Oliver salad or Russian salad was invented by the Belgian chef Lucien Olivier back in the 1860s, during his tenure at the Hermitage, a restaurant in Moscow. To give him credit, it was originally called Oliver salad.

Over the years, this creamy salad gained popularity not only in Russia but across the rest of the Soviet Union & Europe. Today, throughout the world, this salad is known as Russian Salad. Today’s popular version of this salad is made with diced boiled potatoes, in addition to different vegetables like carrots, peas, green beans, celery and others. The addition of dill pickles, chopped boiled eggs, diced boiled chicken, bologna sauce or any other cold meat is also common.

The preparation of this salad is very simple, however, it requires some extra time, because vegetables need to be cooked and cooled before chopping and mayonnaise needs to be made beforehand.

Russian salad is ideal for Christmas to accompany cold meats.

Ingredients :

• 3 ½ pounds of red potatoes


• 1 pound of carrots (finely chopped)


• 1 cup peas


• 1 cup celery (finely chopped)


• 1 cup onions (finely chopped)


• 4 boiled eggs (finely chopped)


• 1 garlic clove (finely chopped)


• 1 cup of mayonnaise


• 2 tbsp chopped dill


• Juice of 1-2 lemons


• Salt and pepper to taste

Cooks In : 50 min

Difficulty : Easy

Preparation Method :

1. Remove the potato skin and dice them into large chunks. Then add them to a large stockpot and cover with generously salted cold water, and cook until the potatoes are tender. Drain the potatoes in a colander.
2. Boil the carrots, green beans, and green peas until tender, drain in a colander and reserve.
3. In a bowl add the mayonnaise, chopped garlic, lemon juice and mix well.
4. Once the potatoes and vegetables have cooled down, add the rest of the ingredients and toss gently until evenly combined, adding the mayonnaise, salt and pepper.
5. Sprinkle dill on top.
6. Serve chilled.

Tips :

For this salad, homemade mayonnaise can be used. You can replace mayonnaise with sour cream or hung and thickened curds to make it healthier. Allow all the cooked ingredients to cool down before you combine them. Feel free to add any meat version. This recipe is ideal for leftover roast lunches where you have an excess of meat, potato and peas at the end of the meal. Potato salad can be made 1-2 days ahead of time. Leftover potato salad that has been kept properly chilled will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Red potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes and other waxy potatoes will work also well for this salad. These potatoes hold their shape when cooked and keep their firm texture.