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Add salmon to the classic French niçoise salad for a fun take on the beloved dish. But not just any salmon will do, we’re making my favorite salmon patties!
I love, love, love a good niçoise salad. The variety of textures and flavors make this main-dish salad a hearty and satisfying option. A lettuce-less salad, the niçoise is anything but boring. Featuring briny olives, savory salmon, soft boiled eggs, and tons of fresh veggies— the harmony of flavors and textures is pure delight.
What is niçoise salad?
Literally meaning “as prepared in Nice,” the niçoise salad exemplifies the type of cuisine found in and around the city of Nice. That type of cuisine is one that values both hot and cold dishes and relies heavily on tomatoes, black olives and anchovies.
French green beans, onions, tuna, hard-cooked eggs, and herbs are the basic components of the niçoise salad. As you can see, this salmon niçoise salad has many similarities to the classic French version, while also standing firm in its differences.
For a more traditional recipe, check out our Simple Tuna Nicoise Salad.
Components of a Nicoise Salad
- Easy salmon cakes (or pan seared salmon)
- Green beans (or haricot verts)
- Baby gold potatoes
- Castelvetrano olives (or green olives)
- Radishes
- 6-minute boiled eggs
- Classic Vinaigrette (or try this creamy horseradish dressing)
How to make a salmon niçoise salad
Making a niçoise salad is a bit of a dance. It’s an easy dance, but a dance nonetheless. With a variety of components that need to get cooked, making the process efficient and timely is essential. Here’s how I do that (keep an eye on how I make pans work double duty):
- Add potatoes to a large sauté pan and cover with at least 2 inches of water, cook as directed.
- Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Gently lower eggs into water and cook as directed.
- Prepare an ice water bath.
- Transfer eggs to ice water bath.
- Dump green beans into now-empty saucepan of boiling water; cook as directed.
- Transfer green beans to ice water bath with eggs.
- Drain eggs, green beans and potatoes; peel eggs.
- Cook salmon cakes (or pan seared salmon) as directed.
- Trim and wash radishes.
- Drain olives.
- Assemble salad and make vinaigrette.
Make ahead tips
Every single component of this salad can be made ahead of time. Although I prefer to make the salmon cakes right before serving, they too can be made ahead.
Up to 1 week ahead:
The classic vinaigrette can be made up to 1 week ahead; store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Up to 3 days ahead:
Cook the potatoes, green beans and eggs up to 3 days ahead. To avoid any yolk-y mess, and to make storing easier, save the peeling of the eggs until right before serving.
The salmon cakes can be made up to 3 days ahead, but they are best when cooked fresh and served immediately. If you do choose to make them ahead of time, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, allow them to come to room temperature for 10 minutes, then reheat in a nonstick skillet coated with nonstick spray over medium heat until crisp and heated through.
Make sure to tag me @ZESTFULKITCHEN ON INSTAGRAM or comment below if you make these pan seared salmon!
To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can click the button on any of the photos, or the red button on the side bar or below the recipe. Happy cooking!
Niçoise Salad with Salmon Cakes
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Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 12 ounces baby gold potatoes
- 1 pound green beans
- 1 recipe Easy Salmon Cakes
- ½ cup castelvetrano olives, pitted
- 1 bunch radishes, about 8 ounces, trimmed and washed
- 1 recipe Classic Vinaigrette
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add potatoes to a large sauté pan and cover with 2 inches of cold water. Place pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil; season with 1 teaspoon salt, reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Drain potatoes and set aside.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and using a spider or slotted spoon, gently lower eggs into water. Bring water back up to a boil and cook eggs 6 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare an ice water bath. Using a spider or slotted spoon transfer eggs to ice water bath.
- Add green beans to now-empty saucepan of boiling water; cook beans until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using a spider or slotted spoon, transfer green beans to ice water bath with eggs and cool completely.
- Drain green beans and eggs. Arrange green beans on a large platter with potatoes, salmon cakes, olives, and radishes. Peel and halve eggs; arrange on platter.
- Drizzle vinaigrette over salad, sprinkle with fresh dill, and season with salt and pepper.
