoes and carrots. Cover completely with water. Bring to a boil and cook about 20-25 minutes or until a knife pierces through easily. (Don’t overcook. Remove carrots and potatoes from water, set aside to cool).
In a small pot, add eggs, covereggs will water and bring to a boil cook. Cook eggs 8-10 minutes.
Cube all of the ingredients.
Combine everything, mix. Add mayo to taste. You may need a little more than 1 cup, depending on sizes of your ingredients.
Season with salt,pepper and sugar. Add freshdill,mix.
Nutrition
301kcal Calories15g Carbs13g Protein20g Fat3g Saturated Fat129mg Cholesterol412mg Sodium604mg Potassium3g Fiber4g Sugar3385IU Vitamin A16.7mg Vitamin C64mg Calcium3.2mg Iron
- Full Nutrition Label
Nutrition Facts
Olivier Salad Recipe (Russian Potato Salad)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 301Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Fat 20g31%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Cholesterol 129mg43%
Sodium 412mg18%
Potassium 604mg17%
Carbohydrates 15g5%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 13g26%
Vitamin A 3385IU68%
Vitamin C 16.7mg20%
Calcium 64mg6%
Iron 3.2mg18%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
(The nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Russian
Did you make this recipe?
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Leave a comment
88 comments
- Ray Ellis
Can you add chopped celery to this recipe.
- Reply
- Valentina’s Corner
You sure can, Ray. I hope you love the recipe.
- Reply
- Zach Wheat
This is one of my favorite dishes of all time and I get sad if I go too long without eating it. From all the comments I can guess I’m not the only one. The first time I had this was in Los Angeles at a Persian resturant with a coworker from Iran and have ate it at every Persian restaurant since. I didn’t know it was Russian until I lived in Israel with a Ukranian roomate and dated a Russian girl. I reccomend Persian cucumbers if you can find them because they are small and add so much more crunch.
- Reply
- Valentina’s Corner
Thanks for the Persian cucumber tip, I’ll have to try that. And this salad is a favorite of mine as well, especially during the Holidays
- Reply
- Anne Talovich
Don’t mean to be a jerk but is there a way to do this without pork?
- Reply
- Valentina’s Corner
You can leave out the meat entirely or substitute for cooked chicken.
- Reply
- Kelli
We used 1/2 sour cream and 1/2 mayonnaise like I have seen our Ukrainian friends do and this salad was perfect. I only ha e dried dill weed at this time of the year so we used an ample amount of it. I left out the cucumbers because my husband dislikes them. We very much enjoyed your recipe and we will make it again and again.
- Reply
- Valentina’s Corner
I love the combination of sour cream and mayo, that’s give the salad a lighter taste. Thank so much for trying our classic olivier salad recipe.
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- Nikki
How much salt and pepper do you exactly put in this recipe?
- Reply
- Valentina’s Corner
Nikki, I’d say about one teaspoon of salt and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. (You can start with 1/2 tsp of salt, mix it in and see if you need that extra 1/2 teaspoon.)
- Reply
- Jack
Cucumber instead of Dill Pickles? WTF? No Go!!!
- Reply
- Valentina’s Corner
Hi, Jack. We don’t do it instead of dill pickles, we have dill pickles as that’s a must. We just love the fresh crunch of the added cucumbers in the salad. 🙂
- Reply
- Lessa
Felt the need to reply to “Jack”… the recipe clearly lists dill pickles and cucumbers, which is exactly how Russians have always made this. Please read the recipe before making a rude commend. Thank you Valentina!
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