Tuna Niçoise Salad

There's a reason this salad has been on bistro menus across France for over a century, and that reason is it's ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. Tuna Niçoise (or Salade Niçoise if you want to sound fancy) is one of those dishes that manages to be effortless and impressive at the same time. Tender tuna, soft-boiled eggs with that gorgeous jammy yolk, warm potatoes soaked in vinaigrette, crisp green beans, juicy tomatoes, and briny olives, all pulled together with a mustardy white wine dressing. It's perfectly balanced, it's a proper meal in a bowl, and it comes together in about 35 minutes. It's such a French classic for a reason. Let's cook!

Watch me make this on YouTube!

Recipe Details

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Serves: 2 as a main / 4 as a starter or shared lunch
• Difficulty: Easy

The key to a great Niçoise is treating it like a composed salad, with each element cooked separately and laid out on a platter rather than tossed together. That's what gives you a beautiful bistro-style result rather than a soggy mix. The other thing that makes a real difference? Dressing the warm potatoes while they're still hot. They absorb all that vinaigrette as they cool, and the flavour compared to cold undressed potatoes is genuinely night and day. Don't skip that step.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• It's a complete meal: protein from the tuna and eggs, carbs from the potatoes, plenty of veg, and good fat from the olive oil dressing. No side dishes needed.
• Works with what you've got: no Niçoise olives? Any good olive works. No cherry tomatoes? Wedge up whatever you have. This recipe is genuinely flexible.
• Great for meal prep: cook all the components ahead and keep them separate in the fridge. Assemble and dress just before serving.
• Endlessly adaptable: swap the tuna for anchovies, seared salmon, or even leftover roast chicken and it's a totally different, and equally good, dish.
• Naturally gluten-free and dairy-free: useful if you're feeding a crowd with dietary requirements.
• Better than it looks on paper: it's a salad, yes, but it's a salad that will genuinely fill you up.

Ingredients

For the Salad:

• 300g baby potatoes, halved
• 150g green beans, trimmed
• 200g tin tuna in olive oil, drained (keep the oil, see Chef's Tips)
• 4 eggs
• 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 80g Kalamata olives, pitted and halved (or any good quality olive you have)
• 2 large handfuls of mixed salad leaves (cos, rocket, or whatever you have)
• Small handful of chives, finely chopped (optional but absolutely delicious if you have them)

For the Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or use the oil from the tuna tin)
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Do your prep first: Put the baby potatoes in a pot of cold salted water and bring to the boil. While everything is bubbling away, trim your green beans, halve the cherry tomatoes, pit and halve the olives, and get your dressing made. Having everything ready means the whole thing comes together quickly.
2. Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. If your tuna was packed in olive oil, use that instead of fresh, it's full of flavour and nothing goes to waste. Add the chives if using. Set aside.
3. Cook the potatoes: Boil until tender when pierced with a knife, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain, then while they're still warm, cut them in half and add them to a bowl. Spoon over half the dressing so they take on all that flavour of the vinaigrette as they cool. Give them a little mix and set aside.
4. Blanch the green beans: In the same pot, bring the water back to the boil. Add the green beans and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until bright green and just tender, you still want a bit of bite. Drain and immediately run under cold water to stop the cooking and keep that colour. Drain well and set aside.
5. Cook the eggs: Bring a small pot of water to the boil. Gently lower in your eggs (room temperature eggs are less likely to crack). Cook for 6 minutes for a jammy, slightly soft yolk, or 8 minutes if you prefer them fully set. Transfer straight to cold water. Once cool enough to handle, peel carefully and halve just before assembling.
6. Plate and serve: Get it on the plate. Add your seasoned potatoes, beans, tomatoes, tuna broken into chunks, and a few more beans and tomatoes as you layer. Add one of those delicious soft eggs, cut-side up so the yolk is on show. Add a touch more olive oil to the dressing bowl to loosen it, then drizzle everything over the top. Scatter with chives if using, and get stuck in.

Chef's Tips

Dress the potatoes warm, not cold: In professional kitchens we always season and dress potatoes while they're still hot. Warm potatoes are porous and absorb the dressing into the flesh rather than just getting a coating on the outside. Cold potatoes can't do this. It's the difference between potatoes that taste of vinaigrette all the way through and ones that just taste oily on the surface.

Use tuna in olive oil: The flavour and texture are genuinely better than tuna in spring water, and using the tin oil in the dressing means you get extra flavour for free. If you can get the really good stuff, use that.

Go easy on the salad leaves: A light drizzle of dressing is all they need. The potatoes and eggs carry most of the flavour, so don't swamp the leaves or they'll wilt before you get to the table.

Prep ahead if needed: If you're making this for a crowd, cook and store each element separately in the fridge. Assemble and dress just before serving.

Substitutions & Variations

• No tuna? Anchovies are actually more traditional in the original Niçoise. Use 8 to 10 fillets draped over the top. Seared salmon or leftover roast fish also work brilliantly.
• No cherry tomatoes? Use 2 regular tomatoes cut into wedges. No problem at all.
• No Kalamata olives? Any good quality olive works. Just avoid the tinned black ones, they're a bit flat in flavour for this.
• Want it more substantial? Add a tin of white beans or some roasted capsicum.
• Not an egg fan? Leave them out, or swap for some crumbled feta for a different kind of richness.
• Make it more authentically French. Add some capers, a squeeze of lemon over everything, and a few extra anchovies alongside the tuna.
• Fresh tuna version. Sear a fresh tuna steak over high heat for about 1 to 2 minutes each side so it's still pink in the middle. Slice and lay over the top. It makes the whole dish feel genuinely special.

Storage

Best eaten fresh: This salad is at its best assembled and eaten straight away once dressed. The leaves will wilt if it sits too long.

Fridge: Store each component separately in airtight containers for up to 2 days. Assemble and dress just before serving. Don't store the assembled salad.

Dressing: Keeps well in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to a week. Give it a good shake before using.

Avoid: Dressing the whole salad in advance. The leaves go soggy and the potatoes lose that lovely dressed quality once they've sat in dressing for hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "Niçoise" mean?
It refers to the style of cuisine from Nice (pronounced "Nees"), a city on the French Riviera in Provence. Niçoise simply means "in the style of Nice."

Is tuna in oil or water better for Niçoise salad?
Oil, every time. Tuna packed in olive oil has a richer flavour and better texture, and you can use the oil in your dressing as a bonus. If you can get good quality tuna in olive oil, use it.

Can I make tuna Niçoise salad ahead of time?
Yes. Prep all the components up to a day ahead and keep them separate in the fridge. Assemble and dress just before serving so nothing goes soggy. The dressing keeps for up to a week in a sealed jar.

Can I use fresh tuna instead of tinned?
Absolutely. Sear a fresh tuna steak over high heat for about 1 to 2 minutes each side, keeping it pink in the middle. Slice it and lay over the finished salad. It takes the dish from a weeknight dinner to something genuinely impressive.

Is Niçoise salad healthy?
Yes. It's packed with protein from the eggs and tuna, healthy fats from the olive oil dressing, and plenty of vegetables. It's naturally gluten-free and dairy-free too.

What's the difference between a Niçoise salad and a regular tuna salad?
Niçoise is a composed salad, meaning each element is cooked and arranged separately on a platter rather than tossed together. It also has warm dressed potatoes, green beans, olives, and eggs as key components, which a regular tuna salad doesn't have.

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This tuna Niçoise is everything I love about French cooking: simple ingredients, treated well, put together with a bit of care, and the result is something genuinely beautiful. It's perfectly balanced, absolutely delicious, and definitely one of my favourite summer salads. Make it once and I guarantee it'll earn a permanent spot in your rotation.

Enjoy!

Del x

Tuna Niçoise salad with soft-boiled eggs, warm potatoes dressed in white wine vinaigrette, crisp green beans, cherry tomatoes, and Kalamata olives. A perfectly balanced French classic ready in 35 minutes.