Vegan Nicoise Salad
This vegan Nicoise salad is a platter full of colour, texture, and flavour that looks as good as it tastes! I swap out the tuna and eggs for seasoned and roasted chickpeas, and a lemony vinaigrette brings it all together.
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!
Vegan Nicoise Salad
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 (15-ounce) can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed, 425 grams
- ½ tablespoon olive oil, 7.5 ml
- ¾ teaspoon salt, divided, 4.5 grams
- A pinch of ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, 1 gram
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder, 1 gram
- ¼ teaspoon mustard powder, ½ gram
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 12 baby red potatoes
- 6 ounces haricot vert, 170 grams
- 4 cups chopped butter lettuce, 240 grams
- 3 cups spring mix, 135 grams
- 1 cup thinly sliced radishes, 116 grams
- 1 ½ cup halved cherry tomatoes, 248 grams
- 2 Parisian cucumber, thinly sliced into rounds
- ¾ cup pitted Nicoise olives, 101 grams
- 6 canned artichokes hearts, drained and quartered
- 5 green onions, thinly sliced (whites only)
- 2 tablespoons capers, 15 grams
For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 30 ml
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ½ cup olive oil, 118 ml
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot, 28 grams
- 1 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt, 2 grams
- A pinch of ground black pepper
- ½ tablespoon minced fresh thyme, 2 grams
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil, 4 grams
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley, 4 grams
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, toss together the chickpeas, olive oil, ¼ teaspoon (1.5 grams) salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, and oregano. Spread the chickpeas over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add ½ teaspoon (3 grams) salt. Add the potatoes and boil for 20 minutes or until fork tender. Scoop them out of the water and set aside. Keep the water boiling. Once cool enough to handle, cut the potatoes in half.
- Add the haricot vert to the water you boiled the potatoes in and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and run under cold water. Set aside.
- Toss together the butter lettuce, spring mix, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, artichoke hearts, green onions, and capers.
- Whisk together the red wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, shallot, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, basil, and parsley.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.
Notes
Disclaimer: Although jessicainthekitchen.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Jessicainthekitchen.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
This is the most beautiful food photo I’ve ever seen. Nearly suitable for framing. I often often gaze at, knowing full well that I will never gather and assemble all of these ingredients just for myself. If this could be my last meal I’d die smiling.
Aww wow thank you so much ha – I’ve missed your comments!! Hahaha that’s fair but I hope even one day you get to!!