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This Mimosa Salad is so satisfying. Everything is grated finely, making the texture so delicate and pleasant that it’s hard not to overeat. One of my readers, Liliana shared this recipe with me. I had never tried the mimosa salad but I was very intrigued. My words to my husband after trying it for the first time, “Where has this salad been all our lives?” We wolfed down half of the salad between the two of us in 5 minutes.
We were hungry, and it’s THAT GOOD! It’s a keeper. It’s not just a keeper, but it’s a “sharer.” You might as well just print a bunch of recipe copies so you are armed when you take this Mimosa Salad to your next party. People will ask for the recipe.
Liliana, I’m so happy you shared this with me. I’m going to make it again on Sunday for our family dinner and I’ll take copies of the recipe with me ;).
Ingredients for Mimosa Salad:
2 (5 oz) cans tuna in oil, drained
6 large hard boiled eggs* (whites and yolks separated after boiling)
2 large carrots, boiled* and peeled
1 medium or 1/2 large onion
4 medium potatoes, boiled* and peeled
1 cup mayo + 2 Tbsp mayo, divided
1/4 cup extra light olive oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Tomato or dill for garnish, optional
How to Cook Potatoes, Carrots & Eggs:
*Tip: I like to pre-cook my carrots, potatoes and eggs so there’s no waiting for them to cool down. You can even cook them 1-2 days ahead of time, let the cool to room temp then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Then it’s really easy peasy and read for quick assembly.
1. Add whole unpeeled potatoes and carrots to a medium pot and fill with water. Bring to a light boil and cook for about 30 minutes, or until knife pierces them smoothly. Don’t let them get too soft. Let cool to room temp then refrigerate. Cold veggies grate best. Peel veggies just before grating.
2. In a separate pot put eggs into cold water. Click here for a quick tutorial on perfect hard boiled eggs. Once eggs are cooled, peel and cut eggs in half separate whites from yolks.
How to Assemble Mimoza Salad:
1. Mix 1 cup mayo with 1/4 cup light olive oil and stir together until well blended and smooth. Transfer mixture to a zip-loc bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag. You will be squeezing the mayo in thin strips over the salad layers.
2. Mix drained tuna with 2 Tbsp mayo and a sprinkling of pepper. Spread tuna mixture over the bottom of a glass baking dish (9×9 square, 9×11 rectangular, or in a trifle dish). Drizzle a light layer of mayo over the tuna.
3. Finely grate the egg whites evenly over the tuna and season lightly with salt. Drizzle a light layer of mayo over the top.
4. Finely grate carrot evenly over the salad, sprinkle lightly with salt and drizzle on another thin layer of mayo.
5. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Finely chop onion and boil for 5 minutes. Drain well and rinse with cold water to cool it faster. Spread onion evenly over the salad and top with a thin layer of mayo.
6. Finely grate potatoes evenly over the salad, season with salt and pepper and drizzle on remaining mayo. Spread mayo gently and evenly over the top with a spatula.
7. Top with finely grated egg yolk along with fresh dill and tomato roses for garnish if using. Liliana even shared an easy tutorial for how to make the roses here. And the rose seemed like such a Ukrainian thing to do; I couldn’t resist! 😉
Mimosa Salad Recipe (Layered Tuna Salad)
Ingredients
- 2 5 oz cans tuna in oil, drained
- 6 large hard boiled eggs*, whites and yolks separated after boiling
- 2 large carrots, boiled* and peeled
- 1 medium or 1/2 large onion
- 4 medium potatoes, boiled* and peeled
- 1 cup mayo + 2 Tbsp mayo, divided
- 1/4 cup extra light olive oil
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- Tomato or dill for garnish, optional
Instructions
How to Cook Potatoes, Carrots & Eggs:
- Add whole unpeeled potatoes and carrots to a medium pot and fill with water. Bring to a light boil and cook for about 30 minutes, or until knife pierces them smoothly. Don’t let them get too soft. Let cool to room temp then refrigerate. Cold veggies grate best. Peel veggies just before grating.
- In a separate pot put eggs into cold water. Click here for a quick tutorial on perfect hard boiled eggs. Once eggs are cooled, peel and cut eggs in half separate whites from yolks.
How to Assemble Salad:
- Mix 1 cup mayo with 1/4 cup light olive oil and stir together until well blended and smooth. Transfer mixture to a zip-loc bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag. You will be squeezing the mayo in thin strips over the salad layers.
- Mix drained tuna with 2 Tbsp mayo and a sprinkling of pepper. Spread tuna mixture over the bottom of a glass baking dish (9x9 square, 9x11 rectangular, or in a trifle dish). Drizzle a light layer of mayo over the tuna.
- Finely grate the egg whites evenly over the tuna and season lightly with salt. Drizzle a light layer of mayo over the top.
- Finely grate carrot evenly over the salad, sprinkle lightly with salt and drizzle on another thin layer of mayo.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Finely chop onion and boil for 5 minutes. Drain well and rinse with cold water to cool it faster. Spread onion evenly over the salad and top with a thin layer of mayo.
- Finely grate potatoes evenly over the salad, season with salt and pepper and drizzle on remaining mayo. Spread mayo gently and evenly over the top with a spatula.
- Top with finely grated egg yolk along with fresh dill and tomato roses for garnish if using. Liliana even shared an easy tutorial for how to make the roses here.
Notes
Hi. Just wanted to share that it’s much easier to peel carrots ahead of time with a potato peeler, and then cook them together with unpeeled potatoes. Unlike potatoes, carrots are not going to fall apart easily, and actually taste better this way. Peeling cooked carrots was the most tedious and least favorite part of salad prep for me.
Yummy! This salad reminds me the Russian Shuba salad, delicious!
Very similar! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Mariolis!
Ive always been too afraid to make this salad and shuba.
We were pleasantly surprised how good it was and it definitely is worth the time. I’ve used the same long flat garlic grater for the whole salad and it turned out super soft/fluffy.
I am so glad you finally gave it a chance! I hope you love every recipe that you will try in the future.
No family party goes without this salad when I am in Moscow ( rare occasion nowadays , it’s been 4 years since we visited and had to cancel this year’s trip …. anyways today is Orthodox Easter and I wanted to make something Russian … my brother’s American wife told me that he is making Mimosa for them! So I got very excited and inspired to find the recipe! Of course I checked your site first and you wouldn’t believe how happy I was to see that your recipe doesn’t have Salmon ( my family always use that) but Tuna! Meaning I don’t have to go shops ! Thank you
I’m so glad Vika! Thank you so much for sharing that with us!
Very good salad especially for new year. I like to add shredded butter to it
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
What do you use to grate the egg white & yolks without them breaking up?
Hi Rikki, a portion of them will break up especially when you get to the end of the egg while grating but a good, sharp, small hole grater will help 🙂
Thank you for helping me feed my husband!
Happy to help Natalia!
Will it make a big difference if you use tuna in water vs tuna in oil?
Hi Jess, it will still work but I think tuna in oil tastes better.
Thank you for the recipe Natasha! Why do you need to boil onions? Cant you just use raw onion? thanks!
Raw onions are very overpowering both in the smell and taste in the salad, so I prefer this method. It helps to balance out the salad. I think it would work to add raw onion if you enjoy it that way but you might use a little less.
Is this like silodka pad shuboy?
Elizabeth, this is a different recipe but I have Shuba recipe as well.
I tried this salad recently at a friends house and we went back to eat more after dinner and dessert!! Lol between her and I we ate the whole 6″ plate! She made hers with canned salmon and green onions instead of regular. I made the salad tonight with canned chicken breast since that’s all I had… Hope it will be just as good! Thank you Natasha and to your hubby of course for all your hard work! May the Lord bless you!!
Lena, thank you for the great review on the recipe and blessings to you and your family 😀 .
Love all your recipes.
Thank you Dora 🙂
Awesome recipe
Thanks so much Lisa! 🙂
Hi Natasha! What is the name of this glass bowl. I can’t seem to find one similar to it
It is called a Trifle dish. Mine doesn’t have a brand name on it, but I found it at TJ Max. I’ve seen them at Fred Meyer as well.
Natasha can u make this salad the night before or it has to be done of when you are serving it?
Liliya, you can make this salad the night before, it will taste just as good :).
Love that with each recipe, you provide a picture tutorial!
Looks delicious, thank you!
Thanks Lexi. 🙂 It’s definitely more work to post a recipe that way and takes long for us, but I’m so glad it’s helpful 🙂
Would hellmanns squeezable bottle mayo work?
You’ll still probably get too much mayo at a time. You want thin strips. It’s really very fast to do it in a ziploc bag.
Made your Mimosa salad for the baby shower last Saturday – it was a hit!! Got eaten before any other salad, people asked for recipe. And I thought it’s well known! Thanks so much for posting it! Btw, I made the rise according to the tutorial out of a large tomato and it turned out so beautiful! My kids didn’t believe me it was made out of tomato lol! I posted it to Instagram and linked to you!
I’m so happy to hear it was a success! 🙂 I bet it was really pretty cut out of a large tomato! That’s sweet that your kiddos were impressed too! 🙂 What is your instagram screen name. I don’t want to miss it! 🙂
Hi Natasha:) this looks amazing can I use fresh onions instead boiled? I don’t like boiled onions. Or without onions do you think it will taste the same way?
I think it would still taste good without the onions. Boiling them gets rid of some of that crunch for a more even texture.
Hi can I use pink salmon in water
Other readers have said that salmon works well, I just haven’t tried it myself.