Description
A traditional Russian Olivier Salad featuring boiled potatoes, carrots, hard-boiled eggs, sausage, pickles, peas, and scallions, all tossed in creamy mayonnaise. Perfect as a hearty side dish or light meal, this easy-to-make potato salad balances savory flavors and creamy textures for a crowd-pleasing dish.
Ingredients
Vegetables and Eggs
- 5 medium Yukon potatoes, boiled and diced
- 3 medium carrots, boiled and diced
- 6 eggs, hard-boiled and diced (plus one sliced for garnish)
- 8 dill pickles, diced
- 3 scallions, diced
- 1 cup peas, frozen and thawed
Protein
- 2 cups sausage, diced (alternatively chopped rotisserie chicken or smoked ham, or omit for vegetarian)
Other Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups mayonnaise
- Kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- Boil the vegetables and eggs: Place the carrots, potatoes, and eggs into a large pot of cold water. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer.
- Cook the eggs: Boil the eggs for 10 minutes. Remove them carefully and place in an ice bath to cool completely. Set aside one egg for slicing rings for garnish and dice the other five.
- Cook the vegetables: Continue simmering the carrots for about 15 minutes and the potatoes for up to 25 minutes until a knife can pierce them easily. Remove the vegetables with tongs and let them cool on a tray.
- Prepare diced ingredients: While the vegetables cook, dice the sausage and pickles into small pea-sized cubes.
- Dice cooled ingredients: Once the potatoes, carrots, and eggs are fully cooled, peel and dice the potatoes and carrots into uniform, pea-sized cubes to ensure consistent texture and presentation.
- Combine the salad: In a large mixing bowl, add all diced ingredients along with peas, scallions, and mayonnaise. Gently fold everything together using a spoon. Season with kosher salt to taste.
- Garnish and serve: Slice the reserved sixth egg into disks and arrange on top of the salad along with extra scallions for garnish. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Notes
- Ensure all diced ingredients are roughly the same size for a balanced texture and appearance.
- This salad can be made vegetarian by omitting the sausage or substituting it with smoked ham or rotisserie chicken if desired.
- Chilling the salad for an hour before serving enhances the flavors.
- Use kosher salt for seasoning to control saltiness better.
- Mayonnaise can be substituted with a lighter dressing or Greek yogurt for a healthier option.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Russian
