Nicoise salad is a French salad that's made with fresh vegetables, hard boiled eggs and tuna. This salad is ready in 30 minutes and you can serve it as a light lunch or dinner.
Salads play an important role in Mediterranean cuisine as this cuisine uses fresh vegetables on a regular basis. You can make light salads such as Greek salad and Caprese salad or more filling ones like our favorite Chicken shawarma salad and Mediterranean tuna salad. Today's recipe comes from the shores of the Mediterranean sea with a French root.
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About this recipe
Nicoise salad originated in the town of Nice in France. Traditionally, this salad is made with tomatoes, anchovies or tuna and hard boiled eggs. These days, it's common to add green beans and potatoes to this salad as well.
Same as cobb salad, nicoise salad is a composed salad, meaning that its ingredients are arranged beautifully instead of tossed together. This salad is perfect for entertaining and can be a showstopper at a party, gathering or a summer brunch.
There seems to be some strong opinions about what should and shouldn't go into this French salad. While some believe that only raw vegetables should be used, there are many versions that use cooked green beans or potatoes on the salad. You can read more about this salad, its history and variations on Wikipedia.
Ingredients
Making this salad could take some time because of the number of ingredients that are used in the recipe. To make salad nicoise, you need the following ingredients:
- Potatoes: You can use new potatoes or yukon gold potatoes. Peel and chop them into 1 ½ inch pieces.
- Green beans: If you can find young and crisp green beans, you don't need to cook them. Otherwise it's best to cook them for a few minutes.
- Eggs: We use hard boiled eggs for this salad. You can use my instant pot hard boiled eggs recipe.
- Nicoise olives: You can use Kalamata olives instead of nicoise olives.
- Tuna: It's best to use tuna in olive oil as it has great texture and flavor.
Instructions
It's best to prepare all the ingredients before assembling the salad:
- Boil the the potatoes until cooked and tender. Drain and set aside.
- Bring some water to boil in a saucepan and add the green beans. Boil for just 5 minutes and then transfer to a bowl of ice water. This is for the beans to keep their vibrant green color.
- Make the hard boiled eggs, let them cool completely. Then peel them and slice them in half.
- Chop the lettuce and tomatoes, slice the red bell pepper and halve the olives.
- Open the can of tuna and drain the oil.
- Once you have all the ingredients ready, start assembling the salad. Fill the platter with the lettuce and top with the tomatoes, potatoes, eggs, olives, pepper, green beans and tuna.
The dressing
This salad is already so flavorful that you can simply serve it with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. I made a simple dijon dressing using lemon juice, olive oil, dijon mustard, salt and pepper. However, this step is completely optional.
Notes and tips
- This is a tuna nicoise salad, however, you can also made a salmon nicoise salad by swapping tuna for salmon. You can use this baked salmon recipe.
- I used boiled potatoes for this salad but you can also roast the potatoes in the oven and add them to the salad.
- You can add other vegetables to this salad such as capers, corn, beans, or radishes.
- In addition to lettuce, you can use other salad greens such as spinach and arugula.
- The leftovers should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
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Step-by-Step Recipe
How To Make Nicoise Salad
Ingredients
- 2 yukon gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
- 8 oz green beans
- 4 large hard boiled eggs
- 1 head lettuce washed and chopped
- 2 cans tuna in olive oil drained
- ½ red bell pepper sliced
- 1 cup nicoise olives or kalamata olives
- 2 roma tomatoes cut into large pieces
- 1 shallot sliced
Dijon Dressing
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the potatoes: Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with water and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain and set aside.
- Cook the green beans: While the potatoes are cooking, fill a medium sized pot halfway with water and bring it to boil. Cook the green beans for 5 minutes. Take them out of the boiling water and place them immediately in a bowl filled with ice water. This would help the green beans to keep their color. Drain and set aside.
- Assemble: Place the lettuce in a large plate or a shallow bowl. Place chunks of tuna in the middle and arrange the bell pepper slices, olives, tomatoes, shallot, cooked potatoes and green beans on the salad.
Dressing
- Place all the ingredients in a mason jar and place the lid on. Shake well until all ingredients are incorporated. Drizzle over salad and serve.
Video
Notes
- This is a tuna nicoise salad, however, you can also made a salmon nicoise salad by swapping tuna for salmon. You can use this baked salmon recipe.
- I used boiled potatoes for this salad but you can also roast the potatoes in the oven and add them to the salad.
- You can add other vegetables to this salad such as capers, corn, beans, or radishes.
- In addition to lettuce, you can use other salad greens such as spinach and arugula.
- The leftovers should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
Jess
I'm always on the lookout for fresh salads to make for lunch while I work from home. This one is perfect!
Nathan
I love a good salad, and this one is packed with so many yummy ingredients! I love the suggestion to swap out salmon for the tuna too; I think I'll try it both ways!
veenaazmanov
Love the presentation and love the colors. Combination delicious, healthy and yummy.
Elizabeth
One of my all time favorite salads! Such a great recipe! I’ll definitely be making this again!
Maria
This salad looks so beautiful! I haven't tried this yet but I'm convinced when I saw your recipe. Thank you for sharing this healthy salad and the clear instructions.
Angela
Love a good Nicoise salad and this one is perfection! Perfect combo of flavors and I love the step-by-step instructions. Thanks for sharing!
Lindsay
I love any kind of salad that also serves as a meal. Tuna and hardboiled eggs are a go-to combo for me, and this salad was delicious with the fresh homemade dressing!
Michelle
This is such a beautiful and vibrant salad! Love how substantial it is too -- definitely keeps me happy and full!
Julie Menghini
I like the idea of the dijon dressing on it. It adds just a little more flavor to an already fabulous salad.
Claudia Lamascolo
I absolutely love this kind of salad and this one is perfect for us in flavors!
Marisa F. Stewart
I could live on this type of salad. I am such a huge fan of hard-cooked eggs as well as tuna. Fresh veggies along the proteins I love is perfect for me right now, bathing suit season is right around the corner and I don't want to wait to the last minute. This salad will be my go-to meal.
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Thank you Marisa! Hope you enjoy making this salad!
Rebecca Hubbell
I used to only get this salad at restaurants but decided to try this recipe and make it at home and it did not disappoint! Delish!
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Glad to know you enjoyed it!