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Easy Niçoise Salad

July 11, 2024

Our healthy, easy Niçoise salad recipe is just begging to be paired with long, lazy summer evenings and plenty of chilled rosé.

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Easy Niçoise Salad with soft boiled eggs, potatoes, green beans

The Easiest Niçoise Salad Recipe

Niçoise salad—or, in French, salade Niçoise—is a classic Mediterraean dish. It hails from Nice, on the French Riviera and it’s just right for sunny, warm days. It’s an inherently simple meal, perfect for days when the last thing you want to do is stand near a stove. We’ve made an easy meal even easier with a few shortcuts.

Ingredients laid out for easy nicoise salad potatoes, tuna fish, tomatoes, olives and soft boiled eggs.

What’s In Classic Salad Niçoise?

The flavors of the south of France are what make this classic, easy Niçoise recipe come alive. Salty, bold olives and fish contrasted with a spritz of tart lemon and rich golden olive oil—it’s a beautiful melange of texture and flavor that we can’t get enough of. Our Niçoise salad recipe relies on a few basic ingredients:

  • Potatoes! You want buttery, creamy, little potatoes for a classic Niçoise, and The Little Potato Company Lemon & Garden Herb Microwave-Ready kit makes this essential element of our easy Niçoise totally foolproof. The fact that this kit is cooked in just five minutes in the microwave is a summertime win, too. Who wants to boil potatoes on a steamy hot day?
  • Tuna! Rich oil-packed tuna is the classic Niçoise topper, but you can use any tinned fish that you love—smoked trout is also a really lovely fish to use.
  • Eggs! Soft-boiled eggs are our preference, though if you prefer hard-boiled, that’s OK too.
  • Green beans. Simply blanched, they’re a must.
  • Olives! Once again, any mixture of olives that you love will work!
  • Tomatoes!
  • Fresh basil. All day every day—at least in the summertime.
homemade vinnegrette for nicoise salad
a platter of butter lettuce

Salade Niçoise: Let’s Talk Dressing!

Olive oil and lemon juice are the simplest and most traditional way to dress this salad, but we’ve gone a little further and added a bit of Dijon—still francophile!—and a drizzle of honey. If you have a high quality extra virgin olive oil, this is a great time to use it. To make this simple, slightly sweet lemon vinaigrette, you’ll need:

  • Lemon juice
  • Olive oil
  • Dijon mustard
  • Honey
  • Chives
Classic Salad Niçoise wit potatoes, cucumber, olives, green beans and smoked trout.

Make It Your Own

While our recipe clings pretty closely to tradition, feel free to take some liberties to make it suit your own palate and preferences! If you’re not a fish lover (or want to make it a vegetarian Niçoise salad) try substituting chickpeas, white beans or even feta cheese. If you’re looking for a meaty salad, but fish isn’t your thing, a thinly sliced grilled steak makes a great substitute. You could even swap out any of the vegetables with whatever you get in your CSA or have growing in your garden. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Kale
  • Snap peas
  • Radishes
  • Shaved carrots
  • Avocados
  • Bell peppers
Easy Salad Niçoise with potatoes, cucumber, olives, green beans and smoked trout.
Classic Salad Niçoise with potatoes, cucumber, olives, green beans and smoked trout.

Tools You’ll Need:

Super Supper Salads

Summer is salad-for-dinner season and we’re INTO it. Not only are salads healthy, they can be thrown together without turning on the stove or even firing up the grill—they’re the ultimate no-heat, ten minute dinner. Here are a few we make all summer long:

Easy Nicoise Salad 9
Easy Nicoise Salad 8

Voulez-Vous Niçoise Avec Moi?

If you make this easy Niçoise salad, we’d love to see it! Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

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Easy Niçoise Salad

  • Serves:  4
  • Prep Time:  15 min
  • Cook Time:  5 min
  • Calories:  476

Ingredients

Lemon Dressing

  • 5 tablespoons lemon juice (from 2-3 lemons)
  • 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chives

Method

  1. Fill a large bowl with ice water.

  2. Fill a medium pot with 4 quarts of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the green beans and cook until bright green, 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the green beans to the ice water to stop cooking.

  3. Heat potato kit according to package instructions.

  4. Make the dressing. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, honey, salt, and chives, until well combined.

  5. Arrange the mixed greens on a serving platter. Top with green beans, potatoes, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs, and fish. Drizzle with dressing and top with fresh basil.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 476
  • Protein 9 g
  • Carbohydrates 30 g
  • Total Fat 30 g
  • Dietary Fiber 6 g
  • Cholesterol 153 mg
  • sodium 783 mg
  • Total Sugars 6 g

Easy Niçoise Salad

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • tamara

    Excited to make my first Nicoise salad, but a question - are the potatoes and eggs served hot or chilled? Thanks!

    Warm, hope you enjoy Tamara!

  • Kimberley

    Excellent

    Thanks Kimberley, we are so glad you loved it!

  • Natalie

    Yummy recipes :)

    Thanks!

  • Shannon

    Had never heard of this salad until I saw the recipe here and the results are fabulous. Satisfying, packed with flavor, healthy, and comes together easily. Great lunch or dinner recipe!

    Thanks Shannon, we are so happy you loved it!

  • Jenn

    This was so satisfying AND healthy! Definitely a new go to salad!

    That's great, thank you Jenn!