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It is a southern dish from Nice in the south of France and is now famous all over the world. It is a lovely, refreshing salad ideal for a starter, a light summer lunch with crispy bread, or a snack with drinks for entertaining. The French cook will use whatever Mediterranean vegetables are in season and plentiful at the time.
Salade Niçoise, Provençal Salad Or Salade Nice
There are many versions of this wonderful Salade Niçoise, sometimes called Provençal salad or Salade Nice. Do you know why? Niçoise salad originated in Nice, a part of the French Riviera in the Provençal region of France.
The local people will say that the original version of this salad does not contain potatoes, although many recipes do include them.
I usually go along with the locals, after all, it is their dish, and if you have ever been to Nice, you will know just how gorgeous this dish is. But this time I have added potatoes to make it a meal, but you can leave them out if you choose!
For me, it must include lots of black olives and a light vinaigrette dressing, creating sheer heaven!
Learn more about different types of salads like this delicious vegetable salad in The Ultimate Salad Guide.
🗝️ Key Ingredients
🥬️Start With Lettuce Then…
This recipe suggests starting with the heart of a head of lettuce, which is often the tastiest and sweetest part of the lettuce.
All the vegetables should be fresh and sliced uniformly to suit the rest of the dish.
The goodness of the vegetables, full of vitamins and minerals, along with the proteins from the tuna and eggs, forms a complete, nutritious meal.
You can add any vegetable you like that will bring you joy!
Try…
- yellow beans
- bell or hot peppers
- green onions
- leaf lettuce
- chives
- parsley
- your favorite herbs
- a sprinkling of finely chopped garlic
- trade the anchovy fillets for shrimp
Be creative!
🔢 How To Make Salade Niçoise With Homemade Dressing
🙌Tossing & Composing The Salad
Place half the vinaigrette dressing in a shallow bowl and in this toss the lettuce leaves together with the French beans.
Covering the lettuce leaves completely before the other ingredients ensures the salad will have a uniform taste of the dressing.
Place all the other items in the salad, gently on top of the lettuce and bean base. This is called "composing" a salad, rather than tossing. Now, the remaining half of the dressing will be drizzled on top.
Many salad dressings are delicious on this medley of vegetables and proteins, but Nicoise Dressing is wonderful. To make it start with the homemade mayonnaise recipe Easy Immersion Blender Mayonnaise Recipe.
Then add one tablespoon of thick tomato coulis (this is best made from fresh tomatoes; make it using my recipe Tomato Puree), ¼ teaspoon paprika, and one teaspoon fresh tarragon. The complete directions are in the recipe card below.
More Wonderful French Salads
📖 Recipe
Prep Like a Pro
Before you start cooking, chop, measure, and prep every ingredient, and gather your tools.
This simple habit reduces stress, prevents overcooking, and instantly improves your meals. Mise en Place - "Everything in its place."
Salade Niçoise Recipe
Ingredients
Main Body Of The Salad
- 1 crisp lettuce heart
- 1 cup cooked French beans
- ½ cup tuna
- ¼ cup small black olives
- ⅛ cup stuffed green olives optional
- Thin strips of de-seeded green pepper
- 8 anchovy fillets or shrimp
- A few thin onion rings optional
- 1½ cup firm tomatoes, quartered
- 2 hard-boiled eggs quartered
- 2 cup potatoes boiled or roasted ahead of time
- ½ yellow beans
- ½ cup hot peppers or bell peppers
- ¼ cup green onions
- 2 cup leaf lettuce
- ⅛ cup chives
- ¼ cup parsley
- your favorite herbs to sprinkle around
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped to sprinkle around
- grated black pepper
Nicoise Salad Dressing (Sauce Nicoise)
To the basic mayonnaise recipe, add:
- 1 tablespoon of thick Tomato Coulis this is best made from fresh tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon
- 1 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
- Hard boil the eggs ahead of time to give them a chance to cool down. (Warm eggs and lettuce do not go together well. ;-))
- Place half the vinaigrette dressing in a shallow bowl and in this toss, the lettuce leaves together with the beans.
- Arrange small pieces of the tuna along with the other ingredients, black and green olives, peppers, anchovy fillets, and onions on the top of the lettuce.
- Place the tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs on the top around the bowl.
- Sprinkle with the remainder of the vinaigrette dressing.
Notes
- Substitute ingredients that may be too hot or spicy with ones you prefer. For instance, swap the anchovies for shrimp and hot peppers for bell peppers.
- Begin by cooking the ingredients first while you prep the others. The cooked ingredients should be cold before adding to the salad.
- The sauce is a fabulous addition to just about anything!
Nutrition
Loved it, tweaked it, or not your "cup of tea"... I’d really love to hear how it went for you.