Vinegret
A Russian salad of boiled beetroot, potato and carrot with pickled cucumber, onion and sauerkraut in sunflower oil.
Photograph credit: Vinegret cleaned (image of Vinegret on Wikidata Q15220576) by Loyna (original image) ; processed by Off-shell · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Where This Goes Wrong
Cook the vegetables separately.
Coat the beetroot in oil first.
Squeeze the sauerkraut dry.
Chill the salad before serving.
Making Vinegret
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Boil the beetroot for 35 minutes and, in a second pan at the same time, the potatoes and carrots in their skins for 20 minutes, until each is tender. Drain and cool.
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Peel and dice all three into 1 cm pieces. Toss the beetroot with 1 tbsp of the oil.
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Mix the potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, sauerkraut and onion in a large bowl.
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Fold in the beetroot, the rest of the oil, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust.
What's Going On Here
It looks like a colourful chopped salad and eats like a pickle plate, which is the point: vinegret is a Russian salad where sweet root vegetables meet salty, sour things in a plain oil dressing. It is served all winter, when fresh vegetables are scarce.
Boil the beetroot, potatoes and carrots separately, because they cook at different speeds and the beetroot bleeds. Cool them completely, then peel and dice into pieces about 1 cm across. Dress the beetroot first. Tossing it in a spoonful of oil before it meets the other vegetables keeps the potato and carrot from turning pink.
Pickled cucumber, sauerkraut and onion add the sharp, salty element. Squeeze the sauerkraut well so the salad does not turn watery.
Sunflower oil is traditional, and it has a nutty flavour. Chill the salad for an hour before serving. Make it the day before for the best flavour, and keep a spoonful of pickle brine to hand if it needs more tang.
After You've Cooked It
Keeps in the fridge for 3 days. The colour deepens as it stands.
What to Serve Alongside
- Rye bread
- Boiled potatoes
- Smoked fish
- Pickled herring
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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