Published 2/27/2022 • Updated 6/15/2022
The Most Delicious Nicoise Salad
If you are a salad person that loves a fresh and crunchy salad as their main dish, this recipe is for you. This Nicoise salad is compromised of some classic Nicoise salad ingredients along with some new ingredients we added in. This salad is a perfect salad anytime of year, but especially in the summer when you have fresh vegetables from the garden or the farmers market.
Featured Ingredients
This Nicoise salad may look complex, but it is made with very traditional and easy to find vegetables. This specific Nicoise salad recipe takes an extra step to dress each vegetable section separately, but all the ingredients are easy to find. We recommend following the order in which we make each separate component of this dish. If you’ve made a Nicoise salad before, feel free to go rouge! This is not a 10 minute salad. Think of a Nicoise salad as a meal, not a salad. It is meant to take some time. Trust us, it’s work it. This salad is delicious right away or the next day. The flavors get better the longer the ingredients sit in the dressing.
Tomatoes: tomatoes are a key ingredient in most Nicoise salads. We used cherry tomatoes, but you can use larger sandwich tomatoes and quarter them, as well as heirloom tomatoes. Potatoes: potatoes are another classic ingredient in Nicoise salad. We prefer to use a smaller and creamier potato. We chose to use a mixture of baby red potatoes and baby creamy Yukon golds. The combination of the two potatoes add color and texture. Feel free to use whichever potatoes you prefer. Green Beans: find yourself fresh green beans and be sure to trim the ends of the green beans before preparing them. Eggs: large hard boiled eggs are another classic ingredient and source of protein in this salad. Tuna: traditionally, a Nicoise salad is made with anchovies or canned tuna that is soaked in olive oil. Olives: olives from Nice are the classic olive to use for this salad. However, any salty and delicious salad would work. We found the most amazing anchovy stuffed olives that we highly recommend.Capers: another burst of salty goodness in this salad are capers.
Fresh herbs are key! We are big fans of adding fresh herbs to salads. This Nicoise salad is no different. We add fresh mint, parsley, and dill to different parts of this salad and it adds so much. Do not skip the fresh herbs!
How to Make a Nicoise Salad
Prepare Each layer of the Salad
This salad is compromised for 6 different small, separately prepared and dressed components that are served on a platter. You will never eat a Nicoise salad the same way again. First up? Prepare those veggies.
cucumbers green onionsEnglish peas smoked salmon radishes seared tuna
Tomatoes- we suggest preparing the tomatoes first. You want to salt the tomatoes to draw out veggies and allow the tomatoes, onion, and parsley to sit in the vinegar dressing. The longer you let the ingredients sit, the more flavorful they will be. Potatoes- next up is the potatoes. Half the baby potatoes and place them in salt water. Bring the water to a boil until they are fork tender but not mushy. While you are boiling the potatoes, mix up the most delicious creamy dressing that is made with fresh dill, lemon juice, and a few other ingredients. You want to strain the potatoes from the water and gently rinse them with cold water to cool them off. Pour the dressing over the cooled potatoes and gently mix the ingredients together. Beans- though you can use raw green beans for this recipe we prefer to use blanched green beans. Why? Blanched green beans cook the beans just enough, but leave them salty and crisp. Eggs- how long you cook your eggs for this salad is up to you! We prefer to serve a Nicoise salad with a jammy medium-boiled egg. Check out our post on how to cook hardboiled eggs just the way you like them. Dress the green beans with olive oil, salt, and fresh mint.
Assemble the Salad (Make it look Gorgeous)
Once you have prepared the tomatoes, potatoes, beans, and eggs it’s time to assemble the salad on a platter. If you are serving this salad immediately: Find a large platter that all of the ingredients will fit on. If you don’t have a large platter, we love serving this salad on a baking sheet in place of a plater. Add the tomatoes to one end of the platter, then the potatoes, and then the beans. Do not mix the salad yet. Half the hard boiled eggs and place them over the platter. Lastly, add the chunked tuna, olives, and capers to the platter. Serve! If you are preparing this salad for later: Store each component of this salad separately in airtight containers until right before serving.
Storage
Store your Nicoise salad in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Salad Recipes
Broccoli Salad RecipeSpring Mix Salad Steak Salad RecipeMexican Street Corn Salad
