Classic French Salade Niçoise
When the weather gets warm, an entree salad like Dorie Greenspan’s Classic French Salade Niçoise is both easy and delicious!
Make sure to have some canned tuna, anchovies, capers, and olives on hand, and you can whip up this fabulous French-inspired Salad Niçoise Recipe.
Why You Must Make
When we toured France last summer, I ate a Salade Niçoise at every port…and they were all different save for the inclusion of tuna, haricot verts, hard-boiled eggs, Niçoise olives, and potatoes. I fell for each and every version. I have even made a modern version, as Dorie called it, a Salade Nicoise with Ahi Tuna. Scrumptious as well. There are numerous ways to tweak this classic French salad, from the dressing to what ingredients you choose to feature.
- Your Nicoise Salad can be tweaked to please your palate. It’s easy to skip any ingredients you’re not fond of. The only intergral ingredients include Tomatoes, Black Olives, Garlic and Anchovies, Green Beans, Onions, Tuna, Hard Boiled Eggs, and Herbs.
- It’s a healthy, delicious lunch or dinner along with being extremely tasty!
- Even though it sounds a bit exotic, all the ingredients are easy to procure.
Ingredient Notes:
Salad
Small (new) Potatoes – I used red new potatoes for a touch of color, but any variety will work well.
Green Beans – If you can find haricots vert, green string beans, they work nicely.
Hard-boiled Eggs – Cooked, then chilled before using.
Jarred Tuna (4 – 6 oz. each), packed in olive oil (try Tonnino for a quality experience). Canned tuna works well, too.
Salad Greens – Use your favorite. I used baby spinach.
Cherry or Grape Tomatoes – Whole or cut in half, or regular tomatoes cut into chunks
Small Olives – Niçoise are classic, but any will do.
Capers – Drained and patted dry.
Anchovies – Rinsed and patted dry.
Dijon Vinaigrette
Wine Vinegar – red wine, white wine, or sherry wine vinegars will all work well.
Shallot – finely minced.
Dijon Mustard – Grey Poupon is typically in most grocery stores.
Sea Salt -(finer than kosher salt)
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Olive Oil – I used extra virgin olive oil.
Dorie’s Salade Niçoise Interpretation
Life has been chaotic, and I’m back in Denver again to visit my parents. I’m hoping by the time this post goes live, that my dad will be out of the hospital. So having a quick old favorite recipe to prepare this week was truly a blessing.
And Dorie did this one right. Besides the classic ingredients, her salad contained tomatoes, capers, and anchovies. As a child who used to eat chicken bouillon cubes, all these salty ingredients hit home. Pure comfort. A drizzle of a perfectly proportioned Dijon vinaigrette finished this vibrant masterpiece off.
Easily Adaptable French Salad
For those of you keeping track, I think Bill (picky husband) would eat this classic French salad Niçoise. There would be a little pile of anchovies, capers, and olives (he will eat the green, pimento-stuffed variety) on his plate, but no worries. I’d just add to my sodium load for the day and scoop them onto my plate. But to tell the truth, I didn’t even offer him any; I wanted this one all for myself!
Feel free to leave out any ingredient you don’t like and also buy the kind of tuna you prefer. I’m loving the [easyazon_link identifier=”B000YMFVQC” locale=”US” tag=”thskchcaba-20″]jarred tuna in olive oil[/easyazon_link]. Expensive, but terrific quality.
The vinaigrette recipe is a simple combination of red or white wine vinegar ( I used champagne vinegar), Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and olive oil. You might also love this Hearts of Palm Salad, Avocado, Butter Lettuce Salad.
Freqently Asked Questions
Any dish with “Nicoise” in the name means it is prepared as if made in Nice, a French Riviera city. Common ingredients in these recipes include tomatoes, black olives, garlic, and anchovies.
Nicoise is a French term and it’s pronounced nee-SWAHZ.
The classic dressing for a Salad Nicoise is a lemon vinaigrette with lemon juice or white wine, Dijon mustard, plus optional additions like shallots, garlic, herbs or anchovies.
You May Also Like
- Classic French Onion Soup
- Easy Salad Bar Ideas
- Tuna Salad with Fresh Dill
- Chopped Italian Sub Salad
- More of my Best Salad Recipes
Classic French Salade Niçoise
Dorie Greenspan's delicious version of this classic French salad that originated in Nice!
Ingredients
Salad
- 12 small potatoes, scrubbed
- a couple handsful green beans
- 4 hard-boiled eggs
- 8 ounces jarred tuna (4 - 6 oz. each), packed in olive oil (try Tonnino for a quality experience)
- salad greens
- Cherry tomatoes or regular tomatoes cut into chunks
- Small olives (Niçoise, but any will do)
- Capers (drained and patted dry)
- Anchovies (rinsed and patted dry)
Dijon Vinaigrette
- 2 Tbsp. wine vinegar (red or white or sherry)
- 1 shallot, finely minced
- ¼ tsp. Dijon mustard
- A couple pinches sea salt
- A couple grinds of fresh black pepper
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Cook until they are tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a knife, 10 - 20 minutes. Scoop them out of the pot and put them in a bowl to cool.
- Blanch the green beans in the potato water until they are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain the beans and put them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain, then pat dry.
- Make the vinaigrette: Add vinegar, shallot, mustard, salt, and pepper to a small glass measuring cup or jar and let sit 10 - 15 minutes to mellow the shallot. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking constantly.
- Assemble the salad, on one large platter, or individual plates: salad greens, halved potatoes, green beans, halved eggs, tuna, tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies and drizzle with the shallot vinaigrette.
Notes
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 739Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 214mgSodium: 315mgCarbohydrates: 98gFiber: 13gSugar: 10gProtein: 36g
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43 Comments on “Classic French Salade Niçoise”
Your salad platter looks exactly like it was served for the Greek Gods on a sunny Sunday mid noon 🙂 Beautiful. Soul-soothing.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, Liz. Hope your dad is doing better and leaves the hospital soon.
Your salad is classically beautiful…this one was a hit with my Bill. He even loves anchovies!
It was really wonderful to meet you, Bill and beautiful Katie in Seattle. Nice to finally get to put some faces on our Doristas.
I hope your dad is out of the hospital and doing well….I love your composed salad presentation – very pretty. I can’t believe you used to eat chicken bouillion cubes! Too funny.