Creamed Herring Salad

By
Barbara Rolek
Barbara Rolek
Barbara Rolek is a former chef who became a cooking school instructor and award-winning food writer.
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Updated on 12/11/19
Creamed herring salad recipe

​The Spruce / Katarina Zunic 
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Freeze Time: 60 mins
Total: 100 mins
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
864 Calories
25g Fat
112g Carbs
51g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories 864
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 25g 32%
Saturated Fat 7g 34%
Cholesterol 303mg 101%
Sodium 569mg 25%
Total Carbohydrate 112g 41%
Dietary Fiber 14g 52%
Total Sugars 28g
Protein 51g
Vitamin C 46mg 231%
Calcium 267mg 21%
Iron 7mg 41%
Potassium 2987mg 64%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Creamed herring salad starts with pickled herring, a much-loved Eastern European treatment of this fish. Pickled herring are featured in oil, creamed, even fried, and appear at Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, Carnival, Lent, weddings, baptisms, and on and on.

In Polish, this is known as sałatka śledziowa w śmietanie. In Russian, it's seledka pod smetannym, in Ukrainian, it's oseledetsʹ salat z vershkamy, in Lithuanian, it's kremas silkių salotos.

This herring salad is made with potatoes, hard-cooked eggs, and sour cream. Sometimes grated beets are added. It's often eaten as a main course and on fast days.

Ingredients

  • 2 large russet potatoes

  • 4 fillets herring

  • 1 medium (3" dia) apple

  • 1 tablespoon yellow onion

  • 1 spear dill pickle

  • 1/2 cup sour cream

  • 2 tablespoons vinegar

  • 1 dash pepper

  • 1 large egg

  • 5 sprigs fresh dill, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for creamed herring
    ​The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  2. Dice the potatoes and place in a medium bowl.

    Dice the potatoes
    ​The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  3. Add finely chopped herring, apple, onion, and pickle, and mix well.

    Finely chopped herring
    ​The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  4. In a separate small bowl, whisk together sour cream and vinegar and combine with herring and the other ingredients.

    Whisk sour cream and vinegar
    ​The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  5. Finely chop the egg white and transfer to the salad.

    Chop egg white
    ​The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  6. Crumble the egg yolk into the salad and mix well.

    Crumble egg yolk
    ​The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  7. The salad should be salty enough from the pickled herring, but add pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve and garnish with dill sprig, if desired.

    Creamed herring salad
    ​The Spruce / Katarina Zunic