Russian Salad (Olivier)
February 22nd, 2009 in Salads by Julia Volhina
Total cooking time: 2h

Usually people outside of former-USSR call it Russian Salad, however its original name is Salad Olivier.
This salad was and maybe still is the most traditional dish for the home New Year celebration for Russian people, and some other family holidays also. Hope you will like it too.
Different cooks may use slightly different ingredients in the salad, and the taste will vary because of this.
This recipe describes Salad Olivier how it us being prepared in my family.
Ingredients:
- 1lb of bologna
- 1 can (15 oz) of sweet peas
- 3 medium size potatoes
- 4-5 medium size carrots
- 5-6 eggs
- 1 bunch of green onions
- 1 bunch of fresh dill
- 5-6 medium size cucumbers (pickled with salt not with vinegar, that is important
- Ground black pepper
- Salt by taste
- Mayonnaise by taste
How to make, step by step:
- Boil carrots and potatoes in advance and make sure they cool till room temperature when you start making the salad. Prepare hard boiled eggs in advance, let them to cool down to room temperature as well. Wash green onions and dill.
Russian Salad (Olivier) Recipe: Step 1 -
Skin boiled potatoes and dice them into small cubes like it is shown on the photo below:
Russian Salad (Olivier) Recipe: Step 2 -
Skin boiled carrots and dice them into the cubes of the same size you diced potatoes into:
Russian Salad (Olivier) Recipe: Step 3 -
Put diced carrots and potatoes into big bowl:
Russian Salad (Olivier) Recipe: Step 4 -
Open can with peas and remove liquid, add to the bowl:
Russian Salad (Olivier) Recipe: Step 5 -
Peel eggs and dice them into the same size pieces as carrots and potatoes. Add the to the bowl:
Russian Salad (Olivier) Recipe: Step 6 -
Dice bologna, add to the bowl:
Russian Salad (Olivier) Recipe: Step 7 -
Dice pickled cucumbers. It is important to take cucumbers pickled with salt not with vinegar:
Russian Salad (Olivier) Recipe: Step 8 -
Chop green onions and dill, add to the bowl:
Russian Salad (Olivier) Recipe: Step 9 -
Mix everything, season with ground black pepper and add salt if you feel it is needed. Add mayonnaise and mix everything again. Put salad to the bowl you want to serve it in. Your Russian Salad Olivier is ready to be served!
Russian Salad (Olivier)
I miss checking on your website for some time now. But I must say you present the dishes in the easiest way possible. I have taught my students a couple of recipes from your site.
I just want to say thank you for the good work and please keep giving us more great recipes.
Thank you! I am trying, although I am almost out of recipes I cook day to day… 🙁
hi. i was introduced to this delicious salad in a Guatemalan restaurant here in Houston,TX. i tried a recipe last night but it not very delicious like the one i tasted before. i didn’t add apples either. my basic ingredients were peas, carrots, potatoes, celery and mayonnaise. my concern is, the mayo that i used is the Mexican version that already has lime in it. it is quite tasty but i believe that’s where my mistake was. also, i have eaten it with green beans or french beans instead of peas.
Oh I had plenty of Russian Salad growing up in Paris in the 50s!! I don’t think we had a lot of carrots in it but it had CAPERS!! And I make it with capers always. Capers are also in the original Chef Olivier composition, that’s what makes that special taste. I do make it now with carrots, peas and salted cucumbers (to remove the excess liquid) and eggs of course. And capers. My version is vegetarian. I think the original ahd grouse and some shellfish of some kind (or crawfish or crab), not sure. Either way this is a… Read more »
Thanks for this recipe. We had it for our New Year’s Eve and it was a big hit with everyone, including the boys. The salted gherkins take a bit of seeking out, but eventually found some in our supermarket – tinned and from Israel. They have a wonderful sharp taste and I could eat them all day.
Yes, for me salted cucumbers are the must for this recipe. Even if I substitute with marinated the taste isn’t right, again, for me. But for some ppl even fresh ones are ok.
Hi, thanks for all your excellent recipes. I’m from Bulgaria and we also make this salad for new year’s eve and it is called Russian salad. In my family it is made with pickled, not boiled carrots and the Bulgarian version is without dill, onions or apples. We also use a drier sausage, but I’ve made it meatless and it’s still great. I made it for a Christmass party in England and it became an instant hit – people at work keep asking me to make it for parties. We also use it to make a ‘salty’ cake – with… Read more »