Last updated on March 23rd, 2018 at 03:05 pm
Oriental Potato Salad with olives, eggs and red onions! An easy, delicious and hearty potato salad ready in only 30 minutes!
Every once in a while I’ll share a recipe with you that I grew up with, and this oriental potato salad is one of those. Not really sure why it’s called oriental potato salad, but that’s what my mom always called it, so that’s what I’m calling it.
This was the kind of salad that my mom would always make whenever she was really busy and tired after a long day at work, but no matter how tired she was she still had to put dinner on the table for her family. This salad was her go to meal for such times because all that’s really required is to peel some potatoes, then boil the potatoes and the eggs and just toss everything together. It was easy, but still a very satisfying dinner for us. It’s also great if you’re looking for a satisfying meatless dish.
I would say this is a traditional Romanian salad because everyone I knew growing up in Romania would make this, although pretty much everyone would have their own version of it, so this is my mom’s version. It’s a salad that you could put together in minutes and it’s delicious, healthy and it can be a main meal as well.
I still make this many times for dinner, because it’s very filling, yet still light enough that you don’t feel like you ate like a pig afterwards. Plus you have your proteins and everything. As I always say, simple recipes are the best, they can still be loaded with delicious flavors and you don’t have to slave in the kitchen to make them. Hope you try it, it’s similar to the American potato salad, but I think it’s way better and healthier because you don’t load it with empty calories from the mayo.
Trust me, this salad is good, you’ll love it!
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Oriental Potato Salad with olives, eggs and red onions! An easy, delicious and hearty potato salad ready in only 30 minutes!
- 6 medium potatoes cut into cubes and boiled
- 1 small red onion chopped
- 5 eggs boiled
- 1/2 cup black olives sliced or whole
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- fresh parsley chopped, for garnish
- Peel the potatoes and cut them up in small cubes. Boil them for about 20 minutes or until they are tender when you stick a fork in them.
- Boil the eggs and cut them up in smaller pieces.
- Mix all the ingredients together gently and garnish with parsley.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Please note that nutritional information can vary greatly based on products used.
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Recipe originally shared March, 2011.
Genius! Love love love the idea of an oriental potato salad. Another recipe to add to the list of pot-luck/party go-tos!
Looks like a version of Salade Olivier, which I learned as a vegetarian “russian” potato salad with potatoes, eggs, pickles for salt (instead of your olives) and carrots and peas for veggie (instead of your onion) but there are tons of variations worldwide.
Yeah I think this is quite a popular salad in Eastern Europe so you’re right, I’m pretty sure the Russian version is quite similar.
Yes, in fact it is what the cookbooks call Russian Salad and I think we call it “oriental” either because of a snobbish touch or due to expression “borș rusesc-Russian borscht” by which we understand a “clumsy” dish with all the available ingredients in it.
However, it’s yummy and I am glad you show the people there a “small piece” of Romania.
The Russian salad, is another recipe that in Romania is called “Beouf salad” and is with mayonnaise.
This is delicious and more halthy 😉
Oh, I haven’t had salata orientala in years, I should make it myself soon. And you can definitely cannot change the name, even if it doesn’t have anything oriental in it (like suggested above), that is the original name and it has to stay like that. 🙂
Thank you, I totally agree with you. This is what it’s called in Romania, which is why I’m not changing the name of it.
Wow this is a really cool idea for potato salad! It’s always fun to bring something a little surprising to a picnic or potluck =)
Hi Jo,
Thanks for sharing another great recipe. I love your blog and enjoy receiving new recipes every morning. With all due respect to both you and your mother, may I ask you to consider renaming this salad, given the reasons for the name, “Oriental”, are unknown and the recipe doesn’t seem to call for any typical Asian ingredients? If it’s Romanian, maybe that makes more sense…? Thank you!
I love the idea of olives in a potato salad… need to give this a try