This vegan spin on the classic Nicoise salad is made with fresh greens, baby potatoes, green beans, juicy cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, chickpeas, and olives in a zesty Dijon vinaigrette! It's hearty, delicious, and perfect for a light lunch or a starter for special dinners.
Nicoise salad has always intrigued me. It's like a fancy French tuna salad. It's so pretty, and looks so delicious and satisfying!
I love almost everything about it: Greens! Tomatoes! Potatoes! Olives! Green beans! You know, everything except for two of the main ingredients — tuna and boiled eggs.
I decided not to let those things stop me from enjoying a version of my own. After all, I did a great job of creating a basic vegan tuna salad, I figured I could totally do a fancy one!
So I went and created a vegan Nicoise salad using all the good stuff I love, along with a couple of delicious swaps for the non vegan ingredients. Instead of fish and eggs, we'll be using marinated artichoke hearts and chickpeas, making for a salad that's not only delicious, but also super substantial and satisfying.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Baby potatoes. I used red potatoes, but yellow potatoes, such as Yukon gold, would also make a great choice, as would fingerling potatoes.
- Red onion.
- Green beans.
- Cherry tomatoes. Alternatively, you can chop up a large tomato.
- Canned chickpeas. You can use another variety of canned bean if you have something else on hand. Cannellini beans, lentils, or even black beans would work well.
- Marinated artichoke hearts.
- Pitted olives. Use good quality olives! Nicoise olives are traditionally used in this salad, but they can be hard to find. Kalamata olives make a nice alterative.
- Capers.
- Fresh parsley.
- Salt and pepper.
- Olive oil. This is for our dressing, so use extra virgin olive oil if possible!
- Red wine vinegar.
- Shallots.
- Garlic.
- Dijon mustard. Use creamy Dijon, in order to give the dressing a smooth consistency.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Start by boiling your potatoes, since this step takes the longest! Simply cover them with water and boil until they're easily pierced with a fork. Drain them when they're done and let them cool a bit.
While the potatoes boil, make the dressing by placing the olive oil, red wine vinegar, diced shallots, minced garlic, Dijon mustard and salt into a jar. Close it up, then shake it up!
Tip: If Dijon vinaigrette isn't your speed, try another one of my vegan salad dressing recipes.
Now cut the potatoes in half and place them in a bowl with some of the dressing. Stir gently and let them sit to soak it up!
Steam the beans until they're just tender. If you don't have a steamer basket, boiling them is fine. Just don't overcook them!
Assemble the vegan Nicoise salad! Start with a bed of baby romaine, then arrange the potatoes, sliced onion, green beans, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, artichoke hearts, olives and capers over the lettuce. Drizzle the salad with some dressing, then give it a sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh parsley before serving.
Tip: Optionally, you can soak your red onion slices in some cold water for ten or fifteen minutes before adding them to the salad. This will help reduce their bite!
Leftovers & Storage
This salad is best served right away, but if you do have leftovers, they'll keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a day or two.
More Vegan Salads
📖 Recipe
Vegan Nicoise Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 10 ounces baby potatoes
- ½ medium red onion, sliced
- 6 ounces fresh green beans
- 4 ounces baby romaine lettuce
- 6 ounces cherry tomatoes (about 1 cup) halved
- 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 (6.5 ounce/184 gram) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
- ¼ cup pitted olives (Note 1)
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Dressing
- â…” cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh shallots
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon creamy Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place the potatoes into a medium saucepan and cover them with water. Place the pot over high heat, and bring the water to a boil. Boil the potatoes until they're fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes into a colander when they're done. Return them to the pot to cool for a few minutes.
- While the potatoes boil, place the dressing ingredients into a jar with a lid. Tightly close the jar and shake it well to mix the ingredients.
- When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half. Return them to the pot or place them in a small bowl, and add two tablespoons of the dressing. Gently stir to coat the potatoes with dressing.
- Optional step: place the red onion into a small container or bowl and cover it with cold water. Let it sit while you prepare the remaining ingredients. This step helps remove some of the bite from the onion.
- Add a few inches of water to a pot fitted with a steamer basket. Place the pot over high heat and add the green beans to the pot. Cover the pot and steam the beans for about 4 minutes, until they're tender and bright green (Note 2). Remove them from the basket when done and allow them to cool while you prepare the rest of the salad.
- Arrange the baby romaine on a large plate or salad bowl. Arrange the cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, artichoke hearts, olives, capers, potatoes, and green beans over the lettuce. If you soaked the onion slices, drain them before arranging them on the salad. Drizzle the salad with as much dressing as you'd like (Note 3). Sprinkle it with parsley, along with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve.
Notes
- Use Nicoise olives if you can find them. If not, any good quality pitted olives will do. Kalamata olives are a good choice and are generally easy to find.
- You can briefly boil the beans if you don't have a steamer basket.
- This recipe makes a very generous amount of dressing, so only use as much as you want. Any leftover dressing will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about one week.
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