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Julia Child's classic Salad Nicoise recipe filled is with olives, capers, and fresh vegetables all tossed with a simple vinaigrette.
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4.89 from 45 votes

Julia Child’s Salad Nicoise

Julia Child's Salad Nicoise recipe is filled with classic components olives, capers, and fresh vegetables all tossed with a simple vinaigrette.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Main Course, Salad
Cuisine: French, Mediterranean
Keyword: Julia Child Salad Nicoise, Julia Child's salad nicoise, salad nicoise
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 587kcal
Cost: $10

Equipment

Ingredients

Nicoise Salad

  • 1 pound fresh green beans ends trimmed and blanched
  • 1 head of red leaf lettuce leaves removed, washed and dried well
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes cut in half
  • 6 ounces oil packed tuna flaked
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs halved lengthwise
  • 2-3 anchovy fillets
  • ½ cup Kalamata olives or Nicoise olives pitted and cut in half or chopped
  • 4 tablespoons capers
  • Flat leaf parsley hard stems removed and chopped finely, for garnish

French Potato Salad

Vinaigrette (makes about ½ cup)

Instructions

Green Beans

  • If you haven't yet, blanch, prep the green beans by blanching them. Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil green beans for 2 minutes, then immediately transfer to a bowl filled with ice water.
  • Remove green beans from water and set aside.

Vinaigrette

  • Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together in a bowl until blended and emulsified (or shake in a mason jar). Set aside while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Potato Salad:

  • Add potatoes to a cold pot of water and bring to a boil until just fork tender. Once done, remove and let cool enough to handle. Slice or quarter potatoes and toss with 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Assemble Salad Nicoise

  • Shortly before serving, line a large, wide salad bowl or platter with lettuce leaves and drizzle with some of the vinaigrette.
  • Toss the green beans with 1-2 tablespoons of vinaigrette and arrange on platter, along with the potato salad.
  • Drizzle a spoonful or two of the dressing over the tomatoes and tuna and arrange on platter.
  • Layer the rest of the salad ingredients around the platter, olives, capers, eggs and anchovies.
  • Drizzle the rest of the vinaigrette onto salad and garnish with finely chopped parsley.

Notes

Most of the components can be made ahead of time, such as blanching the green beans and cooking the hard boiled eggs. 
To prevent sogginess, dress the rest fo the salad right before serving.
 
Excerpted from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. Copyright © 1989 by Julia Child. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

Nutrition

Calories: 587kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 25g | Cholesterol: 195mg | Sodium: 735mg | Potassium: 1215mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1764IU | Vitamin C: 66mg | Calcium: 120mg | Iron: 5mg