The origin of the Russian salad is still uncertain, as many claim that it was Lucien Olivier, a Belgian chef known throughout the world, who invented this dish in Russia, while others claim that the recipe already existed long before. Regardless of whether it was Olivier who created it or not, the truth is that Russian salad became popular thanks to him. Originally, the salad that Olivier offered in his restaurant had the name of Olivier salad; it is for this reason that many people know the recipe under this name, and not as “Russian salad”.
Currently, there are many ways to prepare Russian salad, however, we have investigated the different possible origins of the dish and all of them have the following ingredients in common: potatoes, carrots, meat, peas and mayonnaise. In his restaurant, Olivier offered a salad with these products and other foods classified as gourmet, such as caviar and truffles. Since most people do not have these products in our panties, we will follow the original recipe, more humble and economical. Keep reading and discover with us how to make Russian salad, the original recipe.
Ingredients to make original Russian salad:
- 2 medium potatoes
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 cans of natural prickly pear
- 1 filleted chicken breast
- 1 handful of peas
- 2 eggs
For the mayonnaise
- 1 egg
- 100 milliliters of olive oil
How to make original Russian salad:
The original Russian salad is prepared by cooking boiled vegetables. However, to speed up the process, we have chosen to microwave them. To do this, it is necessary to peel the potatoes and carrots, wrap them in plastic wrap and cook in the microwave at maximum power for 8 minutes. In case of making them boiled, we recommend chopping them into similar pieces.
While the potatoes and carrots are cooking, cook the peas in boiling water. In parallel, we cook the boiled, steamed or grilled filleted chicken breast, since we want to prepare a low-calorie Russian salad.
Tip: If you have frozen peas, add them directly to the boiling water.
On the other hand, we make the boiled eggs taking great care when adding them to the hot water to prevent them from breaking. The cooking time will depend on the size of the eggs, but it usually ranges from 8-10 minutes. This ingredient does not appear in the original Russian salad, however, it has been incorporated into the recipe for so many years that, today, and we do not contemplate it without it.
Tip: If you don’t microwave the potatoes and carrots, you can cook all the vegetables together, adding the eggs as well.
Once all the ingredients for the Russian salad are ready, the time has come to prepare it. Chop the potatoes and carrots, drain the cans of tuna and mix in a bowl or salad bowl. The original recipe was made only with meat, which could be chicken or turkey, but over the years tuna has become another essential product, which is why it could not be missing here.
Cut the chicken and add it to the salad. Pass the boiled eggs in cold water and, once completely cold, peel and chop them.
Prepare the homemade mayonnaise by beating the olive oil with the egg until emulsified. We recommend using an electric hand mixer, especially if you have never made mayonnaise before. If it is difficult for the oil to emulsify, we recommend adding a little more oil but continuing to beat. Add it to the salad and mix.
Clever! We already have our homemade Russian salad recipe ready to serve. Some people add other ingredients to this basic recipe, such as prawns, more vegetables… Thus, we encourage you to try the authentic Russian salad and experiment to prepare different versions each time. You can even make it vegan! Also, this is an ideal Tupperware recipe!
Russian salad: calories
The original Russian salad does not have many calories because the ingredients are cooked using cooking techniques that use little or no oil. Likewise, each of the products used is low in calories. The only ingredient that has a greater contribution is mayonnaise, and if we make it at home as we propose, we see this quantity reduced in a very remarkable way, since the industrial one usually has added sugars, artificial preservatives, etc.
So how many calories does Russian salad have? If we eliminate the mayonnaise from the recipe, Russian salad has between 300 and 350 calories, depending on the size of the food and the final amount added. Now, along with the mayonnaise, the Russian salad can have between 500 and 600 calories, also depending on the amount of sauce added.
The best Russian salad
There are so many recipes that exist that it is difficult to choose one as the best. For some, the best Russian salad will be the one that follows the original recipe, like the one we have shared, while for others it will be the one that innovates and presents different ingredients.
