This Tuna Salad Recipe is an easy lunch that can be made ahead for meals throughout the week. Made with flaky canned tuna, celery, onions, pickles, and mayonnaise, it’s refreshing and satisfying!
I love an easy lunch sandwich, from my classic chicken salad to ham and cheese; this tuna salad recipe is no exception.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Classic Tuna Salad
- Why Make It: Tuna salad is quick and easy to prepare, while being versatile enough to add in any of your favorite ingredients.
- Serving Suggestions: Make ahead and serve for lunch in sandwiches or with crackers as a snack.
Total Time: 15 Mins Servings: 4 Cooking Method: Chilled
Ingredients for Tuna Salad
- Tuna: I prefer water-packed tuna over oil-packed tuna as it’s lighter, but you can use any variety. Solid tuna has larger pieces, while chunk tuna has smaller pieces.
- Dressing: The dressing is really simple and uses mayonnaise as the base. Lemon juice and a bit of Dijon mustard are added for some tang.
- Add-Ins: Diced celery, chopped pickles, and sliced green onion add flavor and crunch.
The Best Variations
- Lighten this salad up a little by swapping some of the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt.
- Add fresh herbs (like flat-leaf parsley or dill).
- For extra crunch, try diced red bell pepper or red onion.
- Elevate this salad with capers, chopped olives, or dried cranberries.
- To stretch the salad further, add chopped hard-boiled egg.
How to Make Tuna Salad
- Drain the tuna well (full recipe below).
- In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and gently stir.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper before serving.
Storing Leftovers
If it doesn’t get eaten up first because it IS that good, tuna fish salad can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days.
More Tuna Favorites
Did you enjoy this Tuna Salad Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Tuna Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 (5 ounce each) cans tuna well-drained
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons chopped dill pickles or sweet pickles, or 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- 1 rib celery finely diced
- 1 green onion thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard or prepared mustard
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Drain the tuna well.
- In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, dill pickles, celery, green onion, Dijon, and lemon juice. And mix to combine.
- Add the tuna and gently break it up with a fork. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Use to top a salad, in sandwiches, or to add to pasta salads.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Fish, Lunch, Snack
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Spend With Pennies is one of my trusted websites, a very carefully curated list. I have great respect for Ms. Holly Nilsson. I’m grateful to her for her contribution to my kitchen even when I tweak things to our tastes.
I’m working on this recipe. The flavors are outstanding. For us the ratio of dressing to tuna is too high. It’s like tuna soup as opposed to tuna salad. Next time I’ll make the dressing, measure the total, and add to the tuna and veg a bit at a time and measure what’s left and adjust from there. A little arithmetic and it may be as simple as adding more tuna.
Thank you for the kind words Dave, I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes.