Best Tuna Salad Recipe

Quick and Easy

A really good tuna salad recipe is easy to make. It’s also incredibly easy to mess up! As with all the classics including cucumber sandwiches, potato salad, or macaroni salad, it’s not about the ingredients used, but the amounts of each one that makes it the best!

Gone are the days of tuna salad being too dry or too creamy, maybe flavorless or too briny. The best tuna salad recipe is made with flaked tuna, mayo, Dijon mustard, crisp celery and parsley then served as a tuna melt, on top of leafy greens, or scooped up with crackers!

Why I Love This Recipe

• Filling but not too heavy. Tuna fish salad is hearty and protein-packed yet light so it makes a great light lunch, snack, or dinner depending on how you serve it.
• Easy and versatile. All of the ingredients come together in one bowl, mix, chill, and then serve as sandwiches, wraps, salads or as appetizer pinwheels.

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.

• Canned tuna: I buy tuna packed in water, but use whatever variety you like. If using tuna packed in oil, reduce mayo.
• Mayonnaise: Adds creaminess to the tuna salad recipe. Adjust the amount to suit your tastes or swap it for Greek yogurt or mashed avocado.
• Dijon mustard: A bit of a tangy, spicy, pungent mustard that adds a bit of a kick and so much flavor.
• Relish: If you don’t have sweet pickle relish or dill pickle relish, chopped pickles will do instead. You can even add a little of the pickle brine if you’d like.
• Celery & red onion: Gives the creamy tuna salad a satisfying crunchy element.
• Optional fresh herbs: If you want to liven up your salad a bit, feel free to throw in some chopped parsley, chives, or dill.
• Salt & pepper: To taste.

How to Make Tuna Salad

Tips and Variations

• Tastes best the day it’s made. However, it can be made ahead and chilled overnight.
• Flake with a fork. When you add the tuna to the mixing bowl, flake it with a fork. You’ll need to do this especially if you’re using chunky tuna.
• Extra texture. I love to add fruit to my tuna salad recipe. Dried fruit like raisins or cranberries, or even fresh diced apples like I do in my recipe for Waldorf salad.
• Crunchy veggies. Diced cucumber, bell peppers, or shredded cabbage is also a great way to add extra crunchy veggies.
• Bulk it up. If you’ve got some hard boiled eggs, chop them up and add them in for a tuna salad with egg or throw in some cooked pasta noodles for something similar to a tuna noodle casserole but served cold.
• Squirt of lemon. Adding a squirt of lemon before serving brightens the flavors!

How to Serve Tuna Salad

Have a delicious tuna salad in a homemade flour tortilla as a wrap for lunch. There are a few low-carb ways to do this as well such as using a lettuce leaf to make lettuce cups and using tuna instead of taco meat in this taco lettuce wraps instead.

Make a sandwich or tuna melt using a croissant or slices of freshly baked bread. Homemade French bread, whole wheat bread, or French bread rolls are all hearty bread options that will hold up to piled on tuna salad!

Of course, you can also use it as a dip and just scoop it up with crackers or homemade tortilla chips.

How Long Does Tuna Salad Last

This tuna salad recipe will keep fresh for up to 3 days in the fridge. You can also freeze it for up to 2 months in a freezer-safe container, thaw in the fridge then drain excess water before serving.