Russian Salad, also known as Olivier Salad, is a creamy and delicious dish enjoyed around the world, especially during celebrations and gatherings. It originated in Russia in the 1860s, created by the French chef Lucien Olivier, and has since become a staple in many cuisines, including Turkish, Middle Eastern, and European kitchens.
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Made with boiled potatoes, carrots, peas, pickles, and mayonnaise, this salad has a perfect balance of creaminess and crunch. While the original version contained gourmet ingredients like caviar and game meats, today’s popular recipe is simple, affordable, and incredibly satisfying.
Whether you’re preparing it for a family meal, a holiday table, or as a side dish for grilled meats, this easy Russian Salad is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser!
Russian Salad is also great to serve at BBQ parties, the perfect side dish to Air Fryer Sausage, or as a filling for delicious Turkish street food Kumpir - Turkish Baked Potato.
Why This Recipe Works?
- Easy to Make – Requires only a few simple ingredients.
- Creamy & Flavorful – A perfect combination of textures and flavors.
- Great for Any Occasion – Perfect for BBQs, holiday meals, or sandwiches.
- Customizable – Add eggs, ham, or apples to suit your taste.
Ingredients You'll Need
Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.
- Potatoes - You can use any type of potatoes you would use for your regular Potato Salad recipes. Some recipes recall boiling the whole potato and dicing it after it is cooked. I prefer dicing them before cooking, saves me time and they keep their shape better.
- Carrots
- Cornichons, sweet pickles, or dill pickles
- Peas - I prefer frozen peas but you can use fresh peas (cooked until soft) or canned peas.
- Sweetcorn - Optional, I like the texture, color, and sweetness they add to this colorful salad.
- Fresh herbs - fresh dill and flat-leaf parsley are my favorite herbs for this Russian salad.
- Mayonnaise - Homemade mayonnaise provides the best flavor. However, you can use a high-quality good mayonnaise for the dressing with an addition of a teaspoon of mustard!
How to Make Russian Olivier Salad?
This recipe is very easy to make with a few ingredients you might already have in hand. However, you need to follow a few simple steps - tips to achieve the best results:
Prepare the Vegetables
Peel and dice the carrots, place them in a saucepan filled with cold water, and bring them to a boil on medium heat.
Let the carrots cook for 10 minutes while preparing the potatoes. Peel and dice the potatoes and then add them to the pan with half-cooked carrots.
Cook the potatoes and carrots together for another 10 minutes while preparing/chopping the rest of the ingredients.
Chop the cornichons into small cubes and finely chop the herbs while the potatoes and carrots are cooking, set them aside.
When the potatoes and carrots are almost cooked, add the frozen peas and sweetcorn to the pan, and cook them together for a few more minutes. You can check the doneness of the vegetables with a small knife.
Drain the cooked vegetables, place them on a colander, and let them cool down before building your salad.
Combine and Serve
When the vegetables are cooled down, place them in a large bowl and then add mayonnaise, salt, paprika, and black pepper along with the chopped dill and parsley.
Give it a good stir and transfer it to a serving bowl. Refrigerate your salad for at least half an hour before garnishing it with some fresh herbs and serving.
Top Tips From the Chef
- If you have the time, cook the vegetables a couple of hours or a day ahead to give them enough time to cool to room temperature.
- Add some mustard to your Russian potato salad if using store-bought mayonnaise instead of homemade!
- Decorate your salad with hard-boiled eggs, black olives, and/or slices of cooked beetroot for an impressive presentation for your special gatherings.
- This recipe yields 6 portions as a side dish. You can half the recipe as well as double or triple it by using the buttons on the recipe card.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving for the best flavor.
How to Serve Russian Salad?
Russian Salad (Salad Olivier) is perfect on its own with a piece of Bazlama (Turkish Flatbread).
You can also serve this versatile salad as a side dish with a variety of accompaniments.
Here are a few suggestions for what to serve with Russian salad:
Air Fryer Sausage, Lahana Sarmasi - Turkish Cabbage Rolls, Shish Tawook (Turkish Chicken Kebab), Oven Roasted Turkey with Gravy, or Baked Turkish Meatballs.
Recipe Variations
Russian Salad is a versatile dish with various regional and cultural preparations.
In Turkey, the Russian Salad is known as "Rus salatası" or "American salad". It consists of diced and boiled carrots and potatoes, diced cucumber pickles, boiled sweet peas, and mayonnaise.
In Spain, it is known as Ensaladilla Rusa, and it is typically made with boiled potatoes, carrots, and peas, mixed with mayonnaise, tuna, and olives.
The Italian version is called Insalata Russa, and it is usually made with boiled vegetables, such as carrots, peas, and potatoes, mixed with mayonnaise, and sometimes with tuna or ham.
In Pakistan, Russian Salad is known as Chicken and Vegetable Salad, and it is typically made with boiled chicken, mixed with boiled vegetables, such as potatoes, peas, and carrots, and mayonnaise
Recipe FAQs
The leftovers of Russian Salad would be kept for up to three days when refrigerated in an airtight container. This can go up to five days if you use store-bought mayonnaise!
I don't recommend freezing this salad.
Traditionally, Russian Salad is made with potatoes, carrots, cornichons, canned peas, celeriac, onions, apples, boiled eggs, mayonnaise, ham or chicken, dill, mustard, salt, and pepper. You can add any of these vegetables/ ingredients to your salad and adjust the amounts to your taste.
Yes, you can prepare your vegetables up to three days ahead. When ready to serve, mix the vegetables with freshly cut herbs and mayonnaise last minute.
Related Recipes
For more colorful and delicious salad recipes why not try:
Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.
I hope you enjoy the process of making this colorful and creamy Russian Potato Salad - Olivier Salad as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!
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Russian Salad (Olivier Salad)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 300 g potatoes (cut in small cubes)
- 200 g carrots (cut in small cubes)
- 100 g frozen or fresh peas
- 100 g sweetcorn (optional)
- 50 g cornichons (cut in small cubes)
- 2 tablespoon fresh dill (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley (finely chopped)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 200 g mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon mustard (optional)
Instructions
- Peel and dice the carrots, place them in a saucepan filled with cold water and bring it to a boil on medium heat.
- Let the carrots cook for 10 minutes while preparing the potatoes.
- Peel and dice the potatoes and then add them to the pan with half-cooked carrots.
- Cook the potatoes and carrots together for another 10 minutes while preparing/chopping the rest of the ingredients.
- Chop the cornichons into small cubes and finely chop the herbs while the potatoes and carrots are cooking, set them aside.
- When the potatoes and carrots are almost cooked, add the frozen peas and sweetcorn to the pan, and cook them together for a few more minutes. You can check the doneness of the vegetables with a small knife.
- Drain the vegetables, place them on a colander, and let them cool down before building your salad.
- When the vegetables are cooled down, place them in a large bowl and then add mayonnaise, salt, paprika, and black pepper along with the chopped dill and parsley.
- Give it a good stir and transfer it to a serving plate.
- Refrigerate your salad for at least half an hour before garnishing with some fresh herbs and serving.
Notes
- If you have the time, cook the vegetables a couple of hours or a day ahead to give them enough time to cool to room temperature.
- Add some mustard to your Russian potato salad if using store-bought mayonnaise instead of homemade!
- You can check the doneness of the vegetables with a small knife.
- Refrigerate your salad for at least half an hour before garnishing with some fresh herbs and serving.
- This recipe yields 6 portions as a side dish. You can half the recipe as well as double or triple it by using the buttons on the recipe card.
- The leftovers of Russian Salad would keep for up to three days when refrigerated in an airtight container.
- Decorate your salad with hard-boiled eggs, black olives, and/or slices of cooked beetroot for an impressive presentation for your special gatherings.
Vilma
Great recipe! So easy and so tasty. Will be making this again and again!
Zara
I loved all the different color and flavor combination in this salad!