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.

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:

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

Salmon Nicoise Salad Lunchbox

Print Recipe

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This protein-packed salmon nicoise salad makes a healthy and impressive meal that packs into an easy, satisfying lunch for kids or adults.

Author: MOMables – Laura
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Category: Lunch

Ingredients

Units

Vinaigrette Dressing:

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, 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

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Kids Lunch Box