I love tuna salad for lunch. I was the kid during Elementary school who would have tuna for lunch and then hide it underneath the table as I ate it, because I felt like everyone was disgusted when I had it… but I liked it! Hahaha however, not sure how hiding it under the table would get people not to smell it…. but hey! I was 8 🙂
This recipe I love and it is super simple for week day lunches. Make this on a Sunday and have some to go throughout the week. Also Ainsley, I can tell is going to be the same kid as me during lunches in Elementary school, because she devours it too!
The thing though about tuna salad, is I feel that it is very mayo-y and so this recipe lightens up on the mayo and is a healthier version, to where you are not super weighed down by mayo, but I promise you will not miss it.
It does have cheese added to it, which feel free to omit! When I was breastfeeding with Ainsley, I cut dairy out of my diet almost entirely, because of how it was effecting her digestion. When I did that, I realized that subbing avocado in sandwiches was GOLD. So if you omit dairy try substituting avocado provides that creamy texture and taste.
See below for recipe, and I hope you all enjoy it during your lunches as much as me!
What makes this a Healthier Tuna Salad?
Traditional tuna salads usually have a good amount of mayonnaise in them. I do love mayonnaise, however we know that mayonnaise is filled with a good amount of fat. In order to make this lighter, we still use mayo but we combine it with other delicious sauce ingredients that mix so well together. Elevating this to the best easy and healthy tuna salad.
- Mayonnaise
- Light Olive Oil
- Lemon Juice
- White Wine Vinegar
- Yellow Mustard
Quick & Easy Healthier Tuna Salad
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- Frying pan
Ingredients
- 3 in water no salt added 5 oz cans of white albacore tuna
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp mayonaise
- 1 tbsp light olive oil
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp Pink Himalayan salt
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 2 stalks of celery diced or 1 large carrot shredded
- 4 slices of cheese diced
- *salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Drain the 3 cans of tuna. Then take your fork and break apart the 3 cans of tuna into a medium sized bowl. Then in a separate small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mayo & olive oil. This makes the mayo stretch farther. 3 tbsp of mayo is just under 1/4 a cup. Which is WAY less than a lot of typical tuna recipes. Also I love the zing this combo gives it 🙂
- Next add the mayo combination plus the mustard to the tuna and stir until combined. Then add in all the seasonings & lemon juice. Mix well until combined and then lastly add in the shredded carrots or chopped up the celery & the diced cheese. Then fold that in at the end.
- Lastly, choose how you want to eat it! Tuna melt as see above, crackers, open face with avocado mashed, stuffed in avocado, with cucumbers– options are endless!
Yum! This recipe was so, so good! I was eating spatulafuls of the mix while waiting for my melt to toast up. I didn’t have tuna, so I made it with chicken. Hoping to try with tuna soon. This was perfectly zippy. Absolutely delicious!
Holly thank you SO much for sharing that you used it with chicken! I never thought to do that– totally going to next week now. Thank you!! So glad you enjoyed it!!