Authentic Niçoise Salad

This simple homemade Niçoise Salad is a lively mix of fresh tomatoes, crisp bell peppers, radishes and cool cucumber, spruced up with hard-boiled eggs, tuna, salty anchovies and a simple herby dressing. True to tradition, you’ll find no green beans nor potatoes in this authentic recipe! It’s a refreshingly crisp and crunchy salad that’s ideal for your next BBQ or to pop into your lunchbox.

Nicoise Salad – in French, Salade Niçoise – is a classic salad hailing from the city of Nice in Provence, France. This beloved dish is known throughout the world… But do you know the “real” Niçoise Salad? Its recipe has always fueled much controversy, with its original version being modified outside French borders.

The original Niçoise Salad was born in the 19th century, in Nice, on the French Riviera on the Meditteranean coast. It was made simply from sourcing local produce – tomatoes, bell peppers, radishes and onions – all meant to be enjoyed raw with a drizzle of olive oil.

Hard-boiled eggs, olives and anchovies were added later on, as the salad became more popular. But perhaps most importantly, according to almost all locals and purists, La Niçoise has never included other cooked ingredients like green beans and potatoes.

I know this might surprise many of you, but for the purists, adding green beans, potatoes, or rice is a total faux pas! Despite this, even in France, many restaurants serve so-called Niçoise Salads with green beans and/or potatoes – likely to make them more substantial and filling.

The recipe I am sharing here is what’s considered a truly authentic Niçoise Salad. If you want to add beans, potatoes, rice, or other ingredients to fit your taste, go ahead! Will the salad be less authentic? That’s up to you to decide! I don’t think your stomach will disagree either way.

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
1 small butterhead lettuce (Bibb, Boston)
200g fava beans, cooked and cooled (about 500 g shelled beans)
2 medium tomatoes or 1 large heirloom
1 can tuna in oil (80g total, about 50g after oil drained)
½ green bell pepper
½ cucumber
6 pink radishes bulbs
½ large summer onion (white part only)
50g Nicoises olives (or black olives), pitted or unpitted
8-10 anchovy fillets, drained
4 fresh basil leaves, rougly chopped
2 tbsp (30ml) extra virgin oive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled
Salt, pepper to taste

Total Time:

30 minutes

Click here for the recipe

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Authentic Niçoise Salad

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