The best easy Tuna Salad has a creamy dressing, olive-oil-packed tuna, and crunchy veggies. Just 15 minutes of prep, and you’ll be hooked!
Tuna Salad Makes A Great Lunch!
Ingredients In Tuna Salad
- Tuna: I prefer tuna packed in olive oil but tuna packed in water works just fine. Thoroughly drain before using.
- Veggies: Adds texture, crunch, sweetness, and freshness. For a milder flavor, soak red onions in cold water for 10-15 minutes before adding to the salad.
- Dressing: The dressing makes the salad creamy and flavorful. Adjust the amount of mayo depending on how creamy you want it!
How To Make Tuna Salad
- Drain and flake the tuna. Thoroughly drain the tuna to avoid a watered-down salad.
- Combine. After you’ve drained the tuna, add it to a bowl with the red onion, pickle relish, freshly chopped parsley, mayo (I use an avocado-based mayo), Dijon mustard, sliced celery, fresh lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, and salt + pepper.
- Toss. Mix it all together and it’s ready to go!
How to tune up the tuna flavor
- Start with good, canned tuna. I highly recommend tuna that has been packed in extra-virgin olive oil; this makes a huge difference to the overall taste of the salad. Our favorite is Genova’s® canned tuna (not sponsored).
- Toss the tuna with good quality mayo. Hellman’s/Best Foods® (not sponsored) is my favorite in this recipe — it’s got a great consistency, texture, and perfect amount of sweetness.
- Add crunchy ingredients. Bread-and-butter pickles or pickle relish adds a great tangy, sweet and salty flavor with a wonderful crunch. The celery also adds a nice crunch and contrasting flavor to the tuna.
Tuna Salad FAQs
A lot of people who are looking to lose weight are advised to eat tuna because of its high protein level. For just 3 ounces of tuna, you’re getting a whopping 20g of protein and only 100 calories. Tuna is great to eat while trying to follow a lower carb/lower calorie diet. As long as you are aware of how much mayo you are adding (mayo will add the most calories) you will have a great low-calorie meal.
This recipe is much healthier than most you’ll find because we use quite a few other ingredients in the dressing, not just a ton of mayo. The Dijon mustard, pickle relish, parsley, lemon juice, and seasonings add loads of flavor with virtually no added calories. Tuna is a great protein to consume, you can read more about the health benefits here.
- On aย lettuceย wrapย with some avocado
- In aย sandwichย with some lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado
- Alongside a veggie filledย soupย like thisย broccoli cheddar soupย orย tomato basil soup
- With freshย fruitย or thisย fruit salad recipe
- As a dip withย pitaย chipsย and fresh veggies
I highly recommend mayo in this recipe.
You can use an avocado-based mayo instead of regular or light mayo as opposed to full-fat mayo.
If you’re really against using mayo, you can use plain Greek yogurt, but it will taste slightly different. Alternatively, give this Avocado Tuna Salad a try; it replaces some of the mayo with mashed avocado.
3 to 5 days.ย If you store the tuna salad in airtight containers in the fridge it will last 3-5 days. I usually make this Monday morning and eat it through Wednesday or Thursday for lunches.
More Canned Tuna Recipes
- Creamy Tuna Pasta made in one skillet
- Our favorite Tuna Macaroni Salad with a creamy dressing
- Sriracha Tuna Salad Wraps with fresh veggies
- Tuna Stacks with a mango-cucumber salad
- Cheesy Tuna Pasta with peas
Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cans (5 oz. EACH) tuna, drained and flaked with a fork Note 1
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped celery
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion Note 2
- 2 tablespoons pickle relish (or finely chopped bread and butter pickles)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1/3 cup mayo (we love Hellman's/Best Foods) Use up to 1/2 cup for "creamier" tuna.
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- Fine sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
Serving Suggestion Ideas
- Croissants or bread, lettuce, bread & butter pickles
- Serve in a lettuce wrap alongside fresh veggies such as cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, sliced bell peppers, snap peas, broccoli, etc.
- Serve with pita chips, crackers, or whole-grain bread
Instructions
- SALAD: Thoroughly drain the tuna and place in a large bowl. Add the finely chopped celery and red onion (drained, if you soaked in water), pickle relish, parsley, mayo, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt + pepper to taste. I add a heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
- SERVE: Stir to combine and enjoy immediately as is or loaded in a sandwich with lettuce, in a lettuce wrap, or with chips/crackers/etc.
- STORAGE: Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Stir before serving and add a touch more mayo if needed.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If I may ask, why do you insist on draining the oil from the tuna if you are going to add oil after?
Controlling the amount! ๐ Each tuna is canned a little differently with how much oil is added
DELICIOUS! I will be making this more often. Thank you!
I am so happy to hear this! Thanks Stephanie! ๐
What is the green herb in the photo?
Parsley ๐
hey girl- this tuna salad looks oh so yummy!