Salmon Nicoise Salad Recipe (2024)

This Salmon Nicoise Salad will transport you to a French bistro! It’s a healthy, satisfying main dish salad that’s packed with crisp greens, wild salmon, hard boiled egg, potatoes, olives and veggies, and it’s tossed in a vibrant lemon vinaigrette!

During the warmer months I crave salads more than ever. I love loading them up with protein, veggies and all the things for a nice satisfying dinner.

My Santa Fe chicken salad and shrimp louie salad fit that description perfectly. They’re both nice and hearty and packed with flavor!

When I want to transport myself to a French bistro, I turn to this Salmon Niçoise Salad.

I experienced my first salad Niçoise in Paris many years ago. It instantly became a favorite of mine, and ever since then if I see it on a menu, I order it.

The classic French version includes canned tuna, but this recipe was inspired by the salmon Niçoise Salad that I enjoyed at the Nordstrom Café many years ago.

I’m a huge fan of salmon, so I love this version even more than the classic. It appears that I’m not alone because I’ve seen salmon Niçoise salad recipes by Jamie Oliver, Barefoot Contessa and Gordon Ramsay as well.

This is proof that sometimes you can beat the classics. 🙂

Be sure to check out my seasonal salad recipes for more inspiration!

• Fall salad recipes
• Spring salad recipes
• Summer salad recipes
• Winter salad recipes

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• Salmon Niçoise Salad is classic French salad that’s healthy, satisfying and tossed in a vibrant lemon dressing.
• It’s a good source of protein, healthy fats and it’s dairy and gluten-free.
• Many of the components can be made in advance so it’s great for meal prep.

Salad Niçoise ingredients

This salad Niçoise recipe has all of the components of the classic recipe with a salmon twist.

Ingredient notes:

• Salmon. One pound of salmon is plenty for this recipe as the hard boiled egg also adds protein and makes it very satisfying. The salmon may be substituted with canned salmon or tuna, or seared ahi tuna.
• Potatoes. Baby potatoes in any variety work great in this recipe.
• Egg. Prepare the hard boiled eggs up to a few days in advance.
• Green beans. Fresh green beans or haricot verts are best in this salad, but you could used canned or frozen green beans in a pinch.
• Tomatoes. Use your favorite variety of cherry tomatoes or chopped tomatoes.
• Olives. Use your favorite variety of olives such as Niçoise, Kalamata, black olives, etc.
• Greens. I love this salad with spring mix lettuce, but you can use your favorite fresh greens.
• Lemon. The salmon is cooked with fresh lemon juice for added flavor.
• Dressing. My lemon vinaigrette recipe makes a great Niçoise salad dressing as it has the tangy flavor of lemon and dijon mustard.

How to make salad Niçoise

There are a few components to this salad Niçoise, but most of them may be prepared in advance.

Instead of boiling the potatoes and green beans and baking the salmon separately, I’ve streamlined the prep by roasting the potatoes, salmon and green beans on the same sheet pan in the oven.

Pro tip: The hard boiled eggs and lemon vinaigrette can be prepared up to a few days in advance, then the salads can be assembled immediately after the salmon, potatoes and green beans come out of the oven.

See the recipe card below for full instructions.

1. Prep your ingredients. The hard boiled eggs and lemon vinaigrette may be prepped up to a few days in advance.
2. Toss the potatoes in olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on one side of a large sheet pan in a single layer and roast at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until almost tender.
3. Toss the green beans with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Season the salmon with salt and pepper, and squeeze the juice from 1/2 a lemon over each filet.Slice the remaining 1/2 lemon. Brush the filets with the remaining olive oil and top with the lemon slices.Place on the baking sheet with the potatoes.
4. Roast for 10-15 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the salmon registers at 140 degrees.

FAQs

How to customize salad Niçoise

There are a number of ways that you can customize salad Niçoise based on your tastes or ingredients that you have on hand.

• The salmon filets may be substituted with seared ahi tuna, or even pantry staples like canned tuna or salmon. Air fryer shrimp or air fryer chicken breast would work as well!
• Swap the green beans with broccoli and the tomatoes with roasted bell peppers.
• Sub the seafood for white beans and omit the egg to make this recipe vegan.
• The olives may be substituted with capers for a nice briny pop of flavor. Be sure to rinse them well and only use about 1/4 cup, which will be divided between the 4 salads.

Recipe notes

• Pro tip: Prepare the hard boiled eggs and lemon vinaigrette up to a few days in advance to make prep time go even more quickly.
• Substitute the salmon with seared ahi tuna or canned tuna.
• Assemble the salads in meal prep containers without dressing and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

More salad recipes you’ll love:

• Asparagus salad
• Butter lettuce salad
• Chicken caesar salad by Foodiecrush
• Chicken Cobb salad
• Fall harvest salad
• Horiatiki
• Salade lyonnaise
• Spring mix salad
• Strawberry fields salad

Did you try this recipe? If so, be sure to leave a review below and tag me @flavorthemoments on Facebook and Instagram

***This post was originally published in May 2013. The photos and recipe have been updated but the text remains largely the same.