🇫🇷 French
Niçoise Salad
⏱ 30 min
🍞 ~16g (kid-default portion with small potato)
🍽 4 servings
⭐ 3/5
⚠️ Estimates only — not medical advice. Carb counts vary by brand and portion. Always verify with your endo or CDCES.
🌍 Cultural note
A real Niçoise from Nice is a "composed" salad — not tossed, but arranged in tidy little piles on the plate so each ingredient stays itself. Locals argue forever about what belongs (purists say no lettuce, no cooked vegetables) but for kid families, a softer interpretation works. The mini potato portion is the only carb to watch — everything else is protein, fat, and vegetables.
Why this recipe is T1D-friendly
- Tuna + hard-boiled egg + olives = strong protein and fat base, very low carb
- Most of the carb count is in the small potato portion — easy to scale up or down
- Green beans and tomato keep it bright without big glucose impact
- A composed plate means kids see exactly what they're eating — no hidden carbs
Ingredients
- 2 cans (5 oz each) tuna in olive oil, drained (~0g)
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved (~2g total, negligible)
- 8 oz green beans, trimmed (~16g total, ~4g per serving)
- 8 small baby red or fingerling potatoes (~40g total, ~10g per serving) — see portion options below
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (~6g total, ~1.5g per serving)
- 1/2 cup Niçoise or kalamata olives, pitted (~3g total, negligible)
- 4 cups butter lettuce or mixed greens (~4g total, ~1g per serving)
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced (~3g, negligible)
- 2 tbsp capers (~1g, negligible)
- 4 anchovy fillets, optional (0g)
Bread / potato / base options
Carb math here is all about the potatoes. The base salad (no potato) is ~6g per serving:
- No potato (lowest, ~6g): Skip potatoes entirely, double the eggs for more protein.
- 2 small potato halves (default, ~16g): ~10g of potato per serving — traditional, kid-friendly.
- 4 small potato halves (~26g): Full traditional portion for kids who run higher BG.
- Small baguette slice instead of potato (+14g = 20g): French-style bread on the side.
Directions
- Mise en place — trim green beans, halve tomatoes, peel hard-boiled eggs, drain tuna, slice onion.
- Boil potatoes: Place potatoes in a pot of cold salted water. Bring to a boil, cook 12-15 minutes until fork-tender. Drain, halve, and let cool slightly.
- Blanch green beans: Bring a separate pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans, cook 3-4 minutes until bright green and just tender. Immediately transfer to an ice bath to stop cooking. Drain, pat dry.
- Whisk the vinaigrette: In a small jar, combine olive oil, vinegar, Dijon, minced shallot, thyme, salt, and pepper. Shake until emulsified.
- Compose the plate: Lay greens on a large platter or individual plates as the base.
- Arrange the components in distinct piles: tuna in the center, then green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, egg halves, olives, red onion, capers.
- Drape anchovies over if using.
- Drizzle vinaigrette over the whole salad just before serving.
- Don't toss — Niçoise is meant to be eaten in pieces, each bite a different combination.
Dash's kid tips 🐆
- Dash says: "Composed plates feel like a restaurant meal. Let kids choose which piles to combine — picky eaters love the control."
- Skip the anchovies for kid plates — the dressing already has umami from the Dijon.
- Boil potatoes and eggs the night before — assembly takes 10 minutes the next day.
- This travels well in a bento — keep dressing separate, pack each component in its own compartment.
- Sub canned salmon for tuna if tuna's a no-go — same carb count, same T1D math.