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    Home » Mediterranean recipes

    How To Make Nicoise Salad

    Published: Jan 24, 2020 · Modified: Mar 15, 2021 by Shadi HasanzadeNemati · This post may contain affiliate links .

    232 shares
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    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.

    Nicoise salad is a French salad that is composed. The ingredients are arranged beautifully on a bed of lettuce.

    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.

    Table Of Contents:
    • About this recipe
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • The dressing
    • Notes and tips
    • More salad recipes
    • Step-by-Step Recipe

    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.

    Tuna nicoise salad can be served as lunch or dinner.

    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.
    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

    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.
    To make this salad, chop all the veggies and slice the eggs. Assemble the salad with tuna, green beans and other ingredients. Serve with the dressing.

    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.
    Dijon dressing poured on nicoise salad.

    Did you make this recipe? I'd love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a 5-star🌟 rating below. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or subscribe to our newsletter to get a free e-Cookbook!

    More salad recipes

    • Burrata with Tomatoes and Peach
    • Turkish Smoky Eggplant Salad Recipe
    • Beet Salad Recipe With Feta And Zaatar
    • Ensalada Rusa (Russian Salad - Olivier Salad)

    Step-by-Step Recipe

    How To Make Nicoise Salad

    Shadi HasanzadeNemati
    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 this salad as a light lunch or dinner. 
    5 from 14 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine French
    Servings 4 servings
    Calories 520 kcal

    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. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 520kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 37gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 202mgSodium: 1105mgPotassium: 1040mgFiber: 7gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 2250IUVitamin C: 47mgCalcium: 127mgIron: 6mg
    Did you make this recipe? Let us know how it was by leaving a comment and a 5-star review!
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    232 shares

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jess

      July 22, 2021 at 9:07 am

      5 stars
      I'm always on the lookout for fresh salads to make for lunch while I work from home. This one is perfect!

      Reply
    2. Nathan

      July 22, 2021 at 8:45 am

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
    3. veenaazmanov

      July 22, 2021 at 7:52 am

      5 stars
      Love the presentation and love the colors. Combination delicious, healthy and yummy.

      Reply
    4. Elizabeth

      July 22, 2021 at 7:50 am

      5 stars
      One of my all time favorite salads! Such a great recipe! I’ll definitely be making this again!

      Reply
    5. Maria

      July 22, 2021 at 7:19 am

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
    6. Angela

      April 21, 2021 at 9:55 am

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
    7. Lindsay

      April 21, 2021 at 9:19 am

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
    8. Michelle

      April 21, 2021 at 9:09 am

      5 stars
      This is such a beautiful and vibrant salad! Love how substantial it is too -- definitely keeps me happy and full!

      Reply
    9. Julie Menghini

      April 21, 2021 at 9:05 am

      5 stars
      I like the idea of the dijon dressing on it. It adds just a little more flavor to an already fabulous salad.

      Reply
    10. Claudia Lamascolo

      April 21, 2021 at 8:29 am

      5 stars
      I absolutely love this kind of salad and this one is perfect for us in flavors!

      Reply
    11. Marisa F. Stewart

      January 26, 2020 at 12:18 pm

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
      • Shadi HasanzadeNemati

        January 27, 2020 at 8:03 am

        Thank you Marisa! Hope you enjoy making this salad!

        Reply
    12. Rebecca Hubbell

      January 26, 2020 at 12:02 pm

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
      • Shadi HasanzadeNemati

        January 27, 2020 at 8:03 am

        Glad to know you enjoyed it!

        Reply

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    232 shares