Protein Salads

Seared Tuna Niçoise Salad

A Niçoise is a composed salad, not a tossed one — every element cooked correctly and laid out in its own place, then dressed at the table. That structure is what makes it feel like a dinner rather than a side. The upgrade here is fresh tuna seared hard and left rare in the middle instead of the tinned version, which turns it from a picnic dish into something you would order out. Everything except the searing can be done hours ahead, so the actual cooking is two minutes of high heat before you sit down.

Seared Tuna Niçoise Salad
20 minPrep time
20 minCook time
40 minTotal time
4Servings
520Kcal / serving

Ingredients

  • 500g sushi-grade tuna loin
  • 400g baby new potatoes
  • 250g green beans, trimmed
  • 4 eggs
  • 150g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 80g Niçoise or Kalamata olives
  • 100g little gem lettuce
  • 4 anchovy fillets, minced
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • Salt and black pepper

Instructions

  1. Cook the potatoes and beans

    Boil the potatoes in well-salted water for 15 minutes until tender. In the last 3 minutes, drop in the green beans. Drain and halve the potatoes while warm.

  2. Jammy eggs

    Lower the eggs into boiling water for exactly 7 minutes, then straight into ice water. Peel and halve — the yolks should be set at the edge and molten in the centre.

  3. Sear the tuna

    Pat the tuna very dry and season heavily. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan until smoking, then sear 60–90 seconds per side. The centre must stay ruby red. Rest 5 minutes, then slice against the grain 1cm thick.

  4. Dress and compose

    Whisk the anchovies, Dijon, vinegar, shallot and remaining oil. Arrange the lettuce, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, olives and eggs in separate groups on a platter, lay the tuna across the middle, and spoon the vinaigrette over everything just before serving.

For the tinned-fish version, see our Tuna White Bean Salad. It pairs well with Heirloom Tomato & Basil Salad, and the vinaigrette technique is covered in Homemade Dressing Ratios.

The EasySaladBowl secretDress the potatoes while they are still warm and on their own. Warm potato absorbs vinaigrette; cold potato repels it and the seasoning ends up in the bottom of the bowl.

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