Salade Niçoise
Ingredients
- 4 each large eggs
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic – finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 each ripe tomatoes
- 1 each cucumber
- 1 each green bell pepper
- 6 each small radishes
- 1/2 each red onion
- 3/4 cup Niçoise olives
- 10 ounces tuna (oil-packed, canned) – drained, flaked
- 8 each anchovy fillets (in olive oil) – drained
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves – torn
Instructions
1. Place the eggs in a saucepan, cover by 1 inch with cold water, bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, then lower to a simmer and cook 9–10 minutes for fully set but still moist yolks. Transfer to an ice bath for 10 minutes, peel, quarter, and set aside.
2. Whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, kosher salt, and black pepper in a small bowl until emulsified.
3. Core the tomatoes and cut into wedges; peel alternating stripes on the cucumber and slice into 0.25-inch half-moons; seed the green bell pepper and thinly slice; trim the radishes and slice thin; thinly slice the red onion.
4. On a large platter, spread the prepared vegetables and scatter the Niçoise olives. Flake the tuna over the top and tuck in the anchovy fillets. Nestle the reserved quarters, scatter the torn basil leaves, and spoon about half the vinaigrette evenly over everything. Serve the remaining vinaigrette alongside (Niçoise olives may contain pits).
Salade Niçoise is a composed Mediterranean salad that balances briny, bright, and herbal flavors with a mix of crisp raw vegetables, rich olive oil tuna, anchovies, eggs, and the distinctive bite of Niçoise olives. The textures are purposefully varied: juicy tomatoes and cucumbers, snappy peppers and radishes, creamy-yolked eggs, and meaty flakes of tuna. It is hearty enough to be a meal yet refreshingly light, with a clean olive oil–forward vinaigrette that ties it all together.
Rooted in Nice on France’s Côte d’Azur, the salad reflects the region’s market produce and preserved seafood traditions. Historically composed of raw seasonal vegetables with anchovies and later canned tuna, it was a thrifty, sun-drenched dish built from what was available. Over the 20th century, it spread worldwide, spawning debates about additions like potatoes, green beans, or mustard; in Nice, many consider it a raw-vegetable salad without cooked vegetables, but bistro versions beyond the region popularized those extras.