• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MOMables® Healthy Lunches for Kids
  • MEAL PLANS
    • Weekly Family Meal Plan
    • Teaching Your Kids to Cook
    • 7-Day Family Reset
    • Meatless Meal Plan
    • Pantry Staples Meal Plan
    • Free Picky Eaters eCourse
  • Cookbooks
    • 101 Packed Lunches
    • Chicken. It’s What’s for Dinner
    • Intermittent Fasting eBook
    • Meal Prep’d
    • More Cookbooks
  • Recipe Index
  • Healthy Lunches
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Lunch Ideas
  • 101 Lunches
  • About
  • Start Here
  • Lunch Boxes
  • Cookbooks
  • Dinner Meal Plan
  • Contact
search icon
Homepage link
  • Lunch Ideas
  • 101 Lunches
  • About
  • Start Here
  • Lunch Boxes
  • Cookbooks
  • Dinner Meal Plan
  • Contact
×

Salmon Nicoise Salad Lunchbox

by Laura Fuentes

May 23, 2019
updated May 17, 2023
5 from 8 votes
This protein-packed salmon nicoise salad makes a healthy and impressive meal that packs into an easy, satisfying lunch for kids or adults.
Jump to Recipe

All the articles & recipes on this website have been created through real-life testing and experience (no ai) since 2010. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

This salmon nicoise salad makes a healthy and impressive meal that packs into an easy, satisfying lunch.

How to Make Nicoise Salad

The original Nicoise salad is very basic with capers, anchovies, hard-boiled eggs, olive, and tomatoes. While it’s delicious, it’s not exactly a kid-friendly meal so I swapped the anchovies and capers with baked salmon, added steamed green beans, roasted potatoes, and voila! A healthy lunch for the office or school lunch bag.

image: salmon salad in a lunchbox with carrots, olives, green beans and tomatoes. Other portions of the lunch container filled with fruit and popcorn.

If you’re wondering where I got the salmon from, it’s leftovers from a previous dinner of baked salmon, green beans, and potatoes. I do that a lot around here, especially in our family meal plans. Why start from scratch every day, when you can score two meals with one?

If you want to make more fresh meals for your family but need a little boost, check out the Family KickStart Program. It’s a 4-week meal plan that provides healthy recipes along with completed shopping lists, prep tips, and a meal map for each week. Get more info here.

Eat Healthy with Your Kids

Have you tried eating healthy but your family just won’t eat the same foods you’re making? 

Learn how many parents are eliminating processed foods and sugars from their family’s diet with the Family KickStart Program.

I Need This!

Back to the salad, if salmon is a no-go for your family you can use canned tuna, an extra hard-boiled egg, or even grilled chicken strips. Although we are changing up the traditional salad nicoise, the concept is still the same; simple, fresh, and good for you.

Best Nicoise Salad Dressing

I’ve included a simple vinaigrette dressing in the recipe, partly because all the ingredients are probably in your fridge and pantry but mostly because it’s the best type of salad dressing to toss into a nicoise salad.

The vinaigrette takes less than 2 minutes to make and it brings out all the flavors of the salad ingredients, definitely worth giving it a go.

image: salmon salad in a lunchbox with carrots, olives, green beans and tomatoes. Other portions of the lunch container filled with fruit and popcorn. 

Image text reads "Nicoise Salad Lunchbox"

Keeping Nicoise Salad Fresh

To prolong the freshness of this salad, keep it refrigerated and save the dressing until right before serving.

If you’re making this for a school lunch be sure to pack the vinaigrette in sauce containers and include it in the lunch bag, along with a freezer pack, so everything stays nice and fresh.

How to Pack Nicoise Salad for Lunch

It works the same as the dinner version, all the ingredients are arranged over a bed of lettuce, though this time you’ll be assembling it in lunch containers. Top the lettuce with salmon, veggies, tomatoes, olives, and pack the dressing in a sauce container. It makes this salad an easy choice for the lunchbox.

After this recipe, try my easy recipe for miso salmon.

Best Lunch Salads

Salads are a great swap from the usual sandwiches and like this salmon Nicoise, they can be made to pack a variety of nutrient-dense ingredients. If you want more healthy salad ideas for lunch you’ll love these salads, each one is quick to assemble and adds variety to the lunchbox:

  • Cobb Pasta Salad
  • Santa Fe Chicken Salad
  • Asian Chicken Salad
  • Jambalaya Pasta Salad

Tell me what you think? Is salad nicoise going to be a new lunch go-to for you?

Salmon Nicoise Salad

Salmon Nicoise Salad Lunchbox

Laura Fuentes
5 from 8 votes
This protein-packed salmon nicoise salad makes a healthy and impressive meal that packs into an easy, satisfying lunch for kids or adults.
Servings: 4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 10 minutes mins

Ingredients

Vinaigrette Dressing:

  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Juice from ½ lemon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ⅓ cup olive oil

Salad:

  • 1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cup steamed green beans
  • ¼ lb red potatoes, roasted and diced
  • 2 4- ounce packs salmon
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
  • ½ cup pitted Kalamata olives
  • ½ cup Balsamic vinaigrette

Instructions
 

  • In a medium jar, combine the Dijon mustard, Italian seasoning, red wine vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Top with lid and toss to combine.
  • Place the chopped lettuce into a large bowl. Top with cherry tomatoes, steamed green beans, potatoes, salmon, eggs, and olives, making rows of each ingredient. Drizzle with vinaigrette and toss to combine.
  • If packing for lunch, assemble the salad into lunch containers. Divide the dressing between 4 lidded sauce containers and pack with the salads.

Equipment

Salad Spinner
Kids Lunch Box
101 Packed Lunches

Nutrition

Serving: 1saladCalories: 338kcalCarbohydrates: 19.4gProtein: 24.9gFat: 18.6gSaturated Fat: 3.9gCholesterol: 282.5mgSodium: 581.1mgFiber: 6gSugar: 7.2g
Like this recipe?Rate and leave a comment below

More Salads

  • cobb salad lunchbox
    Cobb Salad for Teens
  • chicken strip salad in a lunchbox
    Chicken Strip Salad for Teens
  • Chicken Salad with Greens
  • Southwest Quinoa Salad | Quick Kids Lunch Idea

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




  1. Elena

    January 24, 2020 at 11:08 am

    5 stars
    I made this salmon nicoise salad for lunch this week and it was good. I made it for dinner, actually, and then saved leftovers. I ran out of green beans -because they are just so good roasted fresh- so I steamed some broccoli instead. it was the perfect healthy lunch option!

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Laura Fuentes, founder of MOMables wearing a yellow shirt and looking at the camera smiling

Hi, I'm Laura! I help you make healthy lunches and meals your kids will love, with simple and tasty recipes.

I need lunch ideas! →

Fresh Favorites

  • collage o f four bento boxes
    Bento Boxes for Kids’ Lunches 101
  • Protein & Fruit Bento Box For Kids
  • Guacamole and Protein Bento
  • a collage of healthy school lunch ideas for teens
    Healthy School Lunch Ideas for Teens

Popular Now

  • a collage of sandwiches in lunchboxes
    How to Pack a Sandwich for Lunch
  • Peanut Butter Sandwich Ideas
  • Healthy Alternatives to Lunchables
  • 8 Healthy Wraps for School Lunch

Footer

Lunchbox Builder

Download here!

Healthy Lunches

  • School Lunches
  • 101 Lunch Ideas eBook
  • Thermos Lunches
  • What's a Bento?

Resources

  • Contact
  • About
  • Cookbooks
  • YouTube Channel

Privacy | Permissions | Membership Terms

COPYRIGHT © 2023 LAURA FUENTES