Make Ahead

Tuna Salad

by:
October  4, 2022
5
10 Ratings
Tuna Salad
Photo by Ty Mecham. Props: Meghan Hedgpeth. Food: Anna Billingskog.
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Makes 1 pint
Author Notes

A superlative tuna salad for sandwiches, melts, crackers, you name it. Much of this recipe is old-school, as it should be, but a couple small additions make all the difference.

Technically speaking, any canned tuna works here, but a few thoughts: We tested this recipe with light tuna in oil, light tuna in water, white albacore tuna in oil, and white albacore tuna in water. The light tuna, which usually comes from either skipjack or yellowfin, is rosier in color, with a deeper flavor, while the white albacore tuna is meatier, yet also drier. In the end, the light tuna did a better job of absorbing the dressing, but we disliked its watery, shredded texture. Our favorite type is solid white albacore in oil, which has a meaty texture, but isn’t noticeably dry.

To help the tuna taste even better, a little dash of fish sauce goes a long way. With just ½ teaspoon called for, this ingredient is hard to put your finger on—but it works to round out the dressing, making the tuna more flavorful.

While some tuna salad recipes lean on olive oil or even Greek yogurt, it’s hard to beat creamy, savory mayonnaise. To keep things from getting too heavy, fresh lemon juice and a little Dijon mustard bring balance and brightness. (If you want, you can withhold one tablespoon of mayo and replace it with a tablespoon of your favorite olive oil.)

When it comes to vegetables, you could add anything—bell peppers, fennel, jalapeño, cucumbers—but diced celery and sweet onion is a simple, tried-and-true combo. After chopping the celery ribs, go ahead and chop the leaves too. These provide a nice, vegetal counter to all the other savory flavors.

Beyond that, you can off-road this template and add raw apples, hard-boiled eggs, briny capers, vinegary hot sauce, sweet relish, whatever you like and have around. But our recipe skips such flourishes. Sometimes less is more. —Josh Cohen

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 (5-ounce) cans solid white albacore tuna in oil, drained
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup finely diced celery
  • 1/4 cup gently packed celery leaves, roughly chopped
  • 3 tablespoons finely diced Vidalia onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 handful roughly chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, basil, and/or tarragon (optional)
Directions
  1. Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir until the mayonnaise is fully incorporated. Taste, and adjust with more salt, lemon juice, or mustard if needed. Eat immediately or store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just before serving, sprinkle the herbs on top if you're using them.
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14 Reviews

Marje E.
Marje E. May 17, 2020
Sounds delish. I also almost always add fresh chopped dill to tuna and salmon or any fish dishes. Try it, hope you'll also love it. :)
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Kathleen
Kathleen May 13, 2020
Where dose one get FISH SAUCE?
 
FrugalCat
FrugalCat May 13, 2020
Asian grocery store.
 
ChocLatina
ChocLatina May 15, 2020
Since popularized by another food blogger a few years ago, it's been carried by supermarkets, even Whole Foods sells Red Boat brand.
 
Nakia
Nakia May 15, 2020
Depending on where you live, it is pretty common (Whole Foods, Trader Joes). Many Asian food aisles/sections in mainstream grocery stores carry it and you won't have to go to a specialty shop.
 
Clare C.
Clare C. May 16, 2020
I use it a lot. I’m a big umami fan. It’s great on scrambled eggs if you run out of miso paste, and I also have a splash with my V-8 juice in the morning. I also will substitute all or part of the soy sauce in recipes because the fish sauce has more flavor (soy sauce just tastes like liquid salt to me). Supermarkets do carry it now, but in small bottles that are very expensive. You can typically get a bigger bottle at a lower price at your local Asian supermarket (I live in the food desert of the Capital District of Upstate New York and we have a really good Asian supermarket about fifteen miles away, and if we have one here, you probably have one nearby, too — just google it.) Also, amazon probably carries it. It will probably be more expensive than the Asian supermarket, but cheaper than the supermarket, especially if you have amazon prime and free shipping.
 
j.
j. July 5, 2020
You also can get fish sauce in more common grocery stores. We live in a quite small city/large town with two supermarkets (Hannaford & Price Chopper); both stores carry a couple makes of fish sauce.
 
J
J July 9, 2020
as does Target
 
Tammy R.
Tammy R. August 12, 2020
Any large box store should now carry it (like Krogers)
 
Jeffro
Jeffro August 2, 2021
I get mine at Albertsons
 
FrugalCat
FrugalCat May 10, 2020
Celery leaves! Love it- I always use them, too.
 
pamelalee
pamelalee May 7, 2020
You might want to check your ingredient list. Three of the ingredients you included
twice.
 
Josh C.
Josh C. May 7, 2020
Thanks for this comment, I will fix it
 
Robin W.
Robin W. May 11, 2020
Not really, celery, celery leaves and then some for garnishing. Thats how I read it.