Made with chicken instead of tuna, this Nicoise pasta salad is a fun spin on a classic Nicoise salad. It’s light, fresh, colorful, and the perfect dish to make easy spring or summer lunches or brunch.
Your Favorite Nicoise Salad, as a Pasta Salad!
I have a tendency to “pasta-fy” my favorite salads. Case in point: my chicken salad pasta salad, my kale Caesar pasta salad, and my caprese pasta salad. Can’t stop, won’t stop.
This Nicoise pasta salad has all of the flavors and ingredients you’ll find in my classic Nicoise salad, but with shredded chicken breast instead of tuna and the addition of egg pasta noodles for when that carb craving calls.
It’s light and simple and can be prepped ahead for baby showers, bridal showers, al fresco lunches, and definitely potlucks and picnics. Even more, with all the food groups represented, you can certainly consider it a complete meal for an easy spring or summer dinner as well.
Enjoy!
What’s in This Recipe?
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Lemony Dijon Vinaigrette — This is a beautifully tangy dressing that gives and salad a French flair.
- Egg noodle pasta — My favorites are tagliatelle and pappardelle.
- Cooked chicken breast — I usually poach my chicken, but you can also pressure cook it, bake it, or go the rotisserie chicken route.
- Baby potatoes — These are creamy white potatoes with tender skins that don’t need to be peeled.
- Green beans — I suggest blanching them for the best color and texture.
- Tomatoes — I like using sweet cherry tomatoes.
- Kalamata olives and capers — Add a nice briny bite.
- Red bell pepper and cucumber — Add lots of crunch. I prefer using English cucumber here since it’s less bitter and has a more tender skin.
- Red onion — I prefer red over white or yellow in this recipe for color.
- Hard boiled eggs — Here are my secrets to easy-peel hard boiled eggs.
How to Make the Best Nicoise Pasta Salad
- Shred the chicken and chop the veg so they’re similar in size. For more flavor in each forkful, make all the bites about the same size.
- Use an egg-based pasta. Made with egg yolks, egg pastas are richer in flavor than regular pasta. I use long pasta like pappardelle or tagliatelle.
- Salt your potato water for more flavorful potatoes. Salted water adds flavor as the potatoes cook. To avoid pitting your pot, wait to add the salt until the water boils.
- Blanch the green beans in the reserved pasta water. A quick dunk for 30 seconds in the hot water takes away green bean’s raw flavor.
- Dress the potatoes with some of the dijon vinaigrette while they’re warm. Hot potatoes absorb the dressing, adding another layer of flavor.
- Add the hard-boiled eggs after tossing the rest of the ingredients together. That way the yolks and whites stay intact.
Recipe Variations
- Serve on a bed of baby lettuce, mixed greens, bibb, or arugula if you’d like.
- Try an oil-packed tuna or smoked or grilled salmon instead of chicken
- Use other types of briny olives
- Try it with jammy eggs instead of hard-boiled
- Instead of white potatoes, try using red or purple baby potatoes
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Chicken Nicoise Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pasta Salad
- 8 ounces egg noodles , such as tagliatelle or pappardelle
- 2 cups petite white or red potatoes
- 6 ounces green beans , trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 cups shredded chicken breast
- 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes , about 8 ounces, halved
- 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
- ½ English cucumber , peeled, seeded, and sliced
- ½ cup sliced red bell pepper
- ½ cup sliced red onion
- ⅓ cup capers , about 4 ounces drained
- 4 hard-boiled eggs , quartered
For the Dressing
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- First, make the vinaigrette by adding all of the ingredients to a jar fitted with a lid, close tightly, shake well, and set aside.
- Add the potatoes to a medium pot and fill with enough water to cover the potatoes by 1 inch, then bring to a boil. Add 1-2 teaspoons of kosher salt, reduce to a rolling simmer, and cook until tender or when the potatoes can be pierced with a fork or skewer, about 15 minutes. Use a spider or strainer to transfer the potatoes from the pot to a colander or bowl, reserving the hot water. Quarter the potatoes (you can leave the skins on) then place in a bowl and while still warm, drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette dressing and set aside to cool.
- While the potatoes are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil, season generously with kosher salt, and cook the pasta according to package directions or until al denté. Use tongs or a spider to transfer the noodles to a colander so you can reserve the hot pasta water to blanche the green beans. Give the noodles a quick rinse in cool water then set aside.
- Add the green beans to the hot pasta water and simmer for 1 minute or until the green beans turn bright green. Drain the water, rinse the green beans, and set aside to cool.
- Add the noodles to a large mixing bowl with the dressed potatoes, blanched green beans, shredded chicken, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, cucumber, red bell pepper, red onion, and capers. Toss with the vinaigrette dressing. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper to taste. Nestle the hard-boiled egg quarters into the pasta salad and serve.
Nutrition
What to Serve With This Pasta Salad
Make it Ahead
Heads up: this pasta salad can be made the day before serving, just add more dressing before serving if the salad seems dry.
The salad will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days but is def best served within the first day of making.
More Mediterranean Pasta Salads
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