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My husband makes this version of the famous olivye salad. The chives and dill add a nice element of freshness. The great thing about Russian and Ukrainian cooking – there is no one right way to make any recipe. Each family has their own version which get passed down through generations.
This olivye recipe really is the best I’ve tried. It takes some time to dice everything, but in the end you get the best potato salad that lasts almost a week in the fridge.
Ingredients for Olivye (potato salad):
1 pound of ham
3 medium potatoes
4 medium carrots.
1 (15 oz) can sweet peas, drained or 2 cups of thawed frozen peas
5 boiled eggs
5 medium-large pickles (I use Vlasic)
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
3/4 cup to 1 cup mayo (to taste)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
How to Make Olivye Potato Salad:
1. In the same pot, boil whole unpeeled potatoes and carrots for about 30 minutes, or until knife pierces them smoothly. Don’t let them get too soft.
2. In a separate pot put eggs in salted cold water. Bring to a boil, turn it off and leave it on the same burner with the lid on for 15 minutes (Remember this; it’s how to make the perfect hard-boiled eggs!!) Cool them down in cold water.
3. Remove the vegetables and eggs from boiling water and allow them to cool to room temperature prior to chopping. Skin the boiled potatoes and carrots with a small knife. It’s easier to skin the carrots if you make a slit down the length of the carrot and skin in a circle around the carrot. (One of the readers suggested alternative method for cooking carrots and potatoes. She said to try dicing raw carrots and potatoes then boiling them together about 12 min in unsalted water. Rinse with cold water and drain well on paper towels. Easy and consistent results!)
4. Chop ham, potatoes, carrots, pickles and eggs into equal size dice (pea size). The Vidalia Chop Wizard
5. Mix together potatoes, carrots, pickles, eggs, green onion, dill and mayo. Add more mayo, Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Fold in the peas last so they aren’t crushed.
If you prefer more onion, pickles, or anything else; add more. Its easy to modify this recipe!
Enjoy!! If you make olivye, let me know what is unique about your salad.
Olivye - Ukrainian Potato Salad - Olivier
Ingredients
- 1 lb ham
- 3 medium potatoes
- 4 medium carrots
- 15 oz peas, drained
- 5 boiled eggs
- 5 pickles, (medium-large) I use Vlasic brand
- 1/3 cup green onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup dill, chopped
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise, or to taste
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In the same pot, boil whole unpeeled potatoes and carrots for about 30 minutes, or until knife pierces them smoothly. Don't let them get too soft.
- In a separate pot put eggs in salted cold water. Bring to a boil, turn it off and leave it on the same burner with the lid on for 15 minutes. Cool them down in cold water.
- Remove the vegetables and eggs from boiling water and allow them to cool to room temperature prior to chopping.
- Skin the boiled potatoes and carrots with a small knife. It's easier to skin the carrots if you make a slit down the length of the carrot and skin in a circle around the carrot.
- Chop ham, potatoes, carrots, pickles and eggs into equal size dice (pea size).
- Mix together potatoes, carrots, pickles, eggs, green onion, dill and mayo. Add more mayo, Salt and pepper to taste.
- Fold in the peas last so they aren't crushed. If you prefer more onion, pickles, or anything else; add more. Its easy to modify this recipe!
Enjoy!!
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
My 4 Ukrainian daughters and one Polish husband just scarfed this down. I don’t care for any of the ingredients so I couldn’t taste test it as I went along. I followed the recipe (doubling it) and all 5 say it’s perfect. We have plenty left over for the next couple of days. It was labor intensive, took me way longer than it says- but next time I’ll peel the potatoes and carrots prior to cooking to save time.
I’m happy they enjoyed that recipe, Brooke!
I had heard of the salad but never had it; I found your recipe last year for New Year’s Day and used it and my mom especially LOVED it. I just left out the ham because I’m vegetarian, and it was still delicious. I will make it for New Year’s again this year. Thank you for sharing!
You’re so welcome Kristen! We do have a chicken version here also. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Love this recipe! It takes a little time, but is so easy and rewarding. My parents go crazy for this salad, and it’s always even better the next day!
I’m glad to hear the recipe is such a hit! Thanks for sharing your excellent review!
I like to put sweet piccalilli and diced edam cheese in mine.
Yum, that sounds delish!
I want to make this recipe, and replace the potatoes with cauliflower, to reduce the carbs. Any suggestions before I begin?
Hi Dave, I have not tested that to advise but one of my readers, Lucy, mentioned she uses turnips or cauliflower instead of the potatoes.
Natasha, do you have suggestions as to how to boil potatoes for a salad.? What is your choice of potato?
Best, Elena
PS Thank you for a wonderful site, it is my go-to resource for dishes I miss from childhood. And more.
Elena, thank you for the compliment 😬. I have the steps how to cook potatoes in the recipe. I would avoid yellow potatoes or the ones that have very little starch.
Made this today for my husband and our nephew before he returns to Ukraine this week. They both thouroughly approved. As a non-Ukrainian in a family where everyone is still living in Ukraine I appreciate your recipes so much when they visit. Even my mother in law liked my honey prune cake last year.
You’re welcome! I’m glad I can help and that everyone is enjoying the recipes! Thanks for following and sharing your wonderful review!
I was expecting/hoping you would use kielbasa, like you mentioned in your recipe version with chicken.
I was born in Cuba, when the Castro Revolution started I was about 3 or 4 years old, the city we lived in was surrounded and nothing came in nor went out for two years. I used to be a finiki eater until my late 20’s I tried traditional German cusine, then in my late 30’s I was introduced to traditional Japanese Cusine starting with Sushi and Sashimi, then traditional Chinese, what cant I tell you. Now I’m open to at least try, and it’s a good chance I will like it.
This Potatoe Salad sounds awesome, yet something tells me with Kielbasa would be absolutely the best.
Hi Clara, you can use a variety of meats – kielbasa, chicken, ham. We like to change it up and sometimes are just using what we have on hand 🙂
Hi. I tried this and it was perfect! Loved it. One question though, why peel the potatoes and carrot after boiling and not before?
Hi Draya, it helps to keep the nutrients in (or so I hear), as well as the flavor and it seems to absorb less water while cooking.
I just made this and took a picture to show you but can’t post it I see. The only changes I made was to double the amount of potatoes (so the Irish in me was satisfied 😂), and used Miracle Whip since I’m out of regular mayonnaise right now. Kept everything else the same. It’s delicious right now and the flavors haven’t even married yet!! Thank you, thank you! Being mostly Bavarian German, I adore all East European recipes! Yum!! But being married to an Hispanic, spent most of my life cooking Mexican 😂!!
I’m glad you enjoy the recipe Jan! If you are on Facebook, I would love it if you joined our private Facebook group where you can share your yummy photos!!
The Estonian version of the potato salad consists of potatoes, ham or sausage, cucumber, eggs, pickles (salty or marinated but not sour), canned peas, apple and onion. Apple and cucumber make the salad taste really fresh. Carrots are optional, I prefer to leave them out. For sauce, it’s a combination of mayo, sour cream or light Greek yoghurt and – my secret ingredient – kefir. Kefir is particularly great when working with starchy potatoes. Seasoned with salt, pepper and dried dill.
Sounds delicous Karin! Thanks for sharing your suggestions!
I can’t wait to try out this recipe, it looks really tasty! What type of pickles do you use for this? The sweet gherkin kind, or more sour like dill pickles?
Steph I use sour dill pickles that I but at Costco. Let me know how it turns out 😬
I love this salad! I made it a few times when we lived in Odessa. Thanks for sharing!
That’s great Karen! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi, Natasha! Do you mean “pea size” is bigger holes or smaller one? Thank you.
I use the smaller dicing holes on the chopper to achieve pea-sized pieces 🙂
Would you recommend using Oscar Meyer Bologna instead of ham? Or does it even matter? Totally looking forward to making this.
I think ham would probably taste a little better, but you can use that if you prefer it. Enjoy!
I took your advice. The ham tasted great with it. Plus my Russian students loved your recipe. Thanks again.
Thank you for posting! We made this when we were visiting some friends in Ukraine and I remember loving this salad. I still remember chopping up all the ingredients into “uniform pieces” to keep the traditional style. Delicious!
Jessie, you are very welcome and I’m glad it brings back memories from Ukraine 😁.
We love this recipe! My husband is Russian and ever since I made this salad the first time, it’s a staple in our home. We make it every week! We just tried the vinaigrette recipe and we loved it as well, so I guess we will be alternating between them.
Thank you Natasha
I’m so happy to hear that!! This olivye salad is one that we make often as well and it gets eaten up quickly, especially while we are living with my parents because they love it too!
I love this Olivye recipe! It reminds me of the one my grandpa used to make. Every time I make it, it’s a hit with everyone who tries it (I’ve made it a few times now). The only thing I do add to it, is a few drops of yellow mustard and it’s so delish!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it. I love your idea of adding yellow mustard! Brilliant!
Love this recipe as well. Made it countless times and tweaked my family recipe as well! Thank you!
Thank you Ksenia! I hope you try the chicken olivye sometime. I hope you LOVE that one too! 😉
Wow looks really way good Natasha am wondering if it would work with leftover chicken since I can’t eat ham because of Jewish dietary laws with the can of peas do I drain the juice and reserve some or drain it all love the different colors in the salad
Yes, I have just the recipe for you ?. Click here.
Saw the other olivye salad mmmm chicken and potatoes what could be better lmao this is on my list to try awesome thanx hunbun
Hi Natasha, my husband and I visited Russia 6 times while in the process of adopting our two beautiful Russian children, a daughter and a son. We loved the food there. Your recipes have been a go to for a lot of the Russian recipes we like to use for our family events to celebrate Russian holidays.
I made the Olivye Salad (my husband said it was the best he has ever tasted) Borscht, Chebureki and Syrniki. All was a big hit. The kids just love Chebureki. !!!
Awww that’s so awesome! thank you so much for the awesome review 🙂