Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Rosolje
Estonia's vivid pink festive salad of diced beetroot, potato, herring, egg and apple in a creamy mustard dressing.
Estonian · easy · serves 8
prep 40 min · cook 40 min
~330 cal · 10g protein · 20g carbs · 24g fat · 3g fiber · 6g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Rosolje is the vivid magenta salad that appears on every Estonian holiday table, its name (from the Russian for cucumber brine) hinting at the pickles that are as essential as the beetroot. Boiled beets, potatoes and eggs are diced small with salted herring, tart apple, onion and pickled cucumber, then bound in a dressing of sour cream, mayonnaise and mustard.
The beetroot dyes everything a deep, cheerful pink, and every family guards its own proportions, some richer in herring, some in meat, some meatless. Made ahead and chilled so the flavours meld, it is festive, tangy and unmistakably Estonian.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 8
1 lb beetroot, boiled and diced
1 lb potatoes, boiled and diced
7 oz salted or pickled herring fillet, diced
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 tart apple, diced
3 pickled cucumbers, diced
1 small onion, finely diced
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp mustard
to taste salt and pepper
Instructions
1
Boil the beets and potatoes separately until tender, cool, peel and dice into small even cubes. Hard-boil and chop the eggs.
2
Combine the beetroot, potato, herring, apple, pickled cucumber and onion in a large bowl.
3
Whisk the sour cream, mayonnaise and mustard with salt and pepper, and fold gently through the salad.
✎ Chef’s note
Fold gently so the cubes stay distinct rather than mashing into a purée.
4
Fold in the chopped egg, then cover and chill at least a few hours or overnight so the flavours meld and the colour deepens.
5
Serve cold, garnished with a little extra egg or dill.
Estonian festive tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tartu. Tartu is Estonia's old university town, eating hearty pork with sauerkraut, blood sausage at Christmas, and black rye bread at nearly every meal. Potatoes, curd cheese, forest berries, and Baltic herring fill out the year.
🗺️
Estonia. Mulgikapsad comes from the Mulgi region in the south and is not simply pork and sauerkraut: pearl barley goes in with them and cooks down until the whole thing thickens. Verivorst is pork blood with barley groats, onion and marjoram, made at Christmas and served with soured cream and lingonberry jam.
🌍
Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Estonia
MulgikapsadSauerkraut braised with pork and pearl barley until soft, sweet, and deeply savory, southern Estonia's pride.
KamaToasted grain-and-pea flour stirred into kefir or buttermilk with a little honey, a uniquely Estonian breakfast.
KiluvõileibAn open rye sandwich of salty Baltic sprats with egg and onion, a classic Estonian and Baltic bite.
Browse all Estonia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Whisk.
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
Make it a Estonia meal
KringelDessert
MulgikapsadDinner
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Rosolje?
Estonia's vivid pink festive salad of diced beetroot, potato, herring, egg and apple in a creamy mustard dressing.
Where does Rosolje come from?
Rosolje is a Estonian dish from Tartu, Estonia.
Can Rosolje be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Rosolje recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Rosolje safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Rosolje take to make?
About 80 minutes total (40 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 8.
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