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Niçoise is one of my favorite platters to put on the table — crisp-tender green beans, jammy soft-boiled eggs, briny olives, creamy potatoes, and chunks of good tuna, all arranged and dressed with a sharp Dijon vinaigrette. It looks like a production but most of it can be prepped two days ahead. When you’re ready to eat it, you’re assembling, not cooking.

A classic Niçoise salad platter featuring lettuce, cherry tomatoes, green beans, hard-boiled eggs, white beans, olives, and tuna, garnished with herbs and served with salad servers.

Before you start

This is a composed salad, not a tossed one. Lightly dressing each component as it goes on the platter is what keeps each one tasting distinct rather than merging into one flavor.
The vinaigrette is punchy on purpose — more acid, Dijon for emulsification, and a macerated shallot that rounds out the sharp edges.

Why I add potatoes and green beans to a traditional niçoise

Niçoise started as fishermen’s food on the French Riviera (right in the Mediterranean Diet wheelhouse) — raw tomatoes, eggs, olives, anchovies, olive oil — and purists still insist that’s the only legitimate version. I respectfully disagree! Briefly blanched green beans have a snap and sweetness that raw vegetables don’t have, and the potatoes are what make this a meal rather than a composed side salad.

My must-have ingredients

A bowl of red and orange cherry tomatoes on a surface, surrounded by bowls of green beans, green olives, eggs, white beans, cooked baby potatoes, fresh herbs, lettuce, and a jar of tuna in oil.

Green beans: Thin French green beans (haricots verts) are the classic variety but they’re tricky to find — really fresh green beans work great. Blanch them for just three minutes in salty boiling water: They’ll turn brilliant green and stay snappy.
Tuna: Since you’re swinging for the fences already, splurge on jarred tuna packed in olive oil — the difference is in the texture. Canned tuna tends to fall apart, while good jarred tuna breaks into firm, substantial flakes that hold up on the platter. Spanish or Italian brands are my favorites.
Potatoes: Low-starch varieties are the best for any salad — get baby yellow or small red potatoes, about an inch across. They hold their shape after boiling and absorb the vinaigrette without turning mealy. Yukon Golds work too, sliced into chunks.
Eggs: The yolk’s texture is important. Seven minutes gives you a just-set, creamy center that’s a nice contrast with the briny ingredients. Or eight minutes for a firmer yolk, nine for fully hard-boiled — your call, but I always go seven.
Olives: Traditional Nicoise olives are Cailletier, a type of cured black olive. They’re worth finding, but Castelvetrano green olives are my usual pick. They’re buttery, meaty, and they don’t fight everything else on the platter.

How to make niçoise salad dressing

A niçoise vinaigrette has a specific job — to stand up to rich oil-packed tuna and briny olives without flattening everything else. I use more acid than my usual green salad dressing, with Dijon mustard doing two things: It emulsifies so the dressing adheres, and adds a sharp bite that ties the whole platter together. The one technique you’ll want to take away is macerating the shallot and vinegar before blending the dressing. The vinegar mellows the shallot and picks up its flavor, and the whole dressing tastes more put-together.

Combine minced shallot, salt, and garlic in a bowl with red wine vinegar. Let it marinate for about 5 minutes.
Add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, and black pepper.

Whisk until combined, then stream in the olive oil while whisking.
The dressing is ready to use when looks creamy and emulsified. Instead of whisking, shake the dressing in a lidded jar.

How to assemble the salad on a platter

1. Cook potatoes until fork-tender. In the same pot, boil green beans for 3 minutes. Immerse in ice water.
2. Peel hard boiled eggs, then cut into halves or quarters. The green beans, potatoes and eggs can all be cooked up to 2 days ahead.
3. Slice tomatoes and potatoes in half. If using larger potatoes or tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces.

4. Arrange the lettuce leaves over the bottom of a large serving platter.
5. Drizzle with about a teaspoon of the dressing.

6. Put the potatoes in a cluster on one side of the platter, adding a little more dressing.
7. Arrange the beans down the middle of the platter, then lightly drizzle with dressing.

8. Add the white beans (or use chickpeas).
9. Add the tomatoes, and another light layer of dressing.

10. Break the tuna into large chunks and pile on top of the green beans.
11. Tear some of the olives in half and distribute over the salad.

12. Tuck the eggs in here and there. Spoon over a little more dressing.
13. Scatter the herbs over the salad. Serve with the remaining dressing on the side.

What to serve with the salad, and make it your own

With all its components, Niçoise is substantial enough to be a whole meal. If you’re serving it as part of a larger spread, a cold glass of Provençal rosé and a baguette are de rigueur. For the salad itself, the components are flexible, within reason: I recommend sticking with the composed format and the vinaigrette. Everything else can shift with the season or what’s in your pantry.

Anchovies: Traditional niçoise can include anchovy fillets packed in oil — either chopped into the dressing or laid whole over the platter. If you’ve never tried it that way, it’s worth doing once.
Fresh tuna or salmon: Skip the jarred tuna and top the platter with a seared tuna steak or baked salmon fillet instead.