What is Salad Olvieh?
Salad Olvieh (Persian «سالاد الویه», salad-e olvieh) is Iran's much-loved version of the old Russian Olivier — the dish many people simply call "Russian salad". It is shredded cooked chicken, boiled potato and egg, finely diced pickled cucumber and green peas, all bound in a lemony mayonnaise with sometimes a little mustard. It is the salad that turns up at every Persian party, birthday and picnic: served cold, scooped into fresh sangak or lavash as a sandwich, or mounded on a platter and garnished with olives and pickles. A quick, honest note: this is a home recipe. Our kitchen on Jumeira Street is a Tehran-style kalle pache house, so we do not make Olvieh ourselves — but we are happy to show you how to make it properly at home.
Why must you use pickled cucumber, not fresh?
The single detail that separates a good Olvieh from a sad, watery one is the cucumber. Persian cooks use khiar shoor — cucumbers brined in salt water, not sweet vinegar gherkins — for their firm bite and gentle sourness. Fresh cucumber weeps its water into the mayonnaise and turns the salad into a puddle within hours. Dice the khiar shoor small and squeeze out the brine firmly in your hands or a clean cloth before it goes in. If you keep a jar of Persian pickles at home this is their moment, and if you want to make your own, see our guide to Persian torshi and pickles.
What ingredients do you need for Salad Olvieh?
This makes a generous party bowl for six to eight people.
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 500 g), or 3 boneless thighs
- 4 medium potatoes (about 600 g), boiled in their skins
- 4 eggs, hard-boiled
- 4–5 Persian pickled cucumbers / khiar shoor (about 200 g), finely diced and squeezed dry
- 1 cup (about 150 g) cooked green peas — fresh, frozen or drained canned
- About 1 to 1¼ cups (250–300 g) mayonnaise, added gradually
- Juice of 1 lemon (2–3 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon or mild yellow mustard (optional)
- ½ an onion, 1 bay leaf and ¼ teaspoon turmeric, for poaching the chicken
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- To serve: olives, extra khiar shoor, sliced tomato, parsley, and sangak or lavash bread
How do you make Salad Olvieh step by step?
Everything is cooked, cooled and diced small before it meets the mayonnaise. Give yourself time to chill it — this salad is always better the next day.
- Poach the chicken: put the breasts in a pot with half an onion, the bay leaf, the turmeric and a little salt, cover with water and simmer gently for 20–25 minutes until just cooked through. Let them cool in the liquid.
- Boil the potatoes whole, in their skins, for 20–25 minutes until a knife slides in easily but they are not falling apart. Drain and cool completely, then peel.
- Hard-boil the eggs for 9–10 minutes, cool them in cold water and peel.
- Shred the cooled chicken very finely by hand, or pulse it briefly — you want soft threads, not chunks.
- Grate or finely dice the potatoes and eggs to the same small size (keep back one egg for garnish if you like).
- Dice the khiar shoor small and squeeze out the brine firmly. Drain the peas well.
- Combine the chicken, potato, egg, pickles and peas in a large bowl. Season with black pepper and only a little salt — the pickles are already salty.
- Whisk the mayonnaise with the lemon juice and mustard. Fold it in a few spoonfuls at a time, stopping the moment the salad is creamy and holds together.
- Cover and chill for at least 2–3 hours, ideally overnight, before serving.
How do you cook and shred the chicken?
Gentle poaching keeps the chicken moist, where fast boiling makes it stringy and dry. The turmeric and onion in the water give it a subtle Persian background flavour, and the strained liquid is worth keeping. Shred the meat by hand along the grain into fine threads, or pulse it in short bursts — over-processing turns it to paste. A splash of that reserved poaching liquid loosens a stiff salad later without adding more mayonnaise.
How much mayonnaise is the right amount?
The most common mistake is drowning Olvieh in mayonnaise. The mayo is a binder, not a sauce: add it gradually and stop the moment the mixture just clings together, when you can still see the individual pieces. Lemon juice and a little mustard cut the richness and stop it feeling heavy. If it looks dry after chilling, loosen it with a spoon of the reserved poaching liquid or another squeeze of lemon rather than more mayo.
Prep the five parts
| Component | How to prepare | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast | Poach gently, cool, shred fine | Soft threads bind evenly through the salad |
| Potato | Boil in the skin, cool, then peel and grate | Skin-on stops it soaking up water |
| Egg | Hard-boil 9–10 min, cool, grate | Even small dice with no grey ring |
| Khiar shoor | Dice small, squeeze dry | Firm bite without watering the salad |
| Green peas | Cook briefly, drain well | Sweet pops of colour, no extra liquid |
How should you serve and store Salad Olvieh?
Mound the chilled salad on a platter, smooth the top, spread a thin layer of mayonnaise over it and garnish with olives, extra khiar shoor, sliced tomato, grated egg and parsley. Serve it cold with warm sangak or lavash so everyone can build their own sandwich. Because it is made with chicken, egg and mayonnaise, keep it in the fridge and serve it straight from cold; eat it within about two days, and at a Dubai picnic carry it in a cool box and do not leave it out in the heat for more than an hour. A glass of cold doogh alongside is the classic Persian pairing — here is how to make doogh at home.
Can you order a Persian meal in Dubai instead?
Olvieh is a home-kitchen classic, and it is at its best when you make it yourself. If you would rather leave the cooking to us, that is exactly what we do — though with a different dish: at Shaun the Sheep, one kitchen at 64 Jumeira Street, Jumeirah 1, we cook Tehran-style kalle pache around the clock, with fresh sangak, torshi and doogh on the side. We deliver across all of Dubai, with delivery free over AED 300, and pickup and dine-in are always open; the lamb is halal. Make a bowl of Olvieh for the table, then order the main from the menu and order page, or reserve a table. We do not make Olvieh ourselves — that one is yours to master.