tuna salad recipe on a plate

The best tuna salad recipe – Easy and healthy

Who doesn’t like salads? They are fresh, colorful, healthy, and they are a very good addition to almost any main dish. What I like about salads is that you can make a whole meal salad, that has enough calories and nutrients to be your complete meal. Other than Caesar salad which is probably the most popular salad, tuna salad is one of my favorites. You can serve this tuna salad as a side dish or the main dish. My tuna salad recipe requires vegetables that you can find all year around, so you can make it whenever you want. However, spring and summer are the perfect times to eat tuna salad, when you can find all these vegetables in their right season.

This tuna salad recipe can be your go-to-meal when you want to bring lunch to work, because it can stay fresh for up to 12 hours. You can also prepare all fresh ingredients in one container and then make a salad at work by assembling fresh veggies with tuna can, mayo and cheese. It doesn’t take more than 5 minutes.

What are the ingredients for tuna salad?

A can of tuna – obviously, tuna is the main ingredient of this salad, you can choose a can of tuna with smaller or bigger chunks, it’s up to you. Smaller chunks of tuna are more soaked in oil and if you want to avoid eating the oil from the tuna can,you should better buy a can of bigger tuna chunks. Also, you can find tuna cans in different types of oil, or in its own brine. The best choice are tuna cans in olive oil or brine.

Mayonnaise– the reason why this tuna salad recipe is so easy to make is that you don’t need to make a salad dressing. I always use mayonnaise as a salad dressing for tuna and believe me, it can’t be better!

Onion – tuna and onions are inseparable, so I hope you like to eat fresh onions. Of course, if you work around people and want to avoid bad breath, you can skip this ingredient. I like to put onions in tuna salad and that’s why I usually eat it for dinner. Luckily, my hubby doesn’t mind the smell of onions, because he also likes to eat this tuna salad. As for the choice of onions, I suggest using red onion but yellow onion is also okay.

Cucumber– this is what gives the salad that fresh taste. You can either peel the cucumber or not, I prefer not to peel it so it is less watery and more crunchy.

Tomatoes – you can use either cherry tomatoes or regular tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are maybe the better choice because the salad won’t become too mushy if it stays longer. If you plan to keep the salad in the fridge, don’t cut cherry tomatoes, you can always do that before eating.

Lettuce or iceberg salad – whatever type of salad you use, it would be great.

Cheese – any type of hard cheese would be a great addition to this tuna salad recipe. I usually put gouda or emmental cheese. You can either grate the cheese or cut it in small and thin pieces.

Olive oil– Depending on the brand of tuna you can use and what type of oil is in there, you can either use that oil or squeeze out the tuna from the can and add olive oil.

How to make tuna salad in 4 steps

  1. Start by washing and cutting all the veggies. 
  2. In the same bowl, add a can of tuna and combine well. If you don’t want to use the oil from the tuna can, or you bought a tuna can in its own brine, squeeze the tuna and add your own olive oil. 
  3. Add chunks of cheese or shredded cheese.
  4. Stir in some mayo.

Tuna salad as a weekly meal prep

If you plan to make tuna salad in advance, you can place ingredients in separate containers like this:

– fresh, chopped vegetables in one container

– unopened tuna can

– shredded cheese in a plastic bag or a container. If you like to have slices of cheese, you don’t need to cut it in advance.

– mayonnaise

Assembling tuna salad will take no more than five minutes. You can also bring olive oil but it will be more convenient to use the oil from the can for this purpose. You can eat your tuna salad almost anywhere.

Other ingredients for tuna salad

If you don’t like or don’t have one of these ingredients you can replace them with something else. Or you can use all these ingredients and add some more. Here are some ideas what to add in your tuna salad:

vegetables: radishes, peppers, celery sticks, shallots, baby spinach

– sauces or dressings: Greek yogurt, sour cream, mayonnaise with sour cream

other: pomegranate, boiled egg, nuts, croutons

The best tuna salad recipe – Easy & Healthy

This tuna salad is made of fresh vegetables, canned tuna, cheese and mayo. Nothing easier to make this summer!
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time0 mins
Total Time15 mins
Course: dinner, lunch, Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, Balkan, Mediterranean
Keyword: salad, tuna, tuna salad
Servings: 3 people
Calories: 350kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 cans of tuna
  • 1 big cucumber, unpeeled
  • 2 or 3 tomatoes (depending on the size)
  • 1 big red onion
  • 3 cups of iceberg salad
  • 100 g hard cheese
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise (or more)
  • olive oil (optional)

Instructions

  • Wash and cut all the vegetables.
  • In the same bowl, add a can of tuna and combine well. If you don’t want to use the oil from the tuna can, or you bought a tuna can in its own brine, squeeze the tuna and add your own olive oil.
  • Add small chunks of cheese or shredded cheese.
  • Stir in some mayo.

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