Name: Romanian Mushroom Salad Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 jar canned mushrooms; 3 cloves garlic; 2 pickles ( in brine); 1/2 bunch fresh dill; 2 tbsp mayo; salt (to taste)

I have always loved the Romanian mushroom salad. It was the one I would most look forward to, every time my family would have a celebratory dinner and the table would get filled with different appetisers. This Romanian mushroom salad recipe is so easy to make, but it packs so many fresh and bold flavours. It is definitely a show stopper, and without your guests knowing that you’d have only spent 10 minutes making it.

This is my mushroom salad recipe, the way I like it. It’s quite funny that this much loved recipe uses both high quality ingredients but also canned mushrooms. Because they are the best for this particular recipe. On the other hand, you will need a good quality mayo, unless you make it yourself from scratch. You’ll also need proper pickles. If you are a fan of my blog you already know my feud with the cucumbers pickled in vinegar rather than brine. They are sweet, hard, and instead of enhancing a dish, they are running it. We, Romanians, love our pickles, and we won’t be happy unless they are the best – which to be fair, are only if we pickle them at home. But joke aside, you can find very good pickles at the Polish and Romanian shops, but also in Asda and Sainsbury’s, at the fridges with international products.

Contents show

The Ingredients for This Romanian Mushroom Salad

A tub of Hellmann's mayo, a can of sliced mushrooms, a garlic clove and a ramekin with two pickles, all on a wooden chopping board.

You only need a few ingredients to make this Romanian mushroom salad. I have never made this recipe with fresh mushrooms, and if I think about it, I don’t see how they would fit in. The best mushrooms for this recipe come in cans or jars, and most often are already sliced. The other ingredients needed for this recipe are good quality mayo, pickles, garlic, and dill. I like to put a lot of garlic and a lot of fresh dill.

How to Make the Romanian Mushroom Salad

All the ingredients chopped in a black bowl, before the mayo is added

Firstly, I recommend making the Romanian mushroom salad the day before you plan to serve it. This is because the flavours need to infuse, and the salad needs to get cold. If it’s warm, it’s not very good.

Making this Romanian mushroom salad recipe is very easy and straightforward. All you have to do is chop all the ingredients small and mix them together. And voila, the salad is ready!

Notes and Tips:

A close-up of the salad inside a black bowl, surrounded by a yellow tea towel.

Whilst many people insist on making their own mayo, I have never really been good at it nor do I have the time and patience. So I buy it ‘ready made’. As long as you pick a really good mayo, such as Hellmann’s, you will still achieve a great taste for this salad.
You will need good pickles for this salad. I recommend the cucumbers preserved in brine rather than vinegar. Make sure that there is no sugar added. I usually buy my pickles from the Turkish shop, which has about 20 different options, including Romanian brands.
You can adjust the quantity of each ingredient to your taste. I like my salad quite garlicky, so I add three cloves of garlic. You can add two, or even one if you are not a fan of garlic. I also love dill, so I always add more. I always taste as I make the salad, and have extra ingredients so that I can achieve that perfect balance of flavours that I love so much in this mushroom salad.