Salad Nicoise Dressing

Salad Nicoise Dressing is a classic French herb vinaigrette that pairs with a salad of tuna, new potatoes, ripe tomatoes, green beans, black olives, and eggs. The dressing is so versatile and delicious—you’ll want to eat it with everything!

Looking for a simple and delicious salad nicoise dressing? This recipe delivers! Learn how to make a dressing for salad nicoise that comes together easily and tastes amazing.

Salade Nicoise is a classic French salad that originates from the city of Nice. It usually has tuna (or anchovy fillets), eggs, haricots verts (green beans), potatoes, olives, and tomatoes, all tossed together in a large bowl with olive oil.

As with everything French, this salad is a lesson in sophisticated simplicity. It’s really just an assembly of wholesome ingredients—made into a beautiful composed salad, and then topped with a fabulous Nicoise Salad dressing.

Why You’ll Love This Salad Nicoise Dressing

• So flavorful and versatile!
• Made with bright, fresh herbs
• Made with pantry staples
• Only takes a few minutes to make

How to Make the Dressing

Key Ingredients for the Dressing

• Red wine vinegar: Obviously, vinegar is the foundation of any vinaigrette. You can substitute with white wine vinegar if you don’t have red.
• Shallots: Shallots are milder in flavor than raw onions, making them perfect for a salad dressing.
• Thyme: I prefer to use fresh herbs whenever possible to enhance the flavor of the dressing, but if you don’t have fresh thyme, dried will do!
• Dijon Mustard: This is the classic type of mustard used in French cuisine.

How to Make It

1. Add the shallot, garlic, mustard, thyme, salt and black pepper to your blender or small food processor.
2. Pour the oil into the blender in a slow, steady stream, with the blender running on low speed.  Then, continue blending until emulsified.
3. Add basil and parsley, then pulse a few times until finely chopped.
4. Transfer the dressing into a jar and set aside.

How to Make Nicoise Salad

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Hard boiled eggs: Boil the eggs any way you like, but I like to cook them in my Instant Pot. After peeling the eggs, cut them into quarters lengthwise.
• Red potatoes: Red potatoes hold their shape better after cooking, so they’re great for salads.
• Green beans: Steam the green beans until they are bright green and “just” tender. Your salad will have a nice, hearty crunch!
• Tuna fish: You can use your favorite brand of canned tuna in this recipe, or fresh tuna/tuna steaks. The vinaigrette dressing gives the tuna a burst of additional flavor.
• Spring greens: Any kind of fresh greens will work! I like to use a classic spring mix. 
• Cherry tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes add a splash of color and sweetness to the salad. You also might like this cucumber tomato salad. .
• Nicoise olives: These briny olives have an intense, savory flavor. If you can’t find nicoise olives, kalamata olives are a good substitute.

How to Make It

1. Place a steamer basket inside of a large pot with an inch or two of water. Bring water to a slow boil. Add the green beans and cook until they are bright green and crisp tender.
2. Place the potatoes into a large pot and add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender and pierce easily with a fork.
3. Drain the potatoes and transfer to a bowl. Allow them to cool slightly before slicing into chunks. Drizzle some of the fresh herb vinaigrette over the potatoes and toss to coat.
4. Add the tuna to a bowl and drizzle with some of the vinaigrette. Use a fork to gently flake the tuna.
5. Toss greens with a little of the dressing for Salad Nicoise until lightly coated.

To serve the salad:

1. Divide the greens amongst individual plates
2. Arrange the beans, potatoes, tuna, eggs, tomatoes, and olives over the greens in a pretty layout. Adding the remaining dressing, if desired.

Salad Nicoise Dressing and Salad Storage Instructions

The salad nicoise dressing can be made up to three days in advance. In addition, you can also cook the eggs, green beans and potatoes in advance. Then, simply store them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble the meal.

Nicoise salad dressing can be stored in a screw-top jar or airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.

Salad Nicoise Dressing FAQs

Salad Nicoise Dressing Tips and Tricks

• Toss the potatoes with some of the Salad Nicoise dressing when they’re still warm to let them absorb the flavor.
• The dressing for Salad Nicoise also adds a much-need flavor boost to the canned tuna!
• To save time on busy weeknights, you can make prepare most of the Salad Nicoise dressing and other ingredients ahead of time.
• While this salad is a great meal all on its own, if you want something to serve with it, there are definitely options. Thin, crispy bread or crackers are a good option. Or, consider serving a light, bright soup, like my sweet corn soup!

Looking for more delicious salad recipes? Try this Mediterranean Salad with Grilled Chicken! This Hummus Wrap is another healthy favorite. 

I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you try the recipe, I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below. Thank you! ♥