Niçoise Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette

Niçoise Salad offers up a bounty of wholesome ingredients making this perfect for lunch or a light dinner. It’s also great for entertaining!

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You Will Make Friends With This Niçoise Salad.

I’m always gushing over big salads, especially those that can basically be eaten as a meal. This Niçoise Salad is a prime example of that. I mean, look at that bounty!

This recipe brings you a brimming plate full of fresh crunchy veggies, briny olives, creamy potatoes, jammy eggs, and hearty tuna fillets from King Oscar Seafood.

Honestly, as far as salads go, this one is just next-level goodness.

What Is Niçoise Salad?

There’s a lot of history and debate behind the Niçoise Salad. It originated in Nice, France.

Purists will tell you that cooked vegetables have no place in this medley—especially potatoes. Traditionally, this salad is constructed with raw red peppers, shallots, artichoke hearts, and other various seasonal crudités. But cooked green beans and potatoes have become a very common component of the Niçoise Salad in other parts of the world!

I personally love the idea of including earthy and crisp green beans along with creamy potatoes so, I’m with the rebels I guess. And I’m not sorry.

How Do You Pronounce Niçoise?

The correct way to pronounce niçoise is “nee-SWAZ.” 

Seek Out Some of King Oscar’s Yellowfin Tuna for This Recipe!

I actually can’t imagine eating this salad with any other tuna. King Oscar’s yellowfin tuna fillets are meaty, tender, and incredibly flavorful since they’re packed with other quality ingredients.

I recommend the  Yellowfin Tuna in Extra Virgin Olive Oil With Herbs de Provence.

These tuna fillets are hand-packed alongside roasted red bell peppers, green and black olives, garlic, herbs of Provence, and salt, making them the absolute perfect match for a Niçoise Salad!

A Niçoise Salad Includes a Lot of Healthy Ingredients.

In addition to the protein-rich tuna, you’re being treated to many other healthful ingredients full of vitamins and minerals. This salad doesn’t even need cheese or a lot of dressing—it’s just that good.

Here’s what you’ll need to make my version of the Niçoise Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette:

For the Niçoise Salad:

• Lettuce – I use butter lettuce, but you could also go for bibb or any spring mix.
• Tuna – I highly encourage you to use King Oscar’s fillets for the best quality.
• French green beans – I like using French green beans, or haricots vert, specifically because they’re longer and skinnier and have a nicer bite. You could use regular ol’ green beans if you need to.
• Grape tomatoes
• Small potatoes
• Olives – Niçoise olives are the traditional olive to use in this salad, but they not every grocery store carries them. In place, you can use kalamata olives. I like to use half kalamata and half castelvetrano because I just love smooth subtle sweetness of castelvetrano olives.
• Shallots
• Eggs – I like cooking my eggs to a soft boil so they’re nice and jammy. But you could cook them to a hard boil if you prefer.

Sherry Vinaigrette:

• Extra virgin olive oil – You can use the oil from the tuna jar to prevent waste!
•  Sherry vinegar – Rice vinegar is a great substitute if needed, since it has a subtle sweetness to it like sherry vinegar.
• Whole grain mustard – Dijon mustard could also be used.
• Dried Italian herb blend – You could also just use dry oregano.
• Raw honey
• Fresh chives
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Here’s How to Make This Niçoise Salad With Sherry Vinaigrette.

Because this salad has so many components to it, I wanted to make things as easy as possible.

In my mind, there’s no shame in using green beans and potatoes that can be steamed right in their packaging for convenience sake—so that’s exactly what I’ve used here. Check out the Recipe Tips + Tricks below for detailed suggestions.

Here’s what you’ll do to bring this recipe together:

Sherry Vinaigrette:

1. Place all of the ingredients for the sherry vinaigrette into a small bowl or bullet-type blender and blend until thoroughly mixed. Stir in the chopped chives and set it aside.

Niçoise Salad:

1. Pop the potatoes in a large saucepan. Add just enough cold water to cover the potatoes by about an inch and add a few good pinches of salt. Bring them to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 5-8 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain them, then toss with a bit of olive oil, sea salt, and cracked black pepper. Once they’ve cooled, cut them in halves. *See recipe notes below
2. While waiting for the potatoes, move onto your green beans. Give them a good wash, trim the ends, and then cut them in half. Fill a medium-sized pot with about an inch of water; bring it to a simmer. Place a steamer basket in the pot and transfer the green beans to it. Cover, and bring the heat down to medium. Let the beans steam for about 5-7 minutes, or until they’re bright green and tender, but still crisp.
3. Start plating your Niçoise salad by layering washed butter lettuce leaves over a serving plate.
4. Add the tomatoes, olives, and shallots. Once the potatoes and green beans are ready, add them to the plate as well. You can be decorative about your placement, or just turn it into a chopped salad.
5. Place the tuna fillets on top of the vegetables.
6. Lastly, boil your eggs. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Carefully lower the eggs into the water, one at a time, with a slotted spoon. Let the eggs cook for about 6-6.5 minutes. If necessary, adjust the heat to keep the water at a gentle boil. When the time is up, transfer the eggs to an ice bath and let them sit for about 2 minutes. Then gently peel them, cut them in halves, and nestle them onto your salad.
7. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and enjoy!

Useful Tools for This Recipe:

• Sharp knife
• Cutting board
• Saucepans
• Strainer
• Steaming basket
• Slotted spoon
• Bullet blender
• Whisk
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Large serving plate
• Serving Utensils
• Mandolin

Recipe Tips + Tricks.

• To make things quicker and easier, I like to use French green beans that are steamable in their own bag. For the small potatoes, I like using pre-washed and packaged small potatoes in a microwaveable tray—like the ones from Tasteful Selections or The Little Potato Company. Even better if they come with a seasoning packet that pairs well with a Niçoise salad!
• If you don’t like green beans or potatoes, you could leave them out.
• When making the dressing, you can use up the extra virgin olive oil from the tuna jar when measuring out the oil.
• You could use thinly shaved red onion instead of a shallot. I recommend slicing either on a mandolin set to the thinnest setting.
• If you can’t find that specific flavor, you can order it online or use one of their other tuna variations.

Have You Made This Recipe?

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You can also show off your creations on Instagram by tagging @killing__thyme

Other Tuna Recipes You’ll Love:

• Spicy Pan Bagnat
• 20-Minute Tuna Pasta
• Tuna Veggie Wraps with Hummus
• Mediterranean Instant Pot Rice with Tuna
• Healthy Southwest Tuna Bowl