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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
I use a bag of frozen peas and carrots. The diced carrots are the perfect size and no chopping. Also, I use a combination of mayo, sour cream and miracle whip.
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing that with us. Thanks for the review!
I made this for the first time today. I added more pickles because I love pickles. And it’s amazing! So quick and easy! It’s hard to mess this recipe up. I will be making it again
That’s awesome! Great to hear that you loved this recipe a lot, Emma. Thanks for sharing.
I just made this recipe without onion for a church lunch! Everyone is asking for the recipe! Since there are young children, I decided to skip the onion and it is still fabulous. I precooked and chopped and mixed together dry ingredients except dill Saturday, and then added the dill, some salt and pepper and mixed in mayo Sunday morning. One tip I can add is to speed up the pickles draining process, I drained while boiling the potatoes and carrots, and then just cut off the seedy wet part (and ate it with lunch on Saturday)!
I’m so glad it was a hit at your church lunch, Lesia! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Hi Natasha,
I just wanted to comment and let you know of all the Russian/Ukrainian/Slavic recipe websites online, I consistently return to yours. Your recipes result in food that tastes most like what I grew up eating. I was looking at an olivier salad recipe that called for added vinegar, and get this – an orange. I said to myself “I need to see Natasha’s recipe.” Lo and behold, this is exactly what I was looking for! My only changes will be to use chicken instead of ham, and to use a 50:50 mix of sour cream and mayonnaise. I also see a lot of recipes add apples, but my brother is allergic, so it’s been a long time since I’ve had olivier salad with apples. Love this recipe and all of the ones on your website. I might make Uzbek plov soon too 😀
Thank you, Sasha! So glad you love my recipes.
This is a Pascha (Easter) staple in our house! I also like to make it for Nativity… and Dormition… just about every feast that comes at the end of a fasting period. 🙂 Some of the Russian ladies at my church will make it with onions, or mix up the ingredients in some other way, but this remains hands down the best version I’ve ever tasted.
Thank you, we appreciate your good comments!
I am making this as a side dish for some Ukrainian fundraisers I am organizing. There seems to be a shortage of fresh dill in England currently though. What should I use as a substitute?
Parsley works well as an alternative.
Thank you so much. I’ll keep looking for dill though for the taste. I’m really excited about my Ukrainian menu and raising money to help Ukraine in a small but delicious way!
My husband is ukrainian and I have now made this recipe multiple times and it is excellent. Exactly what my husband ate back home. I use kolbassa instead of ham usually but ham is perfect too.
Thank you so much
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Paige! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
The peas must be from a can…is there a brand that isn’t mushy? Would frozen (thawed to use) be ok? Better?
Hi Lee, this recipe used frozen (thawed) peas.
Another type of meat slicer is the drum slicer. These appliances will be perfect for cooks who like to take large pieces of meat and use them as the main ingredient in another dish. In fact, some people even choose to leave out the bones when making a drum slicer.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I love this salad! I am of Eastern European roots but do not have much experience with the cuisine. If I remember correctly, the first time I had this salad was when I bought some at a local Mediterranean market made with chicken and I absolutely fell in love with it! I thought it was a Persian food! I would be very interested to know your opinion on the various brands of mayonnaise. I am obsessed with mayo, I enjoy it more than I should! Thank you for all your fantastic recipes!
Hi Lois, we equally love Best Foods and Hellman’s brands. Also, we use the Kirkland brand from Costco. We do love Real Mayo the most, versus lighter versions.
This looks amazing. Can’t wait to make it. Question- For the pickles, dill or sweet? Both sound good but I want to make it authentic.
I use sour dill pickles that I but at Costco. Let me know how it turns out 😬
Natasha, I am so grateful that you recommended Vlasic brand! I used to make olivye but with other brands (before I searched for your recipe) and it was good, but something was off, I could not put my finger on what. When I made it with Vlasic, it really pulled it all together! So perfect! Exactly what I was looking for! You are genius! Thank you million times!
Hi Diana, good to know that you use and like it too! Thanks for your review, we appreciate it.
Followed your recipe making Olivye for the first time and it turned out PERFECT
That’s so great! I’m so happy you enjoyed that Edward!
THANK YOU so much for such delicious recipes. Do you have you’re recipe book published yet???? 🙏❤️
Hi Rose, thank you for the wonderful feedback. We don’t yet but are slowly working towards that goal.
We called it Niislel salad. It is probably introduced and adopted from Russia. I am not a fan of the salad though i can make it. I usually add yellow/red onion not green onion, finely diced. This gives nice sharp taste but not too overpowering. Some ppl do add canned corns, drained.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us Enkh!
Oh, in Mongolian. In Latvian it’s rasols lol. Dear ‘child’ has many names. But it is originally olivye and that’s how it should be called, really.
Absolutely delicious. Love dill flavour! such a nice addition to the salad. Thanks for another great recipe!
You’re so welcome, Tatyana. Thank you for your excellent review!
How does this not have cucumbers or egg?I have never had Olivie without an egg 🙈🙈🙈🙈
It does have hard-boiled eggs in it, five, in fact. and five pickled cucumbers. Go back and reread the recipe. Maybe because all the ingredients are chopped up so finely you can’t tell that they are there.
This is looks identical to what an old bf from Ukraine made me a few times. I’ve also tasted a version made from a Croatian lady. My brasilian friend makes this with chicken and butter instead of mayo. They use whatever they have but mainly stick to these things. Every 5years or so I crave it. Thank you for posting this simple yet elegant recipe!!!
You’re welcome Kim! I’m so glad you enjoyed that.
Such a beautiful salad and great clear instructions. Just turned Christmas Day and this is about to go into the fridge for lunch tomorrow
Yum! This is so good for leftovers! Merry Christmas!
This is obviously everyone’s holiday staple, just not sure why you call it Ukrainian though. It was created by Lucien Olivier who worked as a chef of the Hermitage and quickly became a Russian signature dish. So you could call it Slavic since Ukranians love it too, but it’s not a Ukranian salad.
Hi Nessa, thank you so much for sharing that feedback with us!
My favorite Ukrainian salad. When it is made by Ukrainian it is Ukrainian, original French recipe was with sea food.
I’ve made this twice now–once for my family and once for a church potluck. It was a hit both times!
The chopping does take a long time, but the second time around, I chopped several of the ingredients a day early. Also, I prefer the alternate method (at the bottom of the recipe) for boiling the carrots and potatoes. Skinning them after boiling them just took too long for me.
I forgot to mention this: My husband doesn’t like potato salad, but he LOVED this!
That’s so awesome Krista! That’s when you know its good!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I replaced the ham with salmon and half the mayo with sour cream. It was a huge hit with all the Ukrainian families at our daughter’s emersion daycare.
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.