Beef Salad (Salata de Boeuf)

This Beef Salad, also known as Salata de Boeuf in Romania, is a traditional salad made for Easter, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. It can be served as a side dish, or a meal on its own. You can make it with beef, turkey or chicken, potatoes, peas and lots of mayo. It’s like a potato salad gone wild!

Bet you’ve never had this salad before and I can literally say I’ve never had this anywhere else or seen it on any menu. But it is the most traditional salad in Romania for all holidays. If we didn’t make this, it just wouldn’t feel like Christmas, or New Year’s Eve.

Sometimes I like to give you guys a glimpse into Romanian cuisine, since I get asked about it often. It’s not as known as other cuisines like Italian or Chinese, but we do have some interesting recipes like this salad. We call this “salata de boeuf” and boeuf isn’t even a Romanian word, it’s actually French for beef, so this literally means beef salad. The funny thing is my mom almost always makes this with turkey breast or chicken because she doesn’t even eat beef.

I think the reason this salad is only made around the holidays is because of all the chopping required. Growing up I was always in charge of cutting up all the meat and vegetables. It was my favorite thing to do and I took my job as a sous chef quite seriously.

Now that I’m married to a Romanian, I almost always make this with beef. However, turkey, chicken, beef, it will all work. The salad is quite delicious and if I were to compare it to any kind of American salad, I’d say it’s probably the closest to a potato salad.

Ingredients

• Meat – stewing beef, turkey or chicken, either will work. I’ve never tried this with pork but pork loin would work as well.
• Veggies – potatoes, carrots and frozen peas. I usually use Yokon Gold potatoes or Russets. Canned peas will work as well, just drain them and place them in a bowl lined with paper towels to dry them up as much as possible.
• Pickles – lots of pickles, this salad wouldn’t work without pickles.
• Mayonnaise and mustard – lots of mayo and lots of mustard. You can’t skip the mustard, it will give it a nice tang that is a must in this salad.
• Salt and pepper – to taste.

Other Ingredients You Can Add

Although using the above ingredients is the only way I’ve ever made this salad, there are lots of other ingredients you can use. Here are some suggestions:

Meat/Protein	Veggies	Garnish
Turkey	Celery	Roasted red peppers
Chicken	Onion	Olives
Pork loin	Parsnips	Hard Boiled Eggs
Hard Boiled Eggs	Mushrooms
Salmon	Olives

How To Make Beef Salad

1. Cook the beef: Add the beef to a pot of boiling water and cook it for about 2 hours. You can also use an Instant Pot to cook it faster. If using an Instant pot cook it on high pressure for 35 minutes. Transfer the meat to a bowl and let it cool before chopping.
2. Cook the potatoes and carrots: Add the potatoes and carrots to a large pot and cover with water. Season with the tsp of salt. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes and carrots until they are fork tender, should take about 15 minutes. Drain and cool slightly.
3. Prep the veggies and meat: Chop the meat, potatoes, carrots and pickles; they should all be small pieces about 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch. Drain all the juice from the diced pickles and the peas. I usually place them in a paper towel lined bowl to soak up all the extra liquid.
4. Make the salad: Add all the veggies and meat to a big bowl, then add the mayo and mustard, season with salt and pepper and mix everything together. You will end up with a big bowl of salad, traditionally we smooth out the top of the salad with a knife and spread more mayonnaise and smooth that out.
5. Serve: Serve salad cold, do not warm it up.

How To Serve

Typically we serve this as a side dish with our roast turkey or even as a starter before our main meal. We also, believe it or not, have it for breakfast on Christmas morning or Easter Sunday. If we have it for breakfast we serve it with bread.

So the great thing about this salad is that it can be served as a meal on its own or as a side. You’ll love it, it’s so filling and comforting.

Some Tips

My mom never uses a recipe to make this. She always says that the quantities for the ingredients should be somewhat equal. However, here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Make sure you use enough pickles. Usually I use a whole jar of pickles.
2. Place the peas and pickles in a bowl lined with paper towels to make sure you soak up all the extra liquid. If you don’t do this, as the salad sits, it will release liquid at the bottom of the bowl, which is not nice, but if it does just throw out the liquid or soak it up with paper towels.
3. Use a butter knife to even the top so that it’s shaped like a dome. Traditionally we top it with mayonnaise then decorate it with hard boiled eggs, roasted red peppers, and olives to make flowers.

How To Store Leftovers

This salad will last up to 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container. If stored in a bowl, make sure to cover it tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

This salad does not freeze well, so I wouldn’t recommend freezing leftovers.

More Must Try Romanian Recipes:

• Cabbage Rolls
• Stuffed Peppers
• Walnut Roll
• Meatball Soup
• Chicken Potato Soup
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Eggplant Dip