Vegan Olivier Salad (Russian Salad)
This vegan Olivier salad (aka Russian salad) is the perfect side dish with your holiday feast, celebrations, or during the warmer months as a refreshing meal.
I grew up having this salad mostly at my birthday parties. It’s a salad that typically included cut-up boiled eggs and regular mayonnaise.
Since I was raised in a vegetarian household, we didn’t have pieces of ham in it as the traditional Russian salad does.
This is one of my all-time favourite childhood dishes, and I refused to give it up when I become vegan, so of course, I veganised it! I honestly can barely tell the difference, and in my opinion, this one is even better.
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I often forget how simple this salad is to make and how I can easily eat the whole lot. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you!
The flavours are simple, but they work really well together.
I’ve been playing around with ingredients to find the perfect balance of flavours for the vegan mayonnaise and came up with something as close as I could get it to an egg mayonnaise without compromising too much on the taste.
How to make this Russian potato salad
As I mentioned earlier, it is super simple to make, and it gets better with age. You can leave it in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
All you need to do is boil the potatoes, carrots, and peas. Chop them up into small pieces and add them to a large bowl.
Chop up the gherkins and add them to the bowl. Toss well.
Now to make the mayonnaise. Add the silken tofu, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, mustard, dill, and salt to a small processor and blend until silky smooth. Pour in the oil while the processor is going to give it that beautiful fluffy and creamy texture.
Pour it over the salad and toss well. Serve cold.
See how simple that is!? Now keep going down for the full recipe…
What is the best variety of potatoes for this salad?
Waxy potatoes are always best as they have less starch in them, which means they will retain their shape after boiling. Here are a few options; however, keep in mind that they will vary from country to country but will sometimes have different names for the same potato. Just find the waxy potatoes that are local to your area.
- New potatoes
- French fingerling
- Red bliss
- Baby potatoes
- Red adirondack
- Russian banana
- Kipfler
- Dutch cream
- Red royale
Other recipes you’ll love:
- Vegan Red Rice Salad with Tahini Dressing
- Simple Potato and Radicchio Salad
- Vegan Borscht (Beet Soup)
- Savoury Cashew Cream
- Quick & Simple Vegan Lentil Salad
- Vegan Herb Potato Salad (No-Mayo)
If you try this recipe, let me know! We’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest.Â
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Vegan Olivier Salad (Russian Salad)
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4
Description
Enjoy this veganised version of the classic Russian Olivier salad. It’s creamy, tasty, and a popular dish to share with others.
Ingredients
- 2 medium / 270g waxy potatoes (around 2 cups)
- 2 medium / 320g carrots (around 2 cups)
- 2 cups / 270g frozen or fresh peas
- 1 cup / 150g gherkins, chopped into cubes
- 1 small handful of dill, chopped
- Salt, to taste
Mayonnaise:
- 150g silken tofu
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil
Instructions
- Add the potatoes with skins on (but washed if covered in dirt) in a large saucepan and top with cold water. It should more than cover the potatoes as you will need some extra water to add the carrots and peas in later.
- Place the saucepan on medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Add the whole carrots 5 minutes after the water starts boiling. Cook all together for another 20-25 minutes, adding the peas a few minutes before they’re finished. Cook until you can put a knife or a skewer through one of the potatoes easily.*
- Drain and rinse all the vegetables under cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Once they’ve cooled enough to handle, peel the potatoes and carrots* cutting them into small cubes. This should make around 2 cups each. Place in a large bowl along with the cooked peas.
- Set aside until the ingredients have completely cooled. You can place it in the fridge to speed up the process.
- Chop the gherkins into small squares and add them to the bowl. Add the dill and mix.
- For the mayonnaise, place all ingredients but the oils in a blender or small food processor and blend until you get a silky smooth consistency. Pour in the oil in a consistent stream as the food processor is on. This will help to thicken it and give it that beautiful mayonnaise shine.Â
- Mix the mayonnaise through the vegetables. Adjust salt if needed.
- Serve cold.
Notes
 You don’t want the carrots and potatoes to be too soft as you cut them into cubes.
If the carrots have thick skin, peel them first so that you don’t have a brown skin left on them. This is optional; however, it will remove bitterness from the skin.Â
This salad can stay in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. It gets better with age.Â
You can use store-bought mayonnaise in place of the recipe above. Make sure it’s one that you like using for other dishes. You will need ¾ cup of it. Adjust seasoning to taste.Â
- Diet: Vegan
I never really liked olivier the “traditional” way, but I’ve been enjoying this vegan version. Made this recipe for the 2nd time this week. I use peas conserved in a jar since my mom never used fresh/frozen ones. Other than that, I stuck to the recipe. It was well-received 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it, Jane! My mum never made it with meat, just mayo and eggs which I guess is less tradition. Using jarred peas is also very common 🙂 Thanks for the lovely review x
Using your recipe for a get together with some friends who don’t eat ham so I left out the meat completely! The only thing I tweaked was added chopped white onions. It gives it a little bit of a crunch! Otherwise very delicious. Thank you
So glad you enjoyed it! Nice addition of onion 🙂
I will be trying that it looks delicious ? A similar salad from my childhood which contained mashed egg & shredded chicken I have now veganised and it has become a regular side in my home but I have the majority as a main ?
Boiled potatoes ( tossed in extra Virgin olive oil salt & pepper)
Finely chopped tomatoes
Chopped gherkins
Sliced spring onion (green part)
Either dill parsley or coriander ( which ever you prefer or have to hand)
Vegan Mayonnaise
When it comes to quantities of the ingredients you can’t really go wrong, it’s how you like it ?
Oooh, this sounds delicious, thanks for sharing! It’s so empowering when you successfully veganise a childhood favourite 🙂
Extremely close to real olivier salad!
This came out excellently! I also grew up with olivier salad and am engaged to a vegan, so I wanted her to try this new years delicacy. I didn’t have enough time to make my own mayo, so I took a shortcut and used Hellmann’s vegan mayo and it turned out amazingly!!! Thanks for the great recipe =)
I am Russian, and we traditionally cook this salad for our new year parties. It is a tradition!
I really love your vegan version. It looks delightful, and I am sure it tastes the same.
Wish you all best!
Oh great! Have a wonderful New years celebration! Thanks for sharing 🙂