Tuna Salad
This tuna salad is full of texture, color and crunch. It’s light and refreshing, not gloppy or heavy. Eat it straight from the bowl with a spoon, or piled high on toasted sourdough with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
There’s something so deeply comforting about the nostalgia of tuna salad. But let’s be honest, so many tuna salads are…well, just sad. Mayonnaise-laden, homogeneous, and utterly devoid of personality. Tuna salad should be bright and refreshing, full of texture and crunch, packed with fresh herbs, chopped celery and briny pickles. This is that tuna salad.
One of my favorite ways to upgrade tuna salad is to use really good quality tuna packed in olive oil. This recipe really shines with olive oil-packed tuna. The flavor is richer, the texture is more luxurious, and it just elevates the whole salad. However, if you only have water-packed tuna on hand, don’t let that stop you. Just be sure to drain it really well and consider adding a drizzle of good quality olive oil to the mix.
This salad is the kind of thing you can throw together in minutes for a quick lunch piled atop toasted sourdough or double up the batch on Sunday to have on hand for the week ahead. I love going into the week with a couple grab and go deli salads in the fridge like; Red Cabbage Salad, French Carrot Salad, Greek Orzo Salad.
Recipe Steps:
Step 1. Prepare the Tuna
Drain the tuna well then transfer to a mixing bowl and flake it gently with a fork to break up any large chunks.
Step 2. Mix
Add the rest of the salad ingredients to the bowl with the tuna and mix well until throughly combined. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. For the best flavor, cover the bowl and refrigerate the tuna salad for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. However, it can be served immediately if desired.
More
Grab and Go Deli Salads
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Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 4 5-ounce cans tuna packed in olive oil, drained
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise - or Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice or red wine vinegar
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 1/2 red onion, finely diced
- 8-10 cornichons, finely diced - or 2 tablespoons capers
- 1/4 cup chopped dill
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the tuna: Drain the tuna, gently pressing out any excess oil. Transfer to a medium-sized mixing bowl and flake apart with a fork breaking up any large clumps.
- Combine the ingredients: Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl: mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, celery, red onion, pickles, herbs and a few turns of freshly cracked black pepper.
- Mix: Gently stir all of the ingredients together until just combined. Be careful not to over mix, as this can make the tuna salad mushy. You want the tuna and other ingredients to maintain their individual texture.
- Chill (optional): For the best flavor, cover the bowl and refrigerate the tuna salad for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. However, it can be served immediately if desired.
Notes
- Tuna: This recipe really shines with olive oil-packed tuna. The flavor is richer, the texture is more luxurious, and it just elevates the whole salad. However, if you only have water-packed tuna on hand, don’t let that stop you! Just be sure to drain it really well and consider adding a drizzle of good quality olive oil to the mix.
- Mayonnaise: substitute: greek yogurt
- Red Onion: substitute: shallot
- Cornichons: substitute: dill pickles, capers
