Wave-based optical elastography is rapidly emerging as a powerful technique for quantifying tissue biomechanical properties due to its noninvasive nature and high displacement sensitivity. However, current approaches are limited in their ability to produce high frequency waves and highly localized mechanical stress. In this work, we demonstrate that the rapid liquid-to-gas phase transition of dye-loaded perfluorocarbon nanodroplets (“nanobombs”) initiated by a pulsed laser can produce highly localized, high frequency, and broadband elastic waves. The waves were detected by an ultra-fast line-field low-coherence holography system. For comparison, we also excited waves using a focused micro air-pulse. Results from tissue-mimicking phantoms showed that the nanobombs produced elastic waves with frequencies up to ~9 kHz, which was much greater than the ~2 kHz waves excited by the air-pulse. Consequently, the nanobombs enabled more accurate quantification of sample viscoelasticity. Combined with their potential for functionalization, the nanobombs show promise for accurate and highly specific noncontact all-optical elastography.