Salade Niçoise
A colourful main-course salad from Nice: tuna, eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, olives and anchovies, dressed with a simple mustard vinaigrette.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Cook the potatoes
Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 12–15 minutes, until a knife slides in easily. Drain and cut in half.
Cook the green beans
Boil the green beans in salted water for 4 minutes, until bright green and just tender. Drain and cool them in cold water so they stay green.
Boil the eggs
Lower the eggs into boiling water and cook for 8 minutes. Cool them in cold water, then peel and cut into quarters.
Make the vinaigrette
Whisk the mustard, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until thick. Toss the warm potatoes with 2 tablespoons of it so they soak up the flavour.
Arrange the salad
Line a large platter with the lettuce. Arrange the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, green pepper and spring onions on top. Add the tuna in chunks, the eggs, anchovies and olives.
Dress and serve
Drizzle the rest of the vinaigrette over the salad, scatter with basil and serve.
Cook the potatoes
Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 12–15 minutes, until a knife slides in easily. Drain and cut in half.
Cook the green beans
Boil the green beans in salted water for 4 minutes, until bright green and just tender. Drain and cool them in cold water so they stay green.
Boil the eggs
Lower the eggs into boiling water and cook for 8 minutes. Cool them in cold water, then peel and cut into quarters.
Make the vinaigrette
Whisk the mustard, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until thick. Toss the warm potatoes with 2 tablespoons of it so they soak up the flavour.
Arrange the salad
Line a large platter with the lettuce. Arrange the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, green pepper and spring onions on top. Add the tuna in chunks, the eggs, anchovies and olives.
Dress and serve
Drizzle the rest of the vinaigrette over the salad, scatter with basil and serve.
The Story Behind the Dish
Salade niçoise began as a simple dish of the poor in Nice: raw tomatoes, olives, anchovies and olive oil, sometimes with hard-boiled eggs. Cooked vegetables were not part of it.
As the salad travelled to Paris and abroad, cooks added boiled potatoes, green beans and tuna, turning it into the generous main course most people know today. This recipe follows that popular version.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It is a whole summer meal on one platter, full of Mediterranean colours and flavours.
💡 Fun Fact
A former mayor of Nice, Jacques Médecin, wrote that a true niçoise must never contain cooked vegetables. Many people in Nice still agree with him.
Nice, French Riviera
43.71°N, 7.26°E
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