This beautiful Salmon Nicoise Salad is made with fresh salmon, an abundance of vegetables, briny olives, and soft-boiled eggs. The simple lemon vinaigrette ties all the flavors together perfectly.
While I enjoy this salad year-round, it’s especially wonderful in the summer. We’ll be making it again and again this year!
Today, I’m making a Salmon Nicoise Salad, which is incredibly delicious and stunning! This is my ideal dinner for dining al fresco on my patio on a breezy summer night.
I love the tender salmon – which you can grill, sear, bake or poach – paired with warm tender baby potatoes, fresh vegetables, eggs, and a bright lemon vinaigrette that brings it all together.
Nicoise salad originates from Nice, a port city in the south of France, and traditionally includes tuna or anchovies. Over the years, this iconic salad has been adapted in various ways, and using salmon is one of my favorite variations.
I really love full dinner salads! I have a similar Salmon Cobb Salad recipe, which is made with a quick green goddess dressing. And if you love green goddess dressing, try my Green Goddess Chicken Salad too! I also love my Strawberry Chicken Salad.
Why we love making this Salmon Nicoise Salad!
- Fresh ingredients. There’s a lot going on in this salad. Lots of freshness, texture, and flavor.
- Bright and refreshing. The simple lemon vinaigrette brings all those zesty flavors that scream summer.
- Great for dinner! This salad is LOADED with protein to make a satisfying meal.
Jump to:
Ingredient Notes
The key to making a stunning and delicious salmon Nicoise salad is making sure every ingredient is fresh. Here are some quick kitchen notes on the ingredients.
- Fresh salmon filets: Use fresh, high-quality salmon for the best flavor and texture. Wild-caught is preferable but not necessary.
- French green beans: Unlike regular green beans, French green beans (aka haricots verts) are extra tender and have a nice crunch and color.
- Baby yellow potatoes: While you can use any kind of potatoes, I think petite potatoes make this salmon Nicoise salad look extra pretty.
- Tomatoes: I use vine tomatoes, quartered. You can also use roma or cherry tomatoes.
- Eggs: Soft-boiled or hard-boiled eggs are a main component in this iconic salad.
- Mixed Greek olives: I use a mix of kalamata and green Greek olives.
- Mixed greens or Bibb lettuce: For the bed of greens.
- Lemon zest: I like to finish this salad with fresh lemon zest for that extra touch of brightness.
- Salt and pepper to taste
- For the lemon dressing: Fresh lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, Italian parsley, honey.
As always, quantities are listed in the recipe card down below.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Here’s how I make this stunning salmon Nicoise salad! While it does have quite a few components, it’s actually very simple to make.
Step 1 | Cook the salmon
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Season the salmon with a few drizzles of olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet lined and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the thickness, until cooked through. Let it cool slightly.
Step 2 | Cook veggies and eggs
Meanwhile, cook the potatoes. You can either steam them in a steaming basket or boil in simmering water for about 15 to 20 minutes. When ready, cut them in half.
For the eggs, bring enough water to a boil to fully submerge them. Carefully lower the eggs into the simmering water, cover with a lid, and simmer for 1 minute. Then, turn off the heat. For soft-boiled eggs (slightly runny yolk), let them sit in the hot water for about 8 minutes. For hard-boiled eggs, let them sit for about 12 minutes.
For the green beans, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook for just 3 to 5 minutes until crisp tender. You can also use a steaming basket. Remove with tongs and immediately transfer into an ice bath to stop the cooking process and keep them bright green.
Step 3 | Make the vinaigrette
In a mason jar, combine all the dressing ingredients (listed in the recipe card down below). Seal the jar and shake vigorously until evenly combined.
Step 4 | Assemble the salad
On a large platter or individual plates, arrange a bed of the mixed greens or lettuce. Then, arrange the potatoes (sliced in half), green beans (patted dry), eggs (cut in half), tomatoes, and kalamata olives. Break up the salmon into smaller chunks and arrange on top. Drizzle with the prepared lemon vinaigrette and fresh lemon zest.
Optional: For even more flavor, toss the salad components with the dressing before assembling.
Tips for Success
- Time saving tips: This salad has both cooked and no-cook components. To save time, I’d recommend soft-boiling the eggs and blanching the green beans while the salmon is baking (takes about 12-13 minutes). The rest can be assembled pretty quickly.
- Ice bath for green beans: Shocking blanched green beans in an ice bath immediately stops the cooking process and keeps them bright green. If you don’t have ice, run them through very cold water.
- Optional: For even more flavor, toss all the ingredients, including the greens, with some of the prepared lemon vinaigrette before assembling the salad.
Other Ways to Cook Salmon
I find that baking is the easiest way to cook salmon for this Nicoise salad because it frees up time to prepare the other components, such as the eggs, potatoes, and green beans.
But feel free to cook the fish any way you’d like. Try these methods:
- Pan sear: Cook it over the stovetop in a non-stick pan over medium heat, about 6 minutes skin side down, and 3-4 minutes on the other side.
- Grill: I like to place a cast iron skillet on the grill and cook the salmon there, about 5 minutes per side. It will have a more smoky flavor than baked.
- Poach: The simplest. In a medium pot, bring water, lemon slices, fresh herbs, and seasoning to a gentle simmer. Gently place the salmon filets into the simmering liquid for about 10 minutes.
- Use smoked salmon instead! Much easier and just as delicious.
More Dinner-Worthy Salads
On hot summer nights, all I want is a big platter of salad. Oh, and a batch of this refreshing Watermelon Slushie or Blackberry Iced Tea!
Check out my favorite summer salads here:
- Salmon Cobb Salad
- Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Salad
- Strawberry Chicken Salad
- BBQ Chicken Salad
- Beef Taco Salad
- Thai Chicken Salad
- Moroccan Couscous Salad, paired with your favorite protein
Recipe FAQs
It depends on whether you want soft-boiled or hard-boiled eggs. For this salad, I think soft-boiled are perfect, and they need about 8-9 minutes. Hard-boiled eggs take about 12 minutes.
Shocking blanched green beans in an ice bath immediately stops the cooking process and keeps it bright green. Another option is to rinse with very cold water.
You can use big chunks of high quality canned tuna, seared fresh tuna, or smoked trout.
I’d love to hear from you! If you loved my recipe, please consider leaving a 5-star rating and a comment down below. Sign up for my newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest
Salmon Nicoise Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh salmon filets
- 6 ounces French green beans - aka haricots verts
- 4 large eggs
- 1 pound baby yellow potatoes
- 2 cups mixed greens or bibb lettuce
- 1 pound vine tomatoes, quartered
- 1 cup mixed Greek olives, pitted
- Lemon zest - for garnish
- Olive oil - for the salmon
- Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon vinaigrette:
- Juice of ½ a large lemon
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove fresh garlic, very finely minced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped Italian parsley
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cook the salmon: Place salmon filets on a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool slightly and roughly flake into smaller chunks.
- Potatoes: Meanwhile, bring water in a pot to a boil, and cook the potatoes for about 15 minutes until fork tender. You can also steam them in a steaming basket for 15-20 minutes. Once ready, run through cold water and slice them in half.
- Eggs: In a pot, bring water to a low boil, enough to fully submerge the eggs. Carefully lower the eggs into the water. Cover with the lid and turn off the heat. For soft-boiled eggs, let them sit for 8 minutes. For hard-boiled eggs, 12 minutes.
- Note: For the green beans, have an ice bath ready (see notes below).
- Green beans: In another pot, bring water to a light boil and simmer the green beans for just 3 to 5 minutes until crisp tender. Using tongs, immediately transfer the beans to the ice bath to stop the cooking process. This will keep them bright green.
- Make the dressing: In a mason jar, combine all the ingredients and shake until evenly combined.
- To assemble the salad, arrange a bed of greens or lettuce. Then, arrange the potatoes (halved), green beans (patted dry), eggs (halved), tomatoes, and olives. Then, arrange the salmon on top. Drizzle with the lemon vinaigrette and garnish with fresh lemon zest. Enjoy!
- Optional: For even more flavor, toss the salad components with the dressing first before assembling.
Notes
- Ice bath: Before blenching the green beans, have an ice bath (ice cubes and cold water) ready. Shocking the green beans will immediately stop the cooking process and keep that bright green color alive.
- Prep ahead: Most components of this salad are best prepared right away, but if desired, you can steam the potatoes up to 2 days in advance.
- Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for about 3 days.
- Salmon: Tuna chunks, fresh tuna, smoked trout.
- Add-ins: Artichoke hearts, palms of heart, radishes, peas, chopped parsley, etc.
Leave a Reply