This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase through our links, we may earn a commission.
There is potato salad and then there is ensaladilla rusa, or Spanish Russian salad. This mega fortifying, nutritious salad has all bases covered: protein (eggs and tuna), check. Vegetables (carrot and olives), check. Carbs (potatoes), check. Creamy dressing, check. Tang factor (pickles, capers and mustard), check! Is there even room for more tapas?
Love a punchy and pickly potato salad but want a vegetarian recipe? This dill potato salad is the one for you.
I love Spain and I love Spanish tapas, but one thing I struggle to reconcile when I visit is just how many hot tapas dishes there are for such a warm climate! Obviously, there is cold meat and cheese, and olives, but the menu tends to be overwhelmingly hot.
So, I was beyond relieved when we visited Seville in March (and it was a flushing 25C/77F) to find ensaladilla rusa on the menu; a refreshingly cool and subtly tangy, cold tapas offering. After a morning of wandering and sightseeing, the frigid potato salad dish was an absolute tonic washed down with an ice cold beer.
Ensaladilla rusa
Ensaladilla rusa is Spanish for ‘little Russian salad’. It is Spain’s tapas version of the famous potato-based Olivier Salad, actually created by a Frenchman (Lucien Olivier) in 19th century Russia. Still with me?
While Olivier Salad makes use of chicken or ham and dill pickles, Ensaladilla Rusa incorporates tinned tuna, olives and capers to cater to Spanish tastes and the post-war accessibility back in the day. But both share the trademark boiled eggs, potatoes, carrots, peas and creamy mayo salad dressing to make an unforgettable dish. I tend to avoid carrots and peas for my Russian salad and I skipped the peas for the Spanish version as well.
Most commonly thought of as a typical dish on Spanish tapas menus, the recipe is as far-reaching as Latin America, where it’s called ensalada rusa. And, this is the wild part, it’s served as a festive side dish at Christmas just like in Russia, the country of its origin!
Mayonnaise salad dressing
Spanish Russian Salad is a host of wholesome ingredients all tied together with a cool and punchy mayo salad dressing. In making the dressing, you have two options here, while both are quick and easy, one requires a dash more effort.
Option 1: homemade dressing from scratch. As long as you have an immersion (stick) blender, you can whizz this up in a couple of minutes using store cupboard staples; egg, oil (use the tuna oil!), mustard, vinegar and salt.
Option 2: zhuzhed up store-bought mayo base. This version mixes ready-made mayo, vinegar and mustard.
Homemade mayo dressing will be slick and pourable, a shade more yellow than its counterpart, and taste rich and fresh. But there’s no judgement here when it comes to cutting corners!
Besides making a cracking potato salad, drizzle this mayo salad dressing recipe on a beetroot salad, use as a sauce for roasted vegetables, as a sandwich spread, or as a dip for crispy potatoes and crudités.
Important recipe tips and notes
- Use waxy potatoes. They’ll keep their shape in the salad while floury ones will mash.
- Don’t overboil the eggs or vegetables.
- The yolk should be firm and brilliantly yellow. No grey tinge!
- Cook the eggs and vegetables the day before so they can cool and chill overnight.
- Use the best quality tuna you can afford. And keep that precious oil!
- Make your own mayo or use a decent store-bought one. You do you.
- Top with marinated red pepper strips, chopped green olives, or orange roe (caviar). You choose.
What goes with it
Choosing tapas is tricky. I try to strike a balance between meat, vegetables and fish, but also hot and cold. Here’s a quick guide to what’s hot and what’s not (cold) on a typical tapas menu:
Hot tapas dishes
- Gambas al pil pil (garlic and chilli shrimp)
- Patatas bravas (v)
- Espinacas con garbanzos (spinach and chickpeas (v))
- Pimientos de Padrón (v)
- Chorizo in red wine
- Calamares alla Romana (battered squid)
- Albondígas (meatballs in tomato sauce)
Cold tapas dishes
- Ensaladilla rusa
- Tortilla espanola (v)
- Charcuterie plate with Spanish meats and cheese
- Boquerones (anchovies in vinegar)
With only 2 or 3 recommended per person, you can see my dilemma! What would you order?
Storage and leftovers
Ensaladilla rusa will keep in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days if you used store bought mayo for the mayo salad dressing. Keep only 2 or 3 days for homemade with fresh eggs.
More salad dishes to try
- Avocado and Corn Salad
- Chicken Waldorf Salad
- Smashed Cucumber Salad with Miso Dressing
- Broccoli Slaw with Creamy Dill Pickle Dressing
Spanish Ensaladilla Rusa
Ingredients
- 500g / 2 large waxy potatoes like red potatoes, boiled, peeled and diced
- 1 carrot, boiled, peeled and diced
- 4 eggs, boiled, peeled and chopped
- 50 g pickles (gherkins), not sweet, chopped
- 50g / 1/4 cup green olives, chopped plus 4 green olives for garnish
- 2 tbsp capers
- 160 g Albacore tuna in olive oil, drained and oil reserved for dressing
- 1/2 shallot, diced
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp salmon or trout caviar, for garnish
- 1 tbsp chopped chives, for garnish
For the homemade mayo dressing
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 egg
- 150 g neutral tasting oil, like vegetable oil plus the reserved olive oil from the tuna (strained)
- 1 tsp This is an affiliate link.Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp salt
Or easy dressing
- 125ml / 1/2 cup good quality mayonnaise
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp This is an affiliate link.Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp water, to loosen the dressing
Instructions
- Boil eggs and unpeeled potatoes and a carrot, cool. Peel 3 eggs, 2 potatoes and 1 carrot and dice, then put everything in a large salad bowl.
- Dice pickles (gherkins), olives and 1/2 shallot, add to the same bowl together with the capers.
- Take the tuna out of the jar and reserve the oil for the dressing. Flake the tuna into large flakes and add to the salad bowl.
- To make the homemade mayo use an immersion blender and a tall and narrow container. Combine the egg yolk and 1 whole egg, vegetable oil, reserved and strained olive oil from the tuna jar (approximately 1-2 tbsp), Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar and salt in the container. Insert the immersion blender and process for a few seconds while moving the blender around until the ingredients turn into a thick mayonnaise. (For an easy version simple whisk together a store bought mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and water until smooth.)
- Add the dressing to the salad and mix gently taking care not to mash the ingredients together. They should hold their shape, then taste and add salt if needed.
- To serve as a tapa, arrange a portion of the salad on a small serving plate and top with the remaining boiled egg cut in half, then top each half with 1/2 tbsp of the salmon caviar. Sprinkle with chopped chives if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
