Russian · Holiday Specials · Side dish

Olivier Salad

Diced potato, carrot, egg, pickle and ham bound in mayonnaise. Known as Russian salad almost everywhere else, and the fixed centre of every Soviet-era New Year table.

50 min prep and cooking plus 3 hr chilling plus time for cooling completely, which the recipe does not time at least 3 hr 50 min start to finish Serves 8 servings Easy
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Olivier Salad

Photograph credit: Russian Olivier salad by AlMare · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Everything is cut to the same small dice, roughly the size of the peas, so no single ingredient dominates a forkful — this is the one rule that separates a good Olivier from a lumpy potato salad. The vegetables are cooked whole in their skins so they do not waterlog before dicing.

Questions About Olivier Salad

How long does Olivier Salad take to make?

30 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 3 hours of chilling, so allow 3 hours 50 minutes from start to finish. The method also needs time for cooling completely, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 8.

Olivier Salad: Step by Step

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  1. Boil the potatoes and carrots whole in their skins in salted water until just tender — 20 minutes for the carrots, 25 for the potatoes.

  2. Drain and cool them completely, ideally overnight in the fridge. Warm vegetables absorb mayonnaise and go greasy.

  3. Peel everything and cut the potatoes, carrots and eggs into a neat 8 mm dice, matching the size of the peas.

  4. Soak the diced onion in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain and pat dry — this takes the raw bite out.

  5. Squeeze the diced pickles gently to remove excess brine.

  6. Combine the potato, carrot, egg, ham, pickle, peas and onion in a large bowl.

  7. Whisk the mayonnaise, soured cream, mustard, pickle brine, salt and pepper together.

  8. Fold the dressing through gently with a spatula, keeping the dice intact.

  9. Chill at least 3 hours, then taste and adjust the salt before serving, scattered with dill.

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Tips That Matter

  • Uniform dice is the whole technique. Take the time.
  • Cool the vegetables completely before dicing and dressing.
  • It needs more salt than you expect once cold. Always taste again before serving.

Pairs Well With

Cold vodka · Rye bread and pickled herring · A New Year celebration

Keeping and Reheating

Refrigerate up to 3 days. It is better on day two. Do not freeze.

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: where a line offers a choice of foods, only one of them is counted. How the figures are worked out.

455Calories
13gProtein
22gCarbs
35gFat
4gFibre
6gSugar
1060mgSodium

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Compiled by Turab

Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.

First published ; last changed .