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Salade niçoise on a flat platter: mesclun and ripe tomatoes with raw green vegetables, tuna, anchovies, hard-boiled eggs and black olives arranged separately, not tossed
Serves8 servings
CuisineFrench (Niçois)
Europe

Salade Niçoise: The City of Nice's Composed Summer Salad (La Salada Nissarda)

How to make salade niçoise (La Salada Nissarda) from the City of Nice's official recipe for 8: raw summer vegetables, olive-oil tuna, salted anchovies, black olives and hard-boiled eggs arranged on a garlic-rubbed platter, dressed with olive oil and pepper, and mixed at the table. Covers substitutions, fixing watery or salty results, and how the Nice version differs from the potato-and-green-bean salads served internationally.

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 9

Hard-boil the eggs

Hard-boiled eggs cut into quarters, ready to go on the salade niçoise
Cut the eggs into quarters once the yolk and white are fully set

Hard-boil 4 eggs for about 8 minutes; treat 8 minutes as a guide rather than a guarantee. Peel one and check that both the white and the yolk are fully set. Cut the eggs into quarters and keep them on a clean plate.

STEP 22 / 9

Wash the vegetables and trim the radishes

Washed radishes with tender leaves kept on, and raw vegetables draining for salade niçoise
Keep the tender radish leaves and drain the raw vegetables thoroughly

Wash all the vegetables. Trim the radishes but keep their tender leaves attached; discard any leaves that have wilted rather than forcing them in. Drain everything well, because water left on the leaves will dilute the salad and the oil later.

STEP 33 / 9

Rub the platter with garlic and spread the leaves

Rubbing cut garlic around the inside of the serving platter, then spreading mesclun as the base
The garlic only scents the platter; it is not chopped into the salad

Cut the peeled garlic clove and rub the cut side around the inside of a large, flat platter. This perfumes the dish; the clove itself does not go into the salad. Spread the mesclun loosely over the platter.

STEP 44 / 9

Lay the tomatoes on the leaves and salt them

Ripe tomato wedges arranged over mesclun with a light sprinkling of salt
Salt the tomatoes lightly, keeping the leaves fresh and visible

Cut the tomatoes into wedges and arrange them over the leaves. Salt them lightly at this point, which brings out the tomato's flavor. Tomatoes release juice that wilts the leaves, so do this close to serving time.

STEP 55 / 9

Slice the remaining raw vegetables

Thinly slicing celery heart, small raw green pepper, young onion and tender artichoke heart
Use only the tender, edible center of the artichoke

Slice the celery hearts, the tender hearts of the artichokes, the green peppers and the young onions thinly. Everything here is eaten raw, so remove tough outer artichoke leaves and stringy celery fibers. The recipe does not give a cutting width; aim for pieces thin enough to eat comfortably in one bite.

STEP 66 / 9

Decide on the seasonal extras

STEP 6

In this version, leave out the optional fava beans and cucumber and go straight to step 7. If you do add them, this is where they go: shell the fava beans from their pods and scatter them, and slice the cucumber thinly and place it on the platter. Salting the cucumber is optional.

STEP 77 / 9

Arrange the vegetables flat on the platter

Sliced vegetables and artichoke arranged flat over the tomatoes and leaves
Keep the vegetables in a flat, open layer, not tossed

Scatter the sliced vegetables and the radishes over the tomatoes, spreading them out rather than piling them up. Add a little more salt carefully, remembering that anchovies, tuna and olives are still to come. Do not toss the vegetables in a bowl beforehand; the mixing happens at the table.

STEP 88 / 9

Place the tuna, eggs, basil, anchovies and olives

Large pieces of tuna, hard-boiled eggs, salted anchovies and black olives arranged over the vegetables
Each topping sits separately on the vegetables, still unmixed

Set the tuna on top in large pieces without flaking it too finely. Add the quartered eggs. Chop the basil and scatter it over once the fish and eggs are in place. Finish with the anchovies and the black olives.

STEP 99 / 9

Add oil and pepper at the table, mix and share

Finishing the salad with chopped basil scattered over, olive oil drizzled on and black pepper ground
Oil and pepper go on only at the table

Bring the platter to the table. Pour the 100 ml of olive oil over the salad and grind on some pepper.

Then, in front of your guests, mix the salad and divide it so that every plate gets some of each ingredient. Serve right away.

Mixing the finished salade niçoise at the table and dividing it so every ingredient reaches each plate
Mix in front of the guests and share out so everyone gets a bit of everything
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Ingredients

Ingredients

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Ingredients

Ingredient Amount Role
Mixed young salad leaves (mesclun) 150 g The leafy base of the platter
Ripe tomatoes (tomates) 500 g Cut into wedges; sweetness and acidity
Young onions (cébettes) 100 g Sliced thin; a fresh, sharp note
Small celery hearts (petits cœurs de céleri branche) 100 g The pale, tender inner part, sliced thin
Small violet artichokes (petits artichauts violets) 400 g Tender hearts eaten raw; the recipe does not say whether this is trimmed or untrimmed weight
Small green salad peppers (petits poivrons verts pour la salade) 160 g Raw crunch and a green aroma
Long radishes (radis longs dits « 18 jours ») 250 g Kept with their tender leaves
Nice black olives (olives noires de Nice) 50 g Salt and fruitiness on top
Tuna in olive oil (thon à l'huile d'olive) 200 g Placed in large pieces
Salted anchovies (anchois au sel) 8 anchovies, or 16 fillets A main source of salt
Garlic (ail) 20 g listed; the method uses 1 peeled clove Rubbed on the platter for aroma, not chopped into the salad
Olive oil (huile d'olive) 100 ml Poured over at the table
Eggs (œufs) 4 Hard-boiled and quartered
Basil (basilic) 8–12 leaves Chopped and scattered for aroma
Fine salt, freshly ground pepper (sel fin, poivre du moulin) To taste Salt in small steps; pepper at the table
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Salade Niçoise: Raw Summer Vegetables, Salted Fish and Olive Oil on One Platter

What this platter should keep

Crisp raw vegetables with their water drained off, ripe tomatoes, the salt of anchovies and olives, good olive oil and the scent of basil. Arrange everything so each ingredient is visible, add the oil and pepper only at the table, and mix it there just before sharing it out.

A wide, shallow platter is rubbed with a cut clove of garlic. Young salad leaves go down first, then wedges of ripe tomato, then thin slices of raw celery heart, small green peppers, young onions and tender artichoke. Tuna in large pieces, quartered hard-boiled eggs, anchovies and small black olives are set on top. Only when the platter reaches the table is olive oil poured over and pepper ground on, and then the salad is mixed in front of the guests and divided so everyone gets a bit of everything.

That is the salade niçoise described in the City of Nice's official recipe, which also gives the dish its Niçois name, La Salada Nissarda. It is a spring and summer dish built almost entirely from raw produce; the only thing that is cooked is the egg.

This article follows that official recipe for 8 people. Many salads sold under the same name around the world add boiled potatoes and green beans; those are explained further down as a separate, international style rather than folded into this recipe.

From Nice's Markets to the Table: The Official Version and Its Variants

The City of Nice lists salade niçoise among the representative dishes of its local cuisine. The city describes a food culture in which local growers sell their fruit and vegetables at the markets and restaurants buy from them, and it explains the Cuisine Nissarde label, which sets standards for recipes, ingredients and how dishes are served. According to the Nice Côte d'Azur Tourist Office, the official salade niçoise recipe was reviewed and approved by the Cuisine Nissarde technical committee. For more dishes from the country, see the France page.

The city's own recipe places it in spring and summer and builds it from fresh raw vegetables laid out on a flat platter. The tourist office's version shares this picture of local vegetables arranged on a plate, with olive oil added just before eating, and mentions cucumber and wine vinegar as options; its quantities differ from the city's recipe, so the two are not mixed here.

France.fr, France's official tourism site, also gives the name la salada nissarda and recounts a story placing the dish's origin in 19th-century Nice; that is the site's account, not an independently established date. The same page notes that traditionalists keep cooked vegetables out of the salad, and it presents a creative version with potatoes, green beans and a seared tuna steak. Neither needs to be called "wrong": the Nice recipe is the local reference, and the potato-and-bean salad is a version that travelled.

City of Nice official recipe International style (as on France.fr)
Vegetables Raw only: leaves, tomato, young onion, celery heart, artichoke, green pepper, radish Adds cooked potatoes and green beans
Fish Tuna in olive oil and salted anchovies Seared tuna steak
Dressing Olive oil and pepper at the table, then mixed in front of guests Tossed with a dressing

Ingredients (Serves 8, City of Nice Official Recipe)

Leafy greens, tomatoes, raw vegetables, artichokes, tuna, anchovies, eggs, olives and basil for the main salade niçoise recipe
Everything for the main version: raw vegetables, salted fish, eggs, olives, garlic, basil and olive oil

These are the City of Nice's amounts for 8. The seasonal fava beans and cucumber that the city lists as optional are left out of this version; see "Variations" if you want to add them.

The city's ingredient list gives 20 g of garlic, while its method uses one peeled clove to rub the platter. Use the clove as the method says; do not add the rest of the garlic to the salad. The recipe also mentions red wine vinegar at the end without an amount or a step, so it is not used in this version.

Equipment

  • A wide, shallow serving platter
  • A small saucepan for the eggs
  • A knife and cutting board
  • A colander for draining the washed vegetables
  • A fork and spoon for mixing and serving at the table

Choosing and Substituting

Some of the Nice ingredients are seasonal and local, so here is how to choose sensibly elsewhere. These are substitutions, not equivalents; each changes the result a little.

  • Mesclun: a mixed salad of young leaves works. The bitterness and the mix of leaves will not be the same as in Nice.
  • Cébettes: use the white part of scallions or slim new onions. Their sharpness differs, so slice thin.
  • Small violet artichokes: use only the tender heart raw. If you cannot find them, leave them out, or use canned artichoke hearts, well drained, as a separate option; the texture and moisture will not match raw artichoke. Do not try to convert the 400 g into a trimmed weight.
  • Small green salad peppers: an ordinary green pepper, cut into thin strips, can stand in.
  • Long radishes: ordinary radishes are fine. Keep any tender leaves.
  • Nice black olives: ordinary brine-cured black olives can be used, though the variety's aroma and saltiness differ. Taste before adding salt.
  • Tuna: the recipe does not say whether 200 g is the full can or drained weight. Here, weigh the tuna you will actually place on the salad, and do not add the can's oil to the 100 ml of olive oil. Tuna packed in water gives a weaker olive-oil aroma and a different finish.
  • Salted anchovies: prepare whole salted anchovies or fillets according to the product's label so they are ready to eat.
Hygiene

The eggs are the only cooked ingredient, and no raw fish is used. Prepare the raw vegetables with clean hands, tools and platter. Assemble the salad close to eating time, do not leave it out at room temperature for long after plating, and refrigerate any leftovers promptly. Check labels on canned tuna, anchovies and olives for allergens and processing information.

Method: Arrange Everything, Then Mix It at the Table

Composed first, mixed last

Steps 3 to 8 build the salad on the platter so each ingredient stays visible. The mixing happens only in step 9, in front of the people eating, so every plate gets its share.

The City of Nice gives 20 minutes of preparation and 8 minutes of cooking for the eggs. Steps are listed in a practical order: the eggs first, so they are ready by the time the platter is built.

Watery, Salty or Tough: Fixing Problems

Problem Likely cause What to do
The leaves are wet and limp Vegetables not drained well; tomatoes, salt or oil added too early Drain the washed vegetables thoroughly. Lay out the tomatoes close to serving, and add the oil only at the table
Too salty Anchovies, tuna and olives all bring salt Salt the tomatoes and vegetables lightly, and adjust at the table after tasting
Raw vegetables are tough Outer artichoke leaves or celery strings left in Use only the tender artichoke heart and the pale celery heart, sliced thin
The arrangement falls apart before serving Ingredients mixed too early Build on a wide platter and mix only at the table; until then the components stay visible and easy to share
Ingredients are hard to find Seasonal or local produce Leave out the seasonal extras, and treat substitutes as substitutes rather than presenting them as identical

Variations

  1. Add seasonal fava beans. The city lists them as optional for spring and summer: 400 g weighed in the pod, not shelled weight. Shell them and scatter them in step 6, or leave them out when they are not in season.
  2. Add cucumber. The city also lists 200 g of thinly sliced cucumber as optional. It gives off water, so place it on the platter just before serving.
  3. Leave out the artichokes. If small violet artichokes are unavailable, the salad still works with the leaves, tomatoes and other raw vegetables at its center.
  4. Use canned artichoke hearts. Drain them well. This is a different option from raw artichoke, with a softer texture and more moisture.
  5. Use other black olives. Brine-cured black olives can replace Nice olives; the variety's own aroma will be missing, so taste before salting.
  6. Lean on the anchovies. Use less tuna and let the salted anchovies lead, and cut back on added salt.
  7. The international style as a separate dish. If you want the version with cooked potatoes, green beans and seared tuna presented on France.fr, make it as its own recipe rather than adding those ingredients to the Nice proportions above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it still salade niçoise if it has potatoes?

Potatoes are not in the City of Nice's official recipe, which uses only raw vegetables plus hard-boiled eggs. France.fr presents a version with potatoes and green beans as a creative variation and notes that traditionalists leave cooked vegetables out. It is best understood as a different, widely travelled style.

Do I need both tuna and anchovies?

The official ingredient list includes both: 200 g of tuna in olive oil and 8 salted anchovies or 16 fillets. Because both are salty, add salt to the vegetables in small amounts.

Are the fava beans required?

No. They are an optional spring-and-summer ingredient in the city's recipe, and the 400 g is measured in the pod. This version leaves them out.

What is it called in Niçois?

The City of Nice gives the name La Salada Nissarda alongside La Salade Niçoise.

Can I make it ahead?

Assemble it just before eating. The leaves and tomatoes release water and wilt, and the oil goes on only at the table. The sources do not give a storage period, so none is suggested here; refrigerate any leftovers promptly.

Sources