Salade niçoise composée — classically composed with tuna & Nice olives

On the Baie des Anges, salade niçoise does not mean a jumble but a composition: tuna, soft-boiled eggs, green beans, small tomatoes, grenaille potatoes, Nice olives and anchovies sit separately on the plate, and the diner mixes them while eating. The vinaigrette is more olive oil than vinegar and a few leaves of freshly torn basil complete it. No summer ritual of the city tastes clearer, provided every ingredient is chosen with care and stands up on its own.

Fish & Seafood Category
35 MIN Prep time
30 MIN Cook time
Serves 4 Servings
Salade niçoise composée — classically composed with tuna & Nice olives

Preparation

Cook the potatoes gently

Place the potatoes unpeeled into cold, well-salted water (saltier than seawater) and let them steep at a bare simmer for 20–25 minutes until tender when pierced. Not a rolling boil — the skins split. Drain, let them steam dry, halve or thickly slice while still warm.

Soft-boil the eggs

Lower room-temperature eggs carefully into already simmering water, reduce the heat to a steady simmer. After 8 minutes plunge them into iced water. Peel later and quarter lengthwise — the yolk stays just creamy, not liquid.

Blanch the beans al dente

Bring plenty of water with coarse salt to a rolling boil. Blanch the haricots verts 4–5 minutes, refresh in iced water, drain. They stay crisp and bright green — overcooked beans are the most common mistake in a niçoise.

Mix the vinaigrette

Stir vinegar or lemon juice, mustard, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl. Whisk in the olive oil in a thin stream until the vinaigrette lightly emulsifies. Taste: the niçoise vinaigrette is deliberately olive-oil-forward (roughly 4:1 oil to acid).

Sear the tuna precisely

Pat the steaks very dry, brush thinly with olive oil, season with coarse salt. Heat a grill pan or cast-iron skillet until very hot and sear the steaks 60 seconds per side — the inside should stay ruby. Lift off the heat, rest 3 minutes and slice across the grain into 1 cm pieces.

Compose, do not mix

Arrange the ingredients on four flat plates in separate groups: warm potatoes, beans, tomato wedges, pepper and onion rings, egg quarters, olives and tuna slices. Lay two anchovy fillets on the composition, scatter capers (if using), finish generously with basil leaves.

Vinaigrette at the table

Drizzle the vinaigrette just before serving over the composed plates (do not toss in), finish with freshly ground pepper. The diner mixes the components while eating — that way each ingredient stays identifiable.

Why this wine?

The Prélude is the rosé the niçoise is looking for: its cool strawberry and citrus fruit lifts the sweetness of the small tomatoes, breaks the saltiness of the anchovies and Nice olives, and binds the oily richness of the seared tuna. Its crystalline acidity cuts through the olive-oil-heavy vinaigrette without smothering the basil — a pairing that makes the Provençal summer heat tangible on the plate at once.
Good to know

Tips & insights

  • Composing, not tossing, defines the niçoise: each ingredient sits separately, the diner mixes while eating. A pre-tossed salad is a different thing in Nice (salade mélangée).
  • Fresh seared tuna over tinned: the quality of the fish decides. With the best tinned stock (ventresca in olive oil) tinned is acceptable — then do not sear, just lay the slices on at room temperature.
  • Vinaigrette only with olive oil, never with other vegetable oils. 4:1 oil to acid, not 3:1 as in other French dressings — the niçoise is deliberately oil-forward.
  • Beans and potatoes warm, not cold: the flavours carry better at room temperature. Straight from the fridge they taste flat.
  • Purists (Jacques Médecin) leave out potatoes and beans and use only tinned tuna; here we follow the widespread composée version from Larousse and Pudlowski. Both are correct — just never serve as a creamy mix.

The wine to pair

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