Niçoise Salad

A Nįcoise Salad in a bowl with utensils.

Niçoise Salad, or salade niçoise, is a salad from the French city of Nice. This salad showcases the abundant produce and fresh tuna of the coastal town in a fresh, colorful salad hearty enough to serve as a main meal.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 25

Total Time 30

Servings servings

Calories 373kcal

Author Meggan Hill

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
2 tablespoons minced shallot
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:

1 pound baby waxy potatoes such as Yukon gold, scrubbed and unpeeled
8 ounces slender green beans such as haricots verts (see note 1)
5 ounces mixed field greens (about 7 cups, see note 2)
5 small tomatoes quartered (such as Campari or Roma tomatoes, see note 3)
4 hard-boiled eggs peeled and quartered (see note 4)
1/2 cup Niçoise olives (see note 5)
2 (7 ounce) pouches tuna packed in water (see note 6)
8 anchovy filets optional
fresh thyme for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To make the lemon-shallot vinaigrette, in a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, shallot, garlic, Dijon mustard, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Let the flavors blend while preparing the salad.
Set out a large bowl of ice water for chilling the potatoes and the green beans. In a medium saucepan, add potatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, and cold water to cover by 1 inch.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook uncovered until potatoes are tender and can easily be pierced by a knife, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain well and immediately plunge into ice water to stop the cooking.
To the same saucepan, bring 1 quart water and 1 teaspoon salt to boil. Add the green beans and boil until tender-crisp, but still bright green, about 3 minutes. Drain well and add to the ice water with the potatoes to stop the cooking. Drain the potatoes and green beans well and cut the potatoes into quarters.
In a medium bowl, add the field greens, drizzle with 2 tablespoons vinaigrette, and toss to coat. Arrange on the bottom of a large platter.
Arrange the quartered potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and olives in piles around the sides of the platter with the tuna in the middle. Drizzle the potatoes, green beans, and tomatoes with vinaigrette, serving the remaining vinaigrette on the side.
Season the hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, and tomatoes generously with salt and pepper and garnish the platter with fresh thyme.

Notes

Green beans: Remove the stem ends with a knife or kitchen scissors. If your beans have them, remove any tough strings that run along the length of the beans. There’s no need to trim off the tails.
Greens: Use any lettuce or greens such as romaine, arugula, or even a bunch of watercress.
Tomatoes: Or use a pint of grape tomatoes (I like to cut tiny tomatoes in half).
Hard-boiled eggs: Store-bought hard-boiled eggs are widely available now and the easiest way to get this salad on the table. My favorite brand is Vital Farms hard-boiled eggs. Or, you can hard-boil eggs yourself in about 15 minutes.
Niçoise olives: Grown in the southeastern region of Nice in France, Niçoise olives are a classic component of this salad. You can buy Niçoise olives online or you can substitute kalamata olives.
Tuna: I love the quality of tuna sold in foil pouches but you can substitute three 5-ounce cans of tuna instead.
Yield: This Niçoise Salad makes a large platter of salad, enough for at least 4 servings of salad.
Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Nutrition