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This classic Nicoise salad is light, fresh, and colorful, and the perfect dish to make easy spring or summer lunches or brunch.
If I had to choose one parlor trick recipe I like to pull out of my pocket for entertaining it’s making a platter salad where everyone can serve themselves. Just like my Ultimate Italian Platter Salad, my Antipasto Salad Platter, and Greek Cobb Salad, this French-style Nicoise salad is perfect for book club, baby showers, wedding showers, ladies who lunch, or anyone who loves brunch. That’s because it’s light and healthy, simple to put together or be prepped ahead of serving, and makes for a help-yourself meal for everyone to dig into. It’s also a fun, deconstructed way of eating tuna salad.
In This Post
Why You’ll Love It
- This Nicoise salad is made primarily with pantry staples
- It’s easy to prepare and lends itself well to meal prep (you can hard-boil the eggs and potatoes, and make the dressing ahead of time)
- It’s fresh, healthy, colorful, and makes for a pretty presentation on a platter (great for entertaining!)
Nicoise Salad Ingredients
A classic Nicoise salad is comprised of tuna, tomatoes, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, green beans, olives, capers, and onion.
Here’s what I put in my Nicoise salad:
- Canned tuna — for the best flavor, use a high-quality tuna packed in olive oil for a nice, rich flavor
- Hard-boiled eggs — a classic, main ingredient in Nicoise salads
- Red onion — I prefer red over white or yellow in this recipe for color
- Capers —these pickled flower buds lend a briny pop to each bite (and tuna loves capers)
- Kalamata olives —these too add a nice briny bite
- Green beans —blanched for the best color and texture
- Tomatoes —I like using sweet cherry tomatoes
- Baby potatoes —creamy, white potatoes are best in a Nicoise salad
- Lemony Dijon vinaigrette dressing — for a fresh, zippy flavor that ties it all together
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Nicoise Salad
- Make the vinaigrette. Add all of the ingredients to a jar fitted with a lid, close tightly, shake well, and set aside.
- Boil the potatoes and toss with some of the vinaigrette. You’ll cook the potatoes until fork-tender. Halve the potatoes while still warm and place them in a bowl. drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette dressing and set aside to cool.
- Blanch the green beans. Add the green beans to the pot of hot water and simmer for 1 minute or until the green beans turn bright green. Drain and set aside to cool.
- Assemble your Nicoise salad. On a large platter, arrange the tuna, potatoes, green beans, halved tomatoes, boiled eggs, olives, red onion, capers, and hard-boiled eggs. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and drizzle the salad with the vinaigrette or serve it on the side.
Recipe Substitutions and Variations
- Add baby lettuce such as mixed greens, bibb, or even endive if you’d like.
- Try smoked or grilled salmon instead of tuna, or you could even use anchovies
- Use other types of briny olives
- Sliced radishes would be a lovely addition
- Try Nicoise salad with jammy eggs instead of hard-boiled eggs
- Instead of white potatoes, try using red or purple baby potatoes
- Top with fresh parsley for more color and freshness, if you like
FAQ and Recipe Tips
- Why is it called a Nicoise salad? Nicoise is French for a salad that originated in the coastal city of Nice, located on the French Riviera. Nicoise is pronounced, “nee-swaaz.”
- Use a good quality tuna packed in olive oil. Oil-packed tuna lends more flavor to your salad. Skip the standard Starkist and choose a higher quality tinned fish that flakes in big chunks. The quality makes a huge difference.
- Salt your potato water for more flavorful potatoes. Salted water adds flavor as the potatoes cook. To avoid pitting your pot, wait to add the salt until the water boils.
- Blanch the green beans in the reserved potato water. A quick dunk for 30 seconds in the hot water takes away green bean’s raw flavor.
- Dress the potatoes with some of the dijon vinaigrette (I substitute the vinegar with lemon) while they’re warm. Hot potatoes absorb the dressing, adding another layer of flavor.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo andtag me on Instagramwith #foodiecrusheats.
4.96 from 22 votes
THE BEST Nicoise Salad
This classic Nicoise salad is light, fresh, and colorful, and the perfect dish to make easy spring or summer lunches or brunch.
Print Save
Course Salad
Cuisine French
Keyword nicoise salad
Prep Time 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes minutes
Total Time 40 minutes minutes
Servings 6
Calories 311kcal
Ingredients
For the Lemon Vinaigrette
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Nicoise Salad
- 2 cups petite white or red potatoes
- 6 ounces fresh green beans , stems trimmed
- 3 ounces white tuna in olive oil , drained
- 5 ounces kalamata olives , about 1 cup, drained
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 4 ounces capers , about ⅓ heaping cup, drained
- 8 ounces cherry tomatoes , about 1 ½ cups, sliced in half
- 4 hard-boiled eggs , halved or quartered
Instructions
First, make the vinaigrette by adding all of the ingredients to a jar fitted with a lid, close tightly, shake well, and set aside.
Add the potatoes to a medium pot and fill with enough water to cover the potatoes by 1 inch then bring to a boil. Add 1-2 teaspoons of kosher salt, reduce to a rolling simmer, and cook until tender so the potatoes can be pierced with a fork or skewer (about 15 minutes). Use a spider or strainer to transfer the potatoes from the pot, reserving the hot water. Cut the potatoes in half and place in a bowl then while still warm, drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette dressing and set aside to cool.
Add the green beans to the pot of hot water and simmer for 1 minute or until the green beans turn bright green. Drain the water and set the beans aside to cool.
On a large platter, arrange the tuna, potatoes, green beans, halved tomatoes, boiled eggs, olives, red onion, capers, and hard-boiled eggs. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and drizzle the salad with the vinaigrette or serve it on the side.
Nutrition
Calories: 311kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 129mg | Sodium: 1250mg | Potassium: 626mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 682IU | Vitamin C: 34mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 2mg
More Stellar Salads for Entertaining
- Roasted Beet and Ricotta Salad
- Caprese Salad Platter
- Crab and Shrimp Seafood Cobb Salad
- Italian Salad Platter
- Greek Cobb Salad
- Antipasto Salad Platter
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