Olivier Salad Recipe (Russian Potato Salad) (2024)

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.