Olivier Salad

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A favorite throughout Eastern Europe and beyond for more than 150 years, this Olivier Salad recipe, also known as Russian Salad, features the most delicious combination of flavors and textures for a winning salad that is perfect for everything from a casual picnic to an elegant dinner party!

Russian Salad

While reading Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow, I couldn’t help but be drawn in by the descriptions of the lavish dinner parties of the pre-revolution Russian aristocracy. As both an ardent foodie and a food history geek, I start to get excited when authors describe food scenes and various dishes of the eras, whether set in guilded age America, the golden age of Paris or, in this case, the era of the Russian tsars. My curiosity always leads to further exploration and research of the classic dishes from those times and settings, and this time it led me to a dish once considered a pinnacle of Russian high society gastronomy. No, it’s not borscht, beef stroganoff or chicken stroganoff (though they are fabulous). It’s something called the Olivier Salad.

What is Olivier Salad?

Dating back more than 150 years, Olivier Salad is a nostalgic dish with a long history. In its heyday you would find it served at the most prestigious restaurants and hotels in Moscow and at the center of upscale dinner parties and celebrations. In its simplest form, which is how it’s known today, it is a creamy mayonnaise-based salad of diced potatoes, vegetables, pickles, eggs and ham. But traditionally it was far more opulent. Let’s take a look at its intriguing history.

The time was the 1860’s and the setting the Hermitage restaurant in Moscow where the French chef Lucien Olivier created what would become the restaurant’s signature dish. His creation was a carefully guarded secret (competing restaurant chefs in the city would go on to attempt to replicate it and capitalize on the fame) but originally included hazel grouse (of the grouse bird family), veal tongue, caviar, crayfish tails, aspic, lettuce, potatoes, capers and olives in a creamy mayonnaise-based sauce.

The other local restaurant chefs who tried replicating Lucien Olivier’s famous Russian salad couldn’t quite get the sauce right, noting that something was missing. It was later revealed that the original sauce included something very similar to Worcestershire sauce which gave the dressing a rich and flavorful umami component. (And it’s definitely included in my recipe!)

Over time many of these ingredients either fell out of popularity, were just too expensive or became difficult to source, and so over time were replaced by more accessible substitutes. Eventually ham or chicken chicken replaced the grouse, boiled eggs replaced the crayfish, and the capers and olives were replaced by green peas and pickled cucumbers.

Olivier Salad remains a popular dish throughout much of Eastern Europe where parties and holidays are incomplete without it and where each household has a slightly different take on it. Different countries also have their own variations of the dish, for example in Croatia diced apples are commonly added, Romania often uses chopped beef, in Bulgaria salami is a popular choice, in Turkey pickled beets are commonly included, and variations in Poland often include pickled herring. It’s even popular in Iran where it’s usually made with chicken and in Spain where it’s called ensaladilla rusa (Russian salad) where it’s often made with tuna.

Olivier Salad Ingredients

As mentioned earlier, there is no “one way” to make Olivier salad. Every household and every country where it’s served has their own variation. And none of them match the original version from the 1860’s (see the discussion above about its history). But the ingredients I’m using to make my Russian salad are pretty standard for how you’ll find it served in many places along with a couple of additional touches to enhance flavor and texture as well some ingredients that usually no longer included in most recipes but that hearken back to the flavor notes of the original recipe (e.g., capers and Worcestershire sauce).

Salad Ingredients

• Potatoes – tome recipes call for starchy potatoes like Russets, but unless you want more of a mashed potato salad I strongly recommend using a firm yellow potato variety like Yukon Gold. Yellow potatoes hold their shape after cooking, making them ideal for salads like this.
• Carrots – this adds sweetness and color.
• Diced Ham – whether you’re using leftover ham or dicing up ham steaks, I love the flavor of smoked ham in this salad. Alternatively you can use chicken (rotisserie chicken is convenient and flavorful) or European bologna (which is similar in texture and flavor to mortadella), You can add any cooked, chopped chicken breast you have on hand; rotisserie chicken or a canned chicken work well. Some variations in other countries use diced beef, sausage, pickled herring or tuna. If you’re going for a vegetarian Olivier salad, omit the meat.
• Sweet Peas – you can use canned (rinse and drain), frozen (thaw and drain) or fresh (be sure to cook first).
• Hard-Boiled Eggs – these add a key creaminess and flavor.
• Onion – I like to use yellow onion for some of that mild contrasting sharpness, but you can use sweet onion if you prefer and can also reduce the amount of the added sugar in the dressing.
• Dill Pickles – these add a wonderful flavor and crunch. For the best flavor I strongly recommend using European pickles, e.g. German pickles (they’re ridiculously expensive on Amazon but you can find them at World Market and I’ve seen them in some Walmart locations that have a Euro section). They are milder and sweeter than American dill pickles but not nearly as sweet as bread and butter pickles and with a different flavor profile.
• Optional Add-Ins: Diced English cucumber for added crunch, sweet corn or yellow bell pepper for a splash of color, added texture and sweetness. Diced apple is used in some countries for added sweetness and crunch. Olives were included in the original 1860’s version for their briney flavor and can likewise be added.

Dressing Ingredients

Not to be confused with Russian dressing (an American creation popularly used on the Reuben sandwich), the dressing for Russian salad or Olivier salad is very different. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Mayonnaise – the creamy base ingredient of the dressing.
• Sour Cream – this adds a bit of tanginess to cut through the mayonnaise and adds balance and a touch of freshness. I like the texture and flavor of sour cream in this salad but you can substitute Greek yogurt if you prefer.
• Dijon Mustard – this adds a ton of flavor depth and a welcome hint of sharpness.
• Worcestershire Sauce – The earliest published recipe from 1894 in a Russian magazine said that the original recipe contained something called mogul or kabul sauce, which is similar to Worcestershire sauce. It’s a key ingredient that adds depth of flavor. Like music that’s all treble without the bass, food lacking in umami is rather bland. Worcestershire sauce provides some of that much needed bass.
• Green Onions / Scallions – these add a mild peppery flavor note and a pop up of color.
• Fresh Dill – this adds that fresh herbaceous touch. I love dill and grow lots of it every year in my garden, but I know that not everyone is a fan of it and you can substitute parsley if you prefer.
• Salt, Black Pepper and Sugar – To tie everything together.

Olivier Salad Recipe

This salad is easy to make, it just requires a good amount of chopping and dicing. To make this popular Russian potato salad you’ll follow these steps:

• Cook the diced potatoes and carrots until tender, then drain and let cool while you prepare the other ingredients.
• Prepare the dressing by stirring all of the ingredients together in a bowl until combined.
• Place all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl, pour over the dressing, and stir to thoroughly combine. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.
• This can be served as a side dish in a bowl or on a plate, or it can be served molded for a fancier presentation as a starter. So that it holds together better you may need to use slightly less mayonnaise (this all depends on the variety of potato used, how long the salad sits before serving and how much of the excess liquid the potatoes absorb, how well drained some of the ingredients were, etc). To mold the salad you can lightly spray the inside of a measuring cup or dedicated mold with oil, press the salad into the mold, then invert onto the serving plate. You can garnish it with a sprig of dill or parsley.

Make Ahead and Storage

The ingredients can all be prepped a day in advance but if you’re making this ahead of time, ideally wait until a couple of hours or so before serving to add the dressing to the salad. Leftover Olivier Salad will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.

For more delicious salad recipe from around the world try my:

• Waldorf Salad
• Maroulosalata
• Coronation Chicken
• Wurstsalat
• Chicken Salad
• Mexican Corn Salad
• German Potato Salad
• Red Herring Salad
• Fruit Chaat
• Sauerkraut Salad