My version of the classic French niçoise salad is easy to prepare and adapt to your taste. Most of the individual components can be prepared in advance and quickly combined to create a delicious meal.
My favorite salad in the summer is the niçoise. The niçoise salad means “of Nice”, it’s origin city in France. It’s full of fresh vegetables and canned or fresh tuna, making it the perfect dish to serving while dinning al fresco with a glass of chilled wine.
I like to serve this salad on a large white serving platter. Each of the ingredients stands out and makes for a visually appealing presentation, but you can certainly just mix them all in a big bowl.
INGREDIENTS + VARIATIONS
Although this recipe is made with traditional niçoise ingredients, you can adapt to your taste. Hate olives? Leave them off! Vegan? Skip the tuna and egg in favor of your favorite beans.
Dressing: Traditionally served with a light vinaigrette, I like to lightly dress my salad with a creamy herb dressing instead. If you prefer a less creamy dressing, simply omit the greek yogurt and instead use a total of ⅛ cup olive oil, 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and 1 tablespoon dijon mustard with the rest of the ingredients.
Vegetables: I usually include butter lettuce, green beans, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, olives, and fresh herbs, but sometimes I like to add anchovies, sliced bell peppers, or thinly sliced radishes.
Tuna: My favorite tuna for this recipe is solid yellowfin tuna in oil. It’s a tender yet rich tuna.
Meat-free alternatives: If you are vegan or vegetarian, you can also skip the egg and tuna, substituting some plant based protein like chick peas or white beans.
EQUIPMENT
STORAGE
The individual prepped components of this dish without dressing on them last in the fridge for 3-4 days. Once dressed served immediately.
If you like this recipe, try my pan bagnat crostini for another great tuna recipe or my marinated herb white beans.
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Easy Niçoise Salad
- Yield: 2
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
My version of the classic French Salad Niçoise is easy to prepare and adapt to your taste. Most of the individual components can be prepared in advance and quickly combined to create a delicious meal. Pair with your favorite wine in the summer while dinning al fresco!
Ingredients
Salad
8 large butter lettuce leaves
6 oz french style green beans
4-6 small white potatoes
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced in half
6 oz can of tuna packed in oil
½ cup cherry tomatoes
¼ cup whole or chopped black or green olives
½ cup sliced cucumbers
⅛ cup chopped soft herbs such as cilantro, parsley, dill
fresh ground cracked pepper
Creamy Herb Dressing
½ cup whole milk greek yogurt
1 cup chopped soft herbs such as cilantro, parsley, dill, tarragon, mint, chives
1 clove garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Add 2 cups of ice and water to a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
- Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil. Add green beans and blanch for 2 minutes. Using tongs, remove green beans and add to bowl with water and ice to stop cooking.
- Bring pot of water back up to a boil and add potatoes. Cook until fork tender, about 12-14 minutes. Remove from water and set aside.
- Add all dressing ingredients to a food processor. Pulse until herbs are finely chopped.
- On a large platter or plate, arrange lettuce then top with green beans, potatoes, eggs, tuna, cherry tomatoes, olives and cucumbers. Drizzle with dressing then top with chopped herbs and fresh ground black pepper. Bon appetite!
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: French
This is one of my favorite salads! Excited to try with the creamy dressing instead of the usual vinaigrette.
So great! Just like they serve in France!
This recipe was really good. The dressing made more than I needed though.
Beautiful dish that I’ll be making all summer! Thanks!
Same here! So glad you like it!
I have been making a version of this once a week and love it. It’s been a great way for the kids to eat more veggies. Thanks!