2 cans high-quality tuna, packed in olive oil, drained
1 head of leaf lettuce, rinsed and ripped into large sections
4 tomatoes, cut into wedges or quartered
½ cup pitted Niçoise olives
2 cups green beans, stem ends trimmed away
2 cups new potatoes
½ red onion, thinly sliced
4 eggs
2 tablespoons capers
sprinkle of black pepper
sea salt flakes
Takes ,
serves 4.
Instructions
Prepare the vinaigrette: Place garlic, anchovy paste, lemon juice, Dijon, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk to combine. While whisking, slowly drizzle oil into bowl. Whisk vigorously until thoroughly combined.
Prepare the vegetables and eggs: Bring beans to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Strain and transfer to a cold, ice-water bath. Once cool, dry beans, and reserve. Boil potatoes until soft, about 15 minutes. Transfer to cold water and cool. Pat dry, then halve or quarter and reserve. Bring eggs to boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until almost hard, approximately 8 minutes. Transfer to cold water and cool. Peel and slice into quarters. Reserve.
Assemble the salad: Arrange lettuce on a large platter or wide, shallow bowl. Add the tuna and assorted vegetables in groupings onto the lettuce, arranging them in an attractive way. Tuck the eggs in and amongst the various groupings. Sprinkle the capers over the composition followed by a sprinkle of black pepper and sea salt flakes.
Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve immediately alongside remaining dressing and warmed French bread or baguette.
Tuna Salad Niçoise
Ingredients
For the vinaigrette:
2 medium garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
1-2 teaspoons anchovy paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
For the salad:
2 cans high-quality tuna, packed in olive oil, drained
1 head of leaf lettuce, rinsed and ripped into large sections
4 tomatoes, cut into wedges or quartered
½ cup pitted Niçoise olives
2 cups green beans, stem ends trimmed away
2 cups new potatoes
½ red onion, thinly sliced
4 eggs
2 tablespoons capers
sprinkle of black pepper
sea salt flakes
Directions
Prepare the vinaigrette: Place garlic, anchovy paste, lemon juice, Dijon, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk to combine. While whisking, slowly drizzle oil into bowl. Whisk vigorously until thoroughly combined.
Prepare the vegetables and eggs: Bring beans to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Strain and transfer to a cold, ice-water bath. Once cool, dry beans, and reserve. Boil potatoes until soft, about 15 minutes. Transfer to cold water and cool. Pat dry, then halve or quarter and reserve. Bring eggs to boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until almost hard, approximately 8 minutes. Transfer to cold water and cool. Peel and slice into quarters. Reserve.
Assemble the salad: Arrange lettuce on a large platter or wide, shallow bowl. Add the tuna and assorted vegetables in groupings onto the lettuce, arranging them in an attractive way. Tuck the eggs in and amongst the various groupings. Sprinkle the capers over the composition followed by a sprinkle of black pepper and sea salt flakes.
Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve immediately alongside remaining dressing and warmed French bread or baguette.
Tuna Salad Niçoise
5 / 5. 3
Tender greens topped with tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, red onions and premium canned tuna, finished with capers, olives, eggs and a light lemon-Dijon vinaigrette…
Whether it’s for lunch or dinner, our classic TUNA SALAD NIÇOISE works every time!
This classic salad recipe is famous for good reason; it’s easy to assemble, can be served for lunch or dinner, and most importantly, is exceedingly tasty. It’s especially popular up here in cottage country during the summer months, but let’s not stop there. We think this TUNA SALAD NIÇOISE can, and should, be served throughout the year.
Thankfully, this classic dish has endless possibilities, whether you’re adhering to the strict guidelines of a centuries-old French cookbook or following the trends of up-and-coming chefs. Our version combines a bit of both, and we’re confident your friends and family will love this homemade fresh salad as much as we do.
Before we explain how to make a SALADE NIÇOISE, we want to point out our two presentation options. You can serve this similar to our famous COBB SALAD, as a composed salad sent to table on a large platter, allowing guests to select and dress their own salads. The other option, which is way easier but lower on the wow factor, is to toss and serve. Feel free to serve to your needs and liking; either way will be fabulous.
A quick note – please remember to PIN this recipe on a favourite Pinterest board and SHARE it with friends. If salads are your thing, don’t forget to click HERE for our SALAD ROUNDUP of more than 30 delicious salad recipes. We also appreciate seeing pics whenever you make our recipes, so use #weekendatthecottage when you post your photos on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks for sharing with the world!
Here are some additional details about TUNA SALAD NIÇOISE:
INGREDIENTS
One of the things I enjoy most about WATC is documenting our journey in elevating the enjoyment of good food. During the research for this post, we loved the WIKI POST summation that said, “SALADE NIÇOISE is traditionally made of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, NIÇOISE olives and anchovies or tuna, dressed with olive oil, or in some historical versions, a vinaigrette.” We used this as our springboard; fresh veggies, glorious greens, premium tuna, and then the olives, capers, eggs and vinaigrette. No wonder this salad recipe is so highly regarded!
CANNED TUNA
We made two big decisions in crafting this salad recipe. First, we agreed we needed to include both anchovies and tuna. The anchovies are used in paste form as part of the very tasty vinaigrette and we opted for canned tuna over fresh. Although you can grill up and slice fresh tuna, similar to what we did with our GRILLED TUNA SALAD, we think the canned variety works best here. When purchasing the tuna, look for skipjack, yellowfin or albacore in olive oil. These varieties have lower mercury levels, and the olive oil makes the flesh softer and more flavourful.
FRESH VEGETABLES
The tomatoes, potatoes, red onion, lettuce and green beans are super important to both the flavour and look of this salad. We suggest using locally grown, organic varieties if you can; you will taste the difference.
Part two of this section is to encourage you to tweak the veggies to your taste. Try adding artichokes, Bibb lettuce, cucumber, radish, green olives, zucchini, chickpeas, corn, and even herbs like fresh basil and chives. This salad invites them all. PRO TIP! Make sure to watch this VIDEO before you begin to see how we blanch the green beans and boil up the fork-tender potatoes. Beans need to be served still kinda crisp, while the potatoes are best enjoyed soft. The video explains how to achieve this.
OLIVES, EGGS AND CAPERS
Similar to our tip about the beans, don’t overcook the hard-boiled eggs. We suggest bringing the eggs to a boil then reducing to medium heat and cooking for an additional eight minutes. The result is perfectly prepared hard-boiled eggs.
You may have to do a bit of searching to find small pitted Niçoise olives. They are small and delicate with a nutty flavour, unlike Kalamata olives which are larger with a strong tangy taste. For the capers, use your favourite brand, but consider serving more at table along with caper berries. This salad loves the flavour of these pickled little gems.
LEMON-DIJON VINAIGRETTE
We believed the Niçoise salad dressing had to be bold, so we crafted a custom vinaigrette that works perfectly. The finely minced garlic, Dijon mustard and lemon juice give the vinaigrette a pleasing tangy, zesty flavouring while the anchovy paste adds body and saltiness. Together, these ingredients take a classic TUNA SALAD NIÇOISE to a whole new level of deliciousness.
PRESENTATION
As mentioned at the top, we are presenting this as a composed salad. We suggest using a large platter or wide, shallow dish and adding the various components gathered into groups, making it more visually appealing. This way of presenting this dish is gorgeous and remember, “the eyes eat first”.
SERVED!
Love this photo of the salad once it’s transferred to a luncheon or dinner plate. Note how additional dressing is at the ready on the table, along with warmed French baguette, and yes, I serve the baguette with butter.
Then, if that alone didn’t entice you to make it, here’s one more photo of the salad served after being tossed. Dressing the entire salad in a large salad bowl and then tossing it up before sending it to table looks great too.
There are plenty of options and combinations to use in your interpretation of this classic salad – it always looks wonderful, and don’t forget, it’s good for you too!
2 cans high-quality tuna, packed in olive oil, drained
1 head of leaf lettuce, rinsed and ripped into large sections
4 tomatoes, cut into wedges or quartered
½ cup pitted Niçoise olives
2 cups green beans, stem ends trimmed away
2 cups new potatoes
½ red onion, thinly sliced
4 eggs
2 tablespoons capers
sprinkle of black pepper
sea salt flakes
Directions
Prepare the vinaigrette: Place garlic, anchovy paste, lemon juice, Dijon, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk to combine. While whisking, slowly drizzle oil into bowl. Whisk vigorously until thoroughly combined.
Prepare the vegetables and eggs: Bring beans to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Strain and transfer to a cold, ice-water bath. Once cool, dry beans, and reserve. Boil potatoes until soft, about 15 minutes. Transfer to cold water and cool. Pat dry, then halve or quarter and reserve. Bring eggs to boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until almost hard, approximately 8 minutes. Transfer to cold water and cool. Peel and slice into quarters. Reserve.
Assemble the salad: Arrange lettuce on a large platter or wide, shallow bowl. Add the tuna and assorted vegetables in groupings onto the lettuce, arranging them in an attractive way. Tuck the eggs in and amongst the various groupings. Sprinkle the capers over the composition followed by a sprinkle of black pepper and sea salt flakes.
Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve immediately alongside remaining dressing and warmed French bread or baguette.
