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This Shuba with Salmon salad looks like one, hence the name. Shuba ( салат шуба) means fur coat. Originally this salad is made with herring. I know many people are turned off by the herring, while others love it.
The idea to use smoked salmon actually came from my sister Tanya, who I believe is not a fan of the herring either. It’s so much better than herring! It’s the most bizarre salad to those who haven’t seen it. My husbands co-workers tried it; “What is it?” asks one; “I don’t know, but it’s good!” You can make the veggies ahead of time and assemble when you’re good and ready.
P.s. You can even Cook Beets in the Instant Pot and it will be even faster.
Watch How to Make Smoked Salmon Salad (Shuba):
Ingredients for Shuba:
1 lb smoked salmon
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 to 4 medium potatoes
3 to 4 medium beets, (or use 2 cans beets which don’t require cooking)
4 medium carrots
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups real mayonnaise (2 cups if using a very large casserole).
How Make Shuba with Salmon:
1. If you want to cook your own beets: In one pot, place beets in boiling water (enough water to cover the beets). Boil 1 hour, or until soft when pierced with a knife. The cooking time varies depending on your beets. Some will cook sooner than others, so test all of them. When cooked, remove from boiling water and let cool to room temperature. Peel the cooked beets (I use gloves for this)
2. In a separate pot, boil whole potatoes and carrots 30 minutes, or until smooth when pierced with a knife. Don’t overcook. When cooked, remove from boiling water and let cool to room temperature. Peel the cooked potatoes and carrots. It’s easiest to peel carrots by putting a slit down the length of the carrot and peeling in a circle around the carrot.
3. Place 4 eggs in another pot of salted cold water and bring them to a boil. Once the water is boiling, place the lid on, turn heat off and let the pot sit on the same burner for 15 minutes. (Or you can throw them in with your potatoes and carrots and fish them out after 15 minutes. Let eggs cool to room temperature. Peel the eggs.
LAYERS OF SHUBA:
1. Break or chop the salmon into quarter size pieces place evenly in the bottom of a large 13×9 casserole dish.
2. Using a cheese grater, shred the potatoes evenly over the salmon & spread onion over potatoes.
3. Spread ¾ cup mayo evenly over the onions.
4. Using the same cheese grater, shred the beets evenly over the mayo.
5. Then shred the carrots evenly over the beets.
6. Spread the remaining ¾ cup mayo over the carrots.
7. Using the smaller holes of the cheese grater, shred the eggs evenly over the mayo and you’re done.
Shuba with Salmon, a twist on Herring Salad

Ingredients
- 1 lb smoked salmon
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 to 4 medium potatoes
- 3 to 4 medium beets, (or use 2 cans beets which don't require cooking)
- 4 medium carrots
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise*, 2 cups if using a very large casserole
Instructions
- If you want to cook your own beets: In one pot, place beets in boiling water (enough water to cover the beets). Boil 1 hour, or until soft when pierced with a knife. The cooking time varies depending on your beets. Some will cook sooner than others, so test all of them. When cooked, remove from boiling water and let cool to room temperature. Peel the cooked beets (I use gloves for this).
- In a separate pot, boil whole potatoes and carrots 30 minutes, or until smooth when pierced with a knife. Don't overcook. When cooked, remove from boiling water and let cool to room temperature. Peel the cooked potatoes and carrots. It's easiest to peel carrots by putting a slit down the length of the carrot and peeling in a circle around the carrot.
- Place eggs in another pot of salted cold water and bring them to a boil. Once the water is boiling, place the lid on, turn heat off and let the pot sit on the same burner for 15 minutes. (Or you can throw them in with your potatoes and carrots and fish them out after 15 minutes. Let eggs cool to room temperature. Peel the eggs.
LAYERS OF SHUBA:
- Break or chop the salmon into quarter size pieces place evenly in the bottom of a large 13x9 casserole dish.
- Using a cheese grater, shred the potatoes evenly over the salmon & spread onion over potatoes.
- Spread ¾ cup mayo evenly over the onions.
- Using the same cheese grater, shred the beets evenly over the mayo.
- Then shred the carrots evenly over the beets and Spread the remaining ¾ cup mayo over the carrots.
- Using the smaller holes of the cheese grater, shred the eggs evenly over the mayo and you're done.
I made it yesterday in the evening, left in the fridge overnight, and, oh goodness, it was delicious. I love salmon so much but using it in this recipe, oh so clever! Thank you, Natasha, for all your hard work. I believe I used your recipes before but now I am on a mission to try cooking everything you suggest!!!
You are so nice! Thank you so much for sharing your awesome and encouraging comment 🙂
do you think this would taste good with grated pickled beats? I have some on hand to use up.
Hi Erin, I honestly have never tried this with pickled beets so I’m not sure how that would meld with the rest of the flavors since the other ingredients are either lightly sweet (beets, carrots) or salty (smoked salmon) and not really tangy.
Thank you for this wonderful recipes and all of your others! I am making this for a Russian dinner party tonight, and have made it previously for my Russian in-laws. Спасибо, Natasha! 🙂
My pleasure! I’m happy to hear how much you’re enjoying the recipes. Thanks for following and sharing your encouraging comments!
Scrumptiously delicious
I’m glad you like it Janet! Thanks for sharing!
could I make this the day before party? Or is it best to be made on the day of party?
Hi Olga, yes this is great when made a day ahead, covered and refrigerated. Enjoy!!
I usually make shuba with herring but decided to try smoked salmon and we loved it, delicious 😋
Thank you!
You’re welcome Tatyana! Glad you enjoyed it!! 🙂
A tip my sister gave me was to put the potatoes on the bottom so the juices from the salmon or herring can get soaked up in it!!
Oh Interesting!! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Oh Interesting!! Thank you for sharing that with us!
I absolutely love your blog. I have learned so much from you. I have a question about this shuba salad. What is the best smoked salmon to buy for this salad?
It works well with either dry smoked or lox (like from Costco). I kind of prefer the dry smoked like the one pictured here. I purchased this one at Winco but I’ve seen it in several other grocery stores.
the lox from coco n others isa combo salt sugar cured then smoked no same a lox like served on a bagel with cream cheese sliced onion maybe chives I make my own gravlox with 50 50 salt coarse not table salt fresh basil and little vodka ,,
Thanks for the idea, will try it with salmon next time. I steam my veggies and eggs in one pot/steamer – a lot easier for me and takes less than an hour to make. A close friend makes it with boiled chicken or pork (minced) too, great for children’s party!
what kind of steamer do you use? That sounds like a really good and healthier option than boiling veggies.
I use Redmond multicooker, don’t know if it’s available in the US but it’s popular here in Ukraine and Russia. I guess any programmable steamer will do!
Natasha, this twist on the traditional herring salad was a discovery of the year!!! I don’t know how many times I tried making the herring salad in the U.S., but the herring here doesn’t taste the same to me. I finally stopped making this salad. Since I saw your post, I kept craving this salad with salmon. It was a bomb! Thank you! Greetings from sunny, snowy Colorado:)
I’m so glad you loved it! It’s the only way I like it too 🙂
I am in the process of making shuba salad again, that’s how much you turned me onto this dish that I haven’t made in years, actually.
I love your blog, not only the recipes, but the stories as well, food and life blend so well, don’t they?:)
I’m so happy to hear that! I agree; they do blend well together. Food brings back so many memories for me – people, events, good times and even throwing up in the forest… lol.
Baked beets also add a lot of color to shuba and vinegret, whereas boiled beets lose some of their natural color in the water.
Have you ever make shuba with tuna? I’ve tried it at a friends house and it wasn’t bad at all! Love all of your recipes. Your blog is my go to, first, for any recipe I want to make.
It’s probably very similar in taste to the Mimosa salad I have posted and that one was very good (just a lighter texture). I hadn’t considered using Tuna in this but it totally makes sense 🙂
I used to live in Ukraine, outside L’viv, and шуба with herring was my favorite салат!
Isn’t it amazing? It’s a salad I crave often!
I am a native Russian but my fiancé is American. Everyone in the family is a VERY picky eater. They never liked the salad with herring so I switched to cooked/canned chicken and they LOVE it/beg me to make it now. So everyone I highly recommend trying canned chicken if you live with picky eaters!!
oooh that’s brilliant! Thank you 🙂 I bet kids would love it better too!
Quick note- and I found this very useful- since cooking beats does take the longest- I found that if you get them in a smallest size- the boiling time is literally cut in half. Just a note 🙂
Alina, Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Sounds Delicious to me, I will make it for my dinner party today. Thanks for recipe.
Let me know how it will turn out 🙂
This looks soooooooo good I really really want some. . . I better make this soon
Thank you so much for your recipes. I loved each and every one that I tried to make because the details you give are meant exactly for people like me 🙂
I like when I know how much to put a ne na glaz. And by the way- love reading the introduction paragraphs 😉 Keep it up! God Bless you and your family!
Thank you so much Ilonka, comments like this mean so much to me. May God bless you and your family as well 🙂
Im so going to try your shuba with the twist ie the smoked salmon! My only issue with this dish is its richness and I really dislike the greasiness of mayo.. I must admit The last time I had shuba was 5 years ago and I was quite unwell afterwards 🙂 so, the question is can I use anything else instead of mayo?
I haven’t really experimented with anything else. I don’t know what would taste as good as mayo 🙁 sorry
My mom makes it with half mayo and half sour cream then adds a little bit of salt and onions chopped small then mixes all together and uses that as a spread instead of just mayo. It turns out so light and is easier to spread too 🙂
I’m thinking, maybe you can use canned tuna (or just whatever fish you have) and prepare it the way you would for a sandwich (tuna, lemon, mayo, etc). That way, you won’t have to layer on mayo by itself, and it would already be mixed in witht the fish?
I’m still trying to figure out a way to get around using that much mayo.
Hi, I haven’t tried tuna but a couple of my readers suggested it saying they loved it with tuna. One advised to add mayo over the tuna layer to keep it moist. I hope you love it! 🙂
I loved loved loved it with salmon. I was so excited to find this receipe, I don’t like herring either. Was hoping to turn my hubby into liking it with salmon, but was unsuccessful. So every time I make shuba I have to make a separate plate just for me with salmon. So delicious…. The things we have to do for what we love…
Thank you so much for posting this! Your website is a life saver. I was born in the US, but raised strictly Russian. So when I try to make russian food, I either have to try to use Russian websites (I still can figure out what 100 grams of potatoes is) or call my mom and try to figure out what svikla is. Lol I’m going to trying this today for a friend’s baby shower. But we’re not big on fish so I might try it with canned chicken or tuna. And also do I need to salt anything other than the eggs? Or does the mayo provide enough flavor. I just don’t want it to be bland.
The mayo provides enough flavor. I’ve never tried it with canned tuna or chicken so please let me know how that turns out. Oh and thank you 🙂