Quick And Easy Tuna Salad

Basic Tuna Salad For Two

EASY TUNA SALAD RECIPE | healthy quick

This basic tuna salad has been the go-to lunch salad for years. I find it super fast and easy to fix and very flexible. I typically add more than the basic recipe, and usually, I just needed out of the bowl with a fork I dont bother with making a sandwich.

This tuna salad can be supplemented with any number of other ingredients to make it more vegetable intensive and or simply to stretch the tuna salad.

This tuna salad is great when you are in a hurry speedy and easy to make. It tastes great every time!

Swaps And Suggestions For Tuna Salad

Im strictly a mayo kind of gal, but if you prefer Miracle Whip or light mayo, go for it. Ive never tried it with yogurt, but Greek yogurt might work, especially if you add a little lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

To toast or not, its up to you if you’re turning this into a sandwich. Sometimes, Im in a toasty mood and crave a little crunch, and sometimes I just want the comfort of soft bread.

No bread in the house? My better half always prefers tuna salad on saltines, but you could make some of these biscuits or homemade soda bread.

More Tuna Salad Ideas

Egg: Growing up, my mom would often make us tuna salad with egg. You can do this by mixing some chopped hard boiled egg into your tuna salad. Its like a tuna salad and egg salad in one, and it is delicious! Plus you get even more satiating protein when you add hard boiled eggs to your tuna sandwich.
Lemon Juice: Lemon juice is a classic tuna salad ingredient. It brightens up the flavor of tuna salad.
Mustard: Do you like your tuna salad with Dijon mustard or yellow mustard? Mustard is another way to add a different flavor dimension to your tuna fish.
Herbs: Fresh herbs are a great way to change up the flavor of tuna salad. Try parsley, dill or chives.
Avocado: Avocado can act as a binder and replace the mayo or Greek yogurt in tuna salad. Its a great way to add healthy fat and flavor! Using avocado instead of mayo or Greek yogurt makes dairy-free tuna salad.
Vegetables: Try adding finely chopped crunchy veggies such as carrots, bell pepper or cucumber for extra crunch and to add more nutrition to your tuna salad.
Apple: Chopped apple adds a surprisingly delicious sweet twist to this tuna recipe.
Chickpeas: Either mashed or coarsely chopped, chickpeas can help to stretch your tuna fish so you can use less tuna and get more tuna salad. Chickpeas are a great source of vegetarian protein.
Capers: Capers add a salty, briny flavor to tuna salad.
Tuna Melt: Use your tuna salad to make a Tuna Melt, which is basically a grilled cheese sandwich with tuna.

Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients

If you have any ingredients left over from this tuna salad recipe, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving recipes:

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Why This Recipe Works

Easy Mexican Tuna Salad for Healthy Meal Prep

First of all, it’s easy to make. Just a few ingredients and 1 can of tuna are all you need.
This simple tuna salad recipe is my favorite way to make tuna salad. You can easily add in chopped red onions, a spoonful of relish, or just about any other ingredient you may like. If you keep it simple, as the recipe is written here, you’ll love it too.

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How To Make This Recipe

“Quick and Easy” means just that, quick and easy! Once all of you veggies have been diced and the tuna has been drained, you’re ready to combine all of the ingredients.

In a medium sized bowl, stir together the tuna, celery, and scallions.

Add the mayonnaise, mustard, and lemon juice, stirring until everything is well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ingredients In This Quick And Easy Tuna Salad

Tuna: While I prefer to use the tuna in the packets, I designed this recipe around the quantity of tuna in a can.
Mayonnaise: As stated above, this is a lighter version of tuna salad. While there is mayonnaise in it, only a small amount is called for. It allows for a much desired creaminess without coming off heavy.
Acidity: The acidic element for this tuna salad recipe comes from the juice of half a lemon. It adds a nice zing to balance the other flavors in this salad, without being overpowering.
Inclusions: I kept this recipe simple. It calls for celery and diced scallions, in addition to a small amount of dijon mustard.

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Why I Love This Recipe:

Quick Only 10 minutes from start to finish! Perfect for a busy weekday lunch, and you can even make the tuna mixture in advance, for meal prep.
Healthy Lots of protein and low in calorie. Use tuna packed in water. For an even healthier melt, use whole grain bread, unsaturated oil or cooking spray in place of butter, cook it open faced, with just one piece of bread and one slice of cheese on top.
Family favorite This is a great change from normal lunch sandwiches, and adults and kids love it!

What To Eat With Canned Tuna

Tuna Salad Quick and Easy

When it comes to canned tuna, the options are endless. A simple tuna salad with mayonnaise, diced celery, and onion is always a satisfying lunch option.

For a lighter meal, try mixing canned tuna with avocado and tomato on top of mixed greens for a delicious tuna salad spin on a traditional salad. Another tasty idea is to use canned tuna in place of chicken for a twist on classic tacos or sandwiches. Or for a more sophisticated option, blend canned tuna with cream cheese and serve on crackers or toast points as an appetizer or light dinner option. So the next time you reach for that can of tuna, remember the possibilities are endless!

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How To Reheat Prepared Tuna Salad:

This recipe can be served cold on a sandwich or lettuce wrap. If you want it hot, my best recommendation is to make a tuna melt! This can be made on the stovetop or in the air fryer. Check out my Air Fryer Tuna Melt recipe.

Did you make this? I want to see how it turned out! Tag me in your social media post @projectmealplan and use #projectmealplan when you share!

Using The Best Hard Boiled Eggs

Given that this recipe is all about hard boiled eggs, youve gotta make sure you use perfectly hard boiled eggs. You dont want them too hard and rubbery, too soft and not mixable or overly cooked and green around the yolk.

Ive shared with you how to make perfect hard boiled eggs previously , so make sure to check out that post and video. I use 12 minute hard boiled eggs in this recipe, but anything between 12-14 minutes is fine.

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Is This Pasta Salad Kid

My son loves this pasta salad. I often make it just for him to eat for lunch, especially over the summer. Make a great dinner to eat in the car on the way to sports on super busy weeknights as well because you can easily eat it with a fork.

Overall, most kids approve of the mild flavor of this dish. Its not too heavy on dressing or overly oil either which appeals to kids. I do typically leave the olives out if making this pasta salad for kids.

How One Can Make Tuna Salad

This tuna pasta salad recipe is creamy and satisfying! It

Tuna salad is very easy and requires little or no prep.

Drainflaked tuna and place it right into a medium bowl. Use a fork to softly separate the items.

Add the mix-ins per the recipe beneath.

Gently fold within the dressing. Season with a bit salt and pepper to style and maintain chilled!

I wish to serve tuna salad sandwiches with lettuce and tomato on entire wheat bread or a darker loaf like rye. Its additionally scrumptious on croissants like a shrimp salad!

Lighten It Up a Little

Should youd like to chop a number of the energy, substitute a number of the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt. It should have a barely extra tangy taste however nonetheless, simply as tasty!

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Why Youll Love This Tuna Salad Without Mayo

Very easy to make it takes less than 10 minutes to make the salad and enjoy a healthy, light lunch without much effort.
Full of flavor you dont need mayo in tuna salad to make it extra tasty. The lemon juice, Dijon mustard and fresh herbs infuse the tuna with loads of flavor.
Easy to make your own You can easily add more veggies, olives or even nuts and seeds to this tuna salad to make it your own.

How To Make Potato Salad

Now that you know why I think this is the best potato salad recipe, let me tell how easy it is to make:

Boil the potatoes. After boiling the potatoes for 20 minutes, puncture with a fork to make sure theyre done. If you over cook the potatoes, they will make your salad mushy.

Boil the eggs. To ensure the eggs are hard-boiled through, youll cook them for 12-14 minutes. Read my post on how to cook perfect hard boiled eggs. Place them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. When they are cool enough to touch, peel off the shells.

Place the potatoes in the fridge. See my tip below on why you need to cool your potatoes completely before making the salad.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl. In a large bowl combine the celery, spring onions, radishes, mayonnaise and dill.

Mix in potatoes and eggs. Once the potatoes and eggs have cooled, add them to your mayonnaise mixture and combine until fully coated.

Salt and pepper to taste!

PRO TIP: Make sure your potatoes and hard-boiled eggs are fully cooled before making potato salad. Its important to place your potatoes in the refrigerator after you have cooked and drained them from the water. This will help stop the cooking process. Also, the hot potatoes will melt the mayonnaise if you mix them together too quickly. And nobody wants hot melted potato salad!

What’s The Best Tuna To Use

Any can or jar of tuna will work in a sandwich. Just make sure you drain the water or oil before mixing with the ingredients for tuna salad.

I prefer using water-packed tuna in tuna salad, because Im already adding mayonnaise to the recipe. I save oil-packed tuna for dishes where the oil matters a bit more, such as in this Salad Nicoise, because oil-packed tuna is richer than water-packed tuna.

That being said, tuna salad is no time to get pickyjust use what you have on hand.

Why Youll Love It

BEST HEALTHY TUNA SALAD | light, quick & easy

It can be a go-to easy meal all year round .

Use whichever seasonal salad ingredients you already have in your fridge. Got a can of tuna, cheese and a few other salad ingredients? Youre good to go.

The contrast of simple flavors and textures is surprisingly delicious! Theres crisp, tang, freshness, creaminess and crunch all in there together. Mmm!

You can have it on the table in around 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how fast you can open a can of tuna and get everything else out of the pantry and fridge!

Its a surprisingly filling meal. You only need a little bit of each ingredient to make a gigantic tuna salad!

Use leftovers to make tuna salad sandwiches or wraps the next day.

This might be a basic recipe, but its a pretty colorful dinner dont you think?

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How To Make Easy Tuna Salad

Drain the tuna, transfer to a medium bowl and mash with a fork.

Grate the hard boiled egg on the fine holes of a box grater.

Add all the ingredients to the tuna: grated egg, celery, green onion, dill, mayo and mustard. Season with salt and pepper, if needed. Mix to combine.

Store the tuna salad in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Serve as a salad, sandwich, wrap or even make some Tuna Melts.

Recipe Tips And Variations

Yield: This recipe makes about 4 cups of tuna salad, enough for 6 sandwiches .
Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Mayo-free: Instead of mayonnaise, try making the dressing with plain yogurt or whipped silken tofu. You can also add lemon vinaigrette .
More mix-ins: Add a small amount of diced apple , a handful of thawed peas, or a couple of chopped hard-boiled eggs to your tuna salad.
Lettuce wraps: Tuna salad is delicious wrapped in lettuce leaves or piled on a bed of lettuce.
Tuna pasta salad: Make a tasty tuna pasta salad by adding cooked macaroni, rotini, or your other favorite small pasta.
Stuffed tomatoes: Hollow out juicy tomatoes and fill with tuna salad for an old-fashioned, and super-delicious, lunch entrée.
Ahi Tuna Salad: Is the Ahi tuna looking fabulous at the fish market, or have you got an extra bit of ahi tuna from last nights dinner? Splurge and make tuna salad with it. Cook it through, then flake it up in this recipe.

Read Also: Best Dressing For Salmon Salad

More Easy Fish Dinners

This lemon butter salmon with potatoes and asparagus is another popular recipe on the blog. If asparagus is out of season, just substitute with broccoli!

Fan of Mediterranean flavors? You have to try this Greek baked fish!

You only need potato, fish and a few fresh yummy flavors to make these crispy salmon fish cakes. Delicious!

Last but definitely not least, try this crowd pleasing lemony tuna spaghetti recipe.

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Tips For A Perfect Tuna Melt:

Quick and easy tuna pasta salad Recipe by Liliana

Use high quality tuna. White Albacore tuna, packed in water, is my preferred choice for tuna melts. The higher quality the tuna, the tastier the sandwich, so dont go cheap here. I like Wild Planet or Whole Foods 365 brand.
Drain well! Be sure to drain the can of tuna really well before making the filling. This will help you avoid a strong fishy flavor that no one likes in their tuna melt sandwich.

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Faqs And Tips For Making The Best Tuna Salad

Can you eat canned tuna raw?

You can definitely eat canned tuna without heating it. Tuna is cooked before its canned so it really isnt possibly to eat raw canned tuna.

Is canned tuna healthy?

Absolutely! Everything is healthy in moderation, but tuna is a lean protein and works in many different recipes, so its a great choice for a healthy meal. Since its a large fish, it tends to be high in mercury, so you should be cautious not to eat too much, too often.

What can I mix with tuna instead of mayo?

Instead of using mayonnaise in your tuna salad, you can use a simple olive oil based dressing like this one that uses lemon juice and Dijon mustard.

What can you eat tuna with besides bread?

You can serve this tuna salad recipe on a bed of lettuce, in a tortilla wrap, on your favorite bun, or even in a lettuce wrap.

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Questions About Tuna Salad

What can I substitute for mayo in tuna?

Instead of mayo, you can use Greek yogurt for some added tang or mashed avocado for more creaminess.

What else can I add to tuna to make it taste better?

The beauty of this recipe is that you can truly make it your own. You can add minced onions or shallots, shredded carrots, finely chopped apples or cucumbers, and/or chopped herbs like cilantro or parsley.

How long does tuna salad last?

I recommend transferring any leftover tuna salad to an airtight container and placing it in the fridge for no more than 3-5 days. I do not recommend freezing tuna salad.

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Variations Of Healthy Tuna Salad

Cold tuna salad over a sourdough rye bread toast, healthy tuna melt and tuna zucchini fritter has grown on me a lot. Here are a few variations I also tried:

Curried salad: Add desired amount of fresh curry powder. I used the same yellow curry powder I make yellow chicken curry with and salad turns out so flavorful!
Pasta salad: Mix with cooked whole wheat macaroni for healthy tuna pasta salad.
Avocado: Love avocado? Substitute mayo with mashed avocado.
Egg: Add a few chopped Instant Pot hard boiled eggs or leftover healthy deviled eggs .

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