Classic Salad Nicoise Recipe
Published October 10, 2018. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This salad nicoise recipe is packed with romaine, potatoes, green beans, olives, hardboiled eggs, and other veggies in a lemon vinaigrette.
At least once a week we indulge in an all-out vegetable fest and this Classic Salad Nicoise Recipe hit the nail on the head! I make so many rich, delicious foods and desserts that a few times a week we just crave nutrients from vegetables so I try to get all vegetarian, or in this case pescatarian, and create something amazing.
I have always been a sucker for this classic French dish, in fact, I did one some years back but roasted every single ingredient on the grill including the romaine lettuce. This time around I wanted to use up the new kitchen goodies so I parked it inside for this one.
How to Make It
If you’ve never made this, get that knife sharpened up because there is some vegetable prep in store. I also want to say that you don’t have to follow this recipe verbatim.
You can absolutely take out or add in vegetables that you like for this, or even use something you may find on sale, like chickpeas.
However, this dish would definitely fall under more of a “classic” ingredient format. Start by parboiling some fresh picked green beans, fingerling potatoes, and eggs. P.S. be sure to cook the eggs though.
Once the vegetables are al dente and the eggs are cooked through immediately strain them and chill them in some ice water. Once they cool, cut the potatoes in half short ways and cut the hardboiled eggs in half longways. Be sure to keep them cook before serving this.
What Kind of Vegetables to Use
For this salad Nicoise recipe, I used a combination of Romaine lettuce and spring mix. It’s a simple combination of greens but it’s always my go-to for the family because it’s so easy to prep, and it’s going to be delicious in this.
I’m in love with our Franke Farmhouse Sink because it’s nice and deep compared to our old sink which seemed so shallow that things would just splash all over our granite. Not the case in this beauty.
There are so many yummy vegetables in this salad and you can see just how beautiful all of the colors are. If you want to save some time prepping just buy the pitted olives, I promise you’ll thank me for it!
Using Fresh Tuna
I decided to go with fresh Ahi Tuna for this salad Nicoise recipe instead of the canned because there is obviously a huge difference in quality and flavor.
I also wanted to preserve the freshness of this salad so fresh tuna was the right choice. Simply sear the tuna until it’s cooked through, or until your desired internal temperature is achieved in a little salt and pepper and olive oil over medium-high heat, and then chill it.
From there break it or chip it up and you are good to go!
Vinaigrette Dressing
What would a delicious salad Nicoise recipe be without dressing? Keeping in line with the French and this classic, I went ahead and whipped up a mustard vinaigrette using only fresh lemon juice, white wine vinegar, grainy mustard, Dijon mustard, olive oil, and sugar.
It’s super simple and incredibly delicious and is going to compliment every ingredient in this. A good rule of thumb is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. However, I like a little more vinegar flavor so I use more of a 2:1 ratio.
How to Serve It
To show this salad Nicoise recipe off put it on a large platter and fan out all of those tasty fresh vegetables around the outside with the lettuce greens underneath. I garnished it with some fresh kale micro-greens for no reason at all other than I am obsessed with garnishing things with micro-greens.
The vibrant colors are certainly something to show off, so this may be something you want to serve up to some friends at your next get together.
If you’re anything like me and crave vegetables a few times a week, then this is sure to satisfy!
More Amazing Salad Recipes
If you love this salad Nicoise recipe then check out my other delicious salad recipes!
- Caprese Salad
- Kale Salad with Fried Goat Cheese
- Spinach and Strawberry Salad
- Salmon and Lentil Salad
Be sure to follow me on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest and if you’ve had a chance to make this then definitely drop me a comment and a rating below!
Classic Nicoise Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1 head of cut Romaine Lettuce, rinsed and drained
- 4 cups of packed spring mix lettuce, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 pound of parboiled and cooled picked green beans
- 1 pound of parboiled and cooled tri-colored fingerling potatoes cut in half short ways
- 5 cooked and cooled hardboiled eggs, shelled and cut in half longways
- 1 cup of assorted cherry tomatoes cut in half
- ½ julienne red onion
- ½ sliced cucumber
- 1 can of drained and quartered artichoke hearts
- ½ cup each Spanish, Kalamata and nicoise olives
- 3 thinly sliced radishes
- 1 pound of fully cooked, cooled and roughly chopped ahi tuna
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- kale microgreens for garnish
For the Dressing:
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of grainy mustard
- 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- ½ cup of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- For the Salad: Mix together the lettuces and place them on a large platter. Evenly fan out the remaining ingredients next to one another on top of the lettuces. Garnish with the microgreens and season with salt and pepper.
- Dressing: Combine all of the ingredients in a medium-size bowl and whisk until emulsified. Serve alongside the salad.
Nutrition
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I have made one version or another (based on ingredients on hand) of this salad a dozen or more times. Nicoise salad is now my favorite salad.