This Simple Tuna Salad recipe is an absolute staple in our kitchen! It's extremely versatile, from the kid's lunch boxes, to a quick high-protein snack dipped with crackers, to hot cheesy tuna melts when you have nothing to make for dinner! I make this recipe every week, super basic ingredients, which is how our family likes it, and ready in just 10 minutes!
- Versatile, A Staple Recipe! - The most basic of tuna salad recipes, even my pickiest kid loves it! I've been making this recipe at least 20 years, it's so simple, with just the right flavors, and nothing too foreign for the kids to pick out. I end up making it weekly! It serves as a healthy snack if someone didn't like dinner, it goes into lunches, and can be serve cold or hot as delicious tuna melts!
- Quick and Easy! - I don't even look at the recipe anymore! This healthy ingredient list is so simple you can throw it together in 10 minutes, even on busy mornings before school, which I often do! And it's simply delightful on Homemade Dutch Oven Bread!
- If you Love Tuna Salad, try my Chicken Salad with Grapes and Apples, Perfect Egg Salad, and Curry Chicken Salad!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
Nothing fancy here, this is tuna salad at its most basic! You can add capers, pickles, herbs or cucumber, but my family likes it plain and simple! It's a pantry staple, with ingredients we always have on hand!
- Canned Tuna - I make this recipe with 2 small cans of Albacore tuna packed in water. One large can is also fine, or you can make a small batch with just one can and adjust your other ingredients down a bit.
- Onion and Celery - These are the main flavors, but are really flexible. You only need a little bit and can use any type of onion including yellow, white, red, shallot or even chives or scallions. The celery is nice, but optional, you can make tuna salad if you're out of celery!
- Lemon - Fresh squeezed lemon juice gives the tuna salad its signature tangy acid, but this can be subbed with bottled lemon juice or red or white wine vinegar. I always have at least one of these on hand!
- Seasonings - Just salt, pepper and a bit of paprika are the classic flavorings.
- Mayonnaise - The amount of mayo is a thing of preference and easily adjustable. I start with the minimum, ¼ cup, which is going to be a dry tuna salad. My family likes it this way, but just keep mixing in a bit at a time until it feels the right consistency to you.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Quick and easy, you can mix up your ingredients in under 10 minutes!
Step 1 - Dice your onion and celery small. Drain the tuna by opening the cans with a can opener and then pressing the lid into the tuna while tilting over the sink.
Step 2 - Break up the tuna with a fork and add all ingredients to a bowl.
Step 3 - Mix well with a fork, adding more mayo if you like.
Step 4 - Serve your tuna salad, or meal prep it for the week!
Ways to Serve Tuna Salad
Versatile in every way! When a batch of tuna salad is in the fridge, it just gets eaten!
- Sandwiches and Wraps - The classic, serve tuna salad as a sandwich or deli wrap, I love toasting the bread, and add lettuce, tomato, sliced cucumber, avocado or a slice of cheese! Try adding these quick homemade Refrigerator Pickled Red Onions!
- Dip with Crackers - So handy as a healthy snack, tuna salad dipped with crackers or tortilla chips is a favorite of my kids! Add a few sliced veggies and it's lunch!
- Add to a Salad - Top your lettuce salad with a couple scoops of protein or serve it in lettuce wraps!
- Hot Tuna Melts - The best for last, yes this same tuna salad can be serve hot or cold! It's our backup dinner when I'm out of everything! Just pile tuna salad on bread, top with sliced or shredded cheddar open-faced, and bake at 400°F for about 10 minutes. Top it with a dash of paprika. Loved by kids and adults alike!
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Adjust the Amount of Mayo - The amount of mayo is totally a personal preference and easy to adjust. Start with ¼ cup, which will be on the drier side, and add more mayonnaise to your liking.
- Additional Ingredients - This tuna salad is super plain and basic, that's how my kids like it! But, you can easily add capers, chopped cucumber, or fresh herbs such as parsley, chives, dill or scallions. These can be in addition to, or in place of the onion or celery.
- Add an Acid - The fresh lemon juice gives the tuna salad a tangy acidic flavor. It's important, but can be subbed with red or white wine vinegar if you don't have a lemon on hand.
- Eye-Ball It! - Once you get the hang of this recipe, or make it as often as I do, you won't even need a recipe! A pinch of salt, pepper and paprika, a drizzle of Worcestershire, a squeeze of lemon or vinegar, a little onion and celery and a scoop of mayo! The amounts don't need to be exact.
- Meal Prep - A batch of tuna salad is so handy to meal prep and will last in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. I often make it for lunch boxes, then it gets eaten as a snack dip, and if there's any leftover, a quick tuna melt for lunch or dinner.
Recipe FAQs
Tuna salad will last in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days.
Yes, you can substitute plain yogurt for the mayo, maybe start with a little less, and a drizzle of olive oil. You can also replace the mayo with mashed avocado, but your tuna salad should be eaten the day you make it.
This tuna salad recipe is super basic and a pantry staple. So if you don't have celery on hand, it's fine to leave it out. A little onion flavor is nice, but that could be yellow, white, or red onion, or scallions, shallot or chives. One or the other is good to include, but if you're out of both celery and onion, a dash of onion powder can still make a simple tuna salad!
More Favorite Lunch Recipes!
If you made this recipe, I'd love to hear how you liked it! Be sure to leave a star rating by clicking the stars in the recipe card, or leave a comment below!
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Simple Tuna Salad
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Print Pin RateIngredients
- 2 (5oz) cans tuna drained
- 2 Tablespoons red onion chopped small
- 2 Tablespoons celery chopped small
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 grinds fresh black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice or red or white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup mayonnaise or more as needed
Instructions
- Drain the tuna by opening with a can opener and then pressing the lid into the tuna and tilting over the sink.
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well with a fork, mashing the tuna. Adjust the amount of mayonnaise to your liking.
Notes
- Optional Extra Ingredients - Add capers (if you like them!) or a few fresh herbs such as chives, parsley, or dill.
- Mayonnaise - The amount of mayo is a thing of preference in tuna salad! Some people like it on the drier side, some like it heavy on the mayo. Start with ¼ cup, which is on the dryer side, and mix in more until if feels like the right consistency.
- Serve Hot or Cold - Serve tuna salad cold on sandwiches, wraps, over lettuce, or as a dip with crackers. Or serve hot as tuna melts. Add tuna to bread, top with cheese (sliced or shredded) and bake on a sheet pan at 400°F for about 10 minutes. Garnish with paprika.
- Store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
Eileen says
This was LOVED by the whole family! We enjoyed them with cheddar cheese as a melt with tamed jalapenos! We put this in our "keeper" pile.
Meryl Downing says
Hey! Thanks Eileen! So glad to hear that, it's one of our staples!
John says
I was craving a tuna sandwich, so I looked up this little gem. What a great idea... woostershoostershistersarce... it really brightened up the salad, and made for a great sandwich, Thanks for the tips.
Meryl Downing says
Haha, thanks John, I'm so glad you liked it! That's always been the trickiest word to spell!
Rachel Pufall says
Yum! I forget how much I love tuna salad! There's gotta be more than 1/2 a gram of protein in this though.
Meryl Downing says
Thanks for catching this Rachel! You are right, the nutrition calculator was using 2 ounces of tuna instead of 2 cans! I fixed it! Glad you liked the recipe!