Traditional Salad Nicoise (2024)

Salad Nicoise, loaded with tuna, green beans, new potatoes and eggs, is such a great way to add flavour and sustenance to your greens! Start with this traditional recipe, which can be adjusted in so many different ways to suit your personal taste.

If you are a fan of big salads with fish, take a look at our Salmon Cobb Salad with Lemon Dill Dressing.

This summer I am all about salads. I can’t be the only one, who favours them when the temps get too high to cook anything more involved. I love salads but I prefer them with a bit more substance than just lettuce and a slice of tomato.

Nicoise Salad or Salade Nicoise is one of those offerings with a bit more heft than your usual tossed salad. I make it at least once a week for lunch but there is no reason it can’t be the main course on a hot summer evening.

What goes into Nicoise Salad

With such a classic recipe as this, there are bound to be many versions but some ingredients are a must! If you look at the traditional recipes on the internet and in all classic cookbooks, you will see that tuna is definitely what makes it.

Other ingredients, which are also considered classic, are blanched green beans, potatoes, eggs, tomatoes and olives. Anchovies seem to be optional. Pretty straightforward, right? It is but recipes are always changing and evolving.

I happened to have just returned from Nice, France, the birthplace of this salad, and here is what I’ve observed. This salad is a lot more flexible than we might think. In every restaurant I went to I saw different version of the classic.Here is one of them below.

However, I didn’t see potatoes or green beans in any of the salads, served to me in Nice. I did see artichokes and sliced red peppers in many of them. All salads had anchovies, which makes me think they are not that optional after all.

Now let’s talk about tuna. I was always under an impression that tuna has to be fresh but that’s not what they did in France. All bistros, cafes and restaurants used good quality canned tuna in their salads. I love that! Canned tuna is so much more affordable than fresh tuna.

Recipe Tips and Notes

• I’ve used gem lettuce (mini Romaine lettuce) and quartered the head to use as the base greens for my salad. I love the crispy texture of the wedge salad but you can use any greens you love.
• Young baby potatoes work brilliantly in salads. Because of their waxy texture they keep their shape while being cooked. They also have a slightly sweet taste.
• The beans used are those long, thin green beans, which go by many names. French, fine or haricots verts. They are sweet, stringless and cook super fast due to being harvested earlier than other beans. If you cook them for 5 minutes and then dunk them in icy cold water, they will retain their bite and turn more brilliantly green than they originally were. It’s pure magic!
• As you can see from photos, I also used soft boiled eggs as it is my personal preference but hard boiled eggs are actually more traditional.
• Tuna is a big deal in this salad. Use good quality only. Luckily it’s easy enough to find these days.
• Lastly, as I said anchovies are not optional when it comes to how the French eat this salad and I did include them in my recipes as well. I happen to adore anchovies but I know not everyone does. I actually flavoured the dressing with anchovies instead of adding them whole. Try that if you are scared of them! Or just skip them altogether. I won’t tell anyone.

More Salad Recipes with Tuna to Try:

• Italian Salad with Tuna, Corn and Mozzarella
• Tuna and White Bean Salad

More Salad