A traditional Nicoise salad—or salade niçoise if we want to use the proper French spelling—is a composed salad made with hard-boiled eggs, tuna or anchovies, potatoes, green beans, and olives. A composed salad means that rather than tossing everything together in a bowl, the ingredients are carefully arranged on a plate or serving platter. While I love traditional salads like this kale salad, composed salads like this vegan Nicoise salad remind me of that saying about how we eat first with our eyes—all those colours and textures make me so excited to dig in!
Why You’ll Love This Vegan Nicoise Salad Recipe
Satisfying and hearty. This isn’t just a big bowl of greens! You can make a complete meal out of this vegan nicoise salad recipe—but you can also use it as a side dish too. Make it your own. As with most salad recipes, this is an easy recipe to customise. Put your own spin on this salad by swapping out the protein, dressing, or veggies. A feast for the eyes. This salad doesn’t just taste good—it’s beautiful on a serving platter too! With its rainbow of colours and varied textures, it’s sure to impress your guests if you serve it for a party.
Notes on Ingredients
Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.
For the Salad
Chickpeas – Drain and rinse the chickpeas before starting the recipe. Olive oil Seasoning – Salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, ground mustard, and dried oregano. Baby red potatoes – Or another variety of baby potato. Haricot vert – Haricot vert are thinner than regular green beans because they’re harvested younger; you can use regular green beans instead. Lettuce – I use a combination of chopped butter lettuce and spring mix. Radishes Cherry tomatoes Parisian cucumber – English cucumbers or Persian cucumbers can also be used. Nicoise olives Artichokes hearts – Canned or marinated artichoke hearts from a jar are both fine here. Green onions – You’ll only need the white parts for this vegan Nicoise salad. Capers
For the Dressing
Red wine vinegar Lemon – Use fresh lemon juice rather than bottled for the best flavour. Olive oil Shallot – The acid in the dressing will mellow the sharpness of the raw shallot. Garlic Salt and ground black pepper Fresh herbs – Thyme, basil, and parsley.
What Are Nicoise Olives?
Nicoise olives are small, dark olives that come from the region around Nice in France. They have a firm texture, slightly wrinkled appearance, and rich, briny taste. If you can’t find them, you can swap in Kalamata olives.
How to Make Vegan Nicoise Salad
Roast the chickpeas. Toss the chickpeas with the olive oil and seasonings. Spread them onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake at 425ºF for 20 minutes. Boil the potatoes. Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes; cut them in half when cool. Cook the beans. Add the green beans to the boiling water. Cook for 4 minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water.
Assemble the salad. Arrange the ingredients on a serving platter. Make the dressing. Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. Dress the salad. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat or, to keep the salad artfully arranged on the platter, serve the dressing on the side.
Tips for Success
Dry the chickpeas well. Before adding the oil and seasonings to the chickpeas, make sure they are thoroughly dried. This will help them get crispy in the oven. (For more tips on roasting chickpeas, see this post: How to Make Crispy Roasted Chickpeas.) Buy potatoes that are roughly the same size. This ensures that they’re all finished cooking around the same time. Make it ahead of time. You can prepare all the components of this vegan Nicoise salad—the chickpeas, potatoes, beans, and dressing—ahead of time and keep them stored separately in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve. Just assemble and dress right before serving for maximum freshness.
Variations
I swap out the traditional tuna with roasted chickpeas in this vegan Nicoise salad, but there are a lot of other options to try! Here are some additional ideas:
Tofu. Marinated tofu or lemon pepper tofu would both be delicious in this Nicoise salad. Vegan chicken. This vegan chicken would make a savoury protein-packed addition to this salad recipe. Beans. Try marinated white beans, lima beans, or lupini beans instead of the roasted chickpeas. Vegan fish. Use hearts-of-palm vegan fish sticks as a replacement for tuna in traditional Nicoise salad. (Vegan crab cakes are another option to try!)
How to Store
The best way to store this vegan Nicoise salad is to keep all of the components in separate containers; the vegetables will keep for 3 to 4 days, while the dressing will last for a week. This, of course, is not always practical if you’ve already assembled the salad; in that case, you can store everything in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
More Delicious Vegan Salad Recipes
Chickpea Panzanella Salad Vegan Cobb Salad Cucumber and Tomato Salad Easy Vegan Caesar Salad Greek Cucumber Salad
Enjoy friends! If you make this vegan Nicoise salad recipe, please snap a photo and tag #jessicainthekitchen on Instagram! We’d also love it if you would leave a comment below, and give the recipe a rating! Thanks so much!
