Polish vegetable salad is a delicious creamy salad made with cooked vegetables, eggs, and crunchy pickles. It’s served for all holiday celebrations and all year round for family or friend gatherings. Crunchy, creamy, sweet, and sour – it’s a classic for a reason!
Ingredients
Below you will find information about the ingredients and how to prepare the recipe. For the measurements and detailed instructions scroll down to the printable recipe card.
Here’s what you need to make this easy recipe:
There are as many vegetable salad recipes as there are households in Poland. Everyone makes it a little bit differently but there are a couple of rules that are constant in almost every recipe:
- Lots of vegetables – this is NOT a potato salad! Celeriac, parsley roots, carrots, and potatoes are traditional ingredients in this recipe. In the old days, leftover vegetables from the Polish Chicken Noodle Soup (Rosół) were almost exclusively used in this recipe, but nowadays they are most often cooked from scratch. The problem with using vegetables left from the soup is that they are overcooked and greasy. You could cook your chicken soup for a shorter period of time but it will not have enough flavor. You could also take the vegetables out of the soup just when they are soft but then they won’t be able to release enough flavor into the soup. You should try what works best for you, though!
- If you can’t get celeriac and parsley roots where you live, just omit them and use more carrots and potatoes. The salad won’t taste the same, but it will still be good. Don’t use celery ribs instead of celeriac.
- Leek is not always used in this recipe, some people use chopped onion.
- What kind of potatoes to use – make sure to use salad potatoes (Yukon Gold or Red potatoes) and not mealy/starchy potatoes such as Russets.
- Eggs – hard-boiled eggs are a must in this recipe.
- Cucumbers in brine – another non-negotiable ingredient. Make sure to use cucumbers in brine and NOT dill pickles. Cucumbers in brine are cucumbers that are naturally fermented and have a pleasantly sour flavor. On the ingredient list you should see only cucumbers, water, and salt (there can also be spices). Dill pickles are pickled with vinegar and have a more sharp sour flavor. If using those, your salad may come out too sour and the flavor will be off.
- Apples – are used for crunch and to add sweetness to the salad. They are also a must for me in this recipe. I prefer to use sweet and crunchy apples such as Gala or Honeycrisp. You can also use apples that are more on the sour side, but maybe omit the lemon juice in the dressing. If you’re not sure about using apples in a savory recipe, don’t worry, the apples are diced small and not really noticeable on their own.
- Peas – you can use either frozen peas or canned peas. If you’re going for a more traditional, old-school flavor, go with canned peas.
- Dressing – must be made with good quality mayonnaise (I like Hellmann’s). Some people like to lighten the salad by subbing some part of the mayo with yogurt or sour cream. For me, it tastes best with just mayo. I also like to use sharp Dijon mustard to add some more flavor to the salad, you can add more if you like. Another dressing ingredient is lemon juice – this is not a traditional ingredient in this salad but a must for me, it brightens up the whole recipe – add to your liking.
- Chives – are used as a topping. Some people use parsley.
How to make it step-by-step
STEP 1: Cook the potatoes, carrots, parsley roots, and celeriac: do not peel the vegetables or cut them into smaller pieces. Add them to a large pot filled with cold salted water. Add bay leaves, allspice berries, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 25-35 minutes or until the vegetables are soft but not overcooked (this is important). Check the vegetables after 25 minutes, if they can be pierced with a fork – take them out of the water and set aside to cool down. Some vegetables may be done sooner than others, if some vegetables are done take them out of the pot and cook the remaining vegetables a little bit longer. You can discard the remaining liquid or reserve the vegetable broth for another recipe.
(6 medium (600g) potatoes, 2 (180g) large carrots, 2 (100g) parsley roots, 1/4 (180g) of a medium celeriac)
(2 bay leaves, 2 allspice berries, 10 black peppercorns)
STEP 2: Boil the eggs: add the eggs (5 large eggs) to a pot with cold water, bring to a boil, and cook for 9 minutes. Drain, add cold water, peel, and cut into small dice.
STEP 3: While the vegetables and eggs are cooking, prepare the remaining ingredients.
Drain and rinse peas, measure out half of a can (reserve the remaining peas for another recipe).
Chop the cucumbers into small dice.
Cut off the green part of the leek, we will only need the white and light green part. Cut it in half lengthwise and rinse thoroughly. Chop into small pieces then place on a sieve and pour with boiling water for about 30-60 seconds.
(5 medium/large cucumbers in brine, 1/2 can of peas, or 1 cup frozen peas, 1 leek)
STEP 4: Make the dressing: whisk together mayo, mustard, and lemon juice (add a tablespoon first and add more after trying the salad, if using apples that are more on the sour side, you may need to omit lemon juice completely).
(1 cup (200g) mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, optional)
Chop the apples (2 medium apples) into small dice.
Once the boiled vegetables cooled down, peel them and chop them into small dice.
STEP 5: Assemble: Add all the ingredients and the dressing into a very large bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper. Stir together until well combined.
Set aside for 1-2 hours for the flavors to meld together (1 hour on the counter is fine, if longer then put in the fridge and take out the fridge 30 minutes before serving).
Sprinkle with finely chopped chives before serving.
Enjoy!
Storage
The salad keeps very well for up to 2 days. Store it in the fridge and serve either slightly cold or at room temperature.
More Polish recipes
- Pierogi Ruskie (Authentic Potato and Cheese Pierogi)
- Polish Beans and Sausage (Fasolka po bretońsku)
- Mazurek – Polish Easter Tart
- Polish Fish with Vegetable Topping (Ryba Po Grecku)
- Semolina Pudding (kasza manna)
- Kolaczki Recipe (delicious jam cookies)
- Leczo (Polish Vegetable and Sausage Stew)
Here you’ll find all my Polish recipes.
Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!
Sałatka Jarzynowa (Polish Vegetable Salad)
Ingredients
- 6 medium potatoes 600g, preferably uniformly-sized
- 2 large carrots 180g
- 2 parsley roots 100g
- 1/4 of a medium celeriac 180g
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 allspice berries optional
- 10 black peppercorns
- 5 large eggs
- 5 medium/large cucumbers in brine not dill pickles
- 1/2 can of peas or 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 leek
- 1 cup mayonnaise 200g
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice optional, not traditional
- 2 medium apples sweet and crunchy such as Gala or Honeycrisp
- salt & pepper
- chopped chives or parsley to serve on top
Instructions
- Cook the potatoes, carrots, parsley roots, and celeriac: do not peel the vegetables or cut them into smaller pieces. Add them to a large pot filled with cold salted water. Add bay leaves, allspice berries, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 25-35 minutes or until the vegetables are soft but not overcooked (this is important). Check the vegetables after 25 minutes, if they can be pierced with a fork – take them out of the water and set aside to cool down. Some vegetables may be done sooner than others, if some vegetables are done take them out of the pot and cook the remaining vegetables a little bit longer. You can discard the remaining liquid or reserve the vegetable broth for another recipe.6 medium potatoes, 2 large carrots, 2 parsley roots, 1/4 of a medium celeriac, 2 bay leaves, 2 allspice berries, 10 black peppercorns
- Boil the eggs: add the eggs to a pot with cold water, bring to a boil, and cook for 9 minutes. Drain, add cold water, peel, and cut into small dice.5 large eggs
- While the vegetables and eggs are cooking, prepare the remaining ingredients.
- Drain and rinse peas, measure out half of a can (reserve the remaining peas for another recipe).1/2 can of peas
- Chop the cucumbers into small dice.5 medium/large cucumbers in brine
- Cut off the green part of the leek, we will only need the white and light green part. Cut it in half lengthwise and rinse thoroughly. Chop into small pieces then place on a sieve and pour with boiling water for about 30-60 seconds.1 leek
- Make the dressing: whisk together mayo, mustard, and lemon juice (add a tablespoon first and add more after trying the salad, if using apples that are more on the sour side, you may need to omit lemon juice completely).1 cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Chop the apples into small dice.2 medium apples
- Once the boiled vegetables cooled down, peel them and chop them into small dice.
- Add all the ingredients and the dressing into a very large bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper. Stir together until well combined.
- Set aside for 1-2 hours for the flavors to meld together (1 hour on the counter is fine, if longer then put in the fridge and take out the fridge 30 minutes before serving).
- Sprinkle with finely chopped chives before serving.
- Enjoy!
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