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I never get tired of an excellent Tuna Salad Recipe, and of the hundreds of versions I’ve made, this version is the best. Serve on toast, crackers, a bed of greens, or grilled as a very delicious tuna melt.
No matter how you mix it, making tuna salad at home is one of the easiest, most satisfying meals you can whip up from pantry ingredients.
Start with my recipe and enjoy it just as it is, or throw in your own favorite must-haves. It’s ready in minutes and always handy to have when hunger strikes.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Tuna: I prefer tuna packed in water with a dolphin-safe label. I usually buy cans, but you can use packets instead. Or, substitute oil-packed tuna (feel free to decrease the amount of mayonnaise if you do).
- Mayonnaise: This recipe is heavy on the mayonnaise. Start with ¼ cup if you prefer and add more to taste.
- Sweet pickle relish: Or substitute dill relish or minced dill pickles if you prefer that flavor.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a medium bowl, add tuna, mayonnaise, celery, onion, relish, lemon juice, and garlic.
- Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper (I like ½ teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Serve immediately or cover and chill until serving.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 3 cups of tuna salad, enough for 6 sandwiches (½ cup per sandwich).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- More mix-ins: Add a small amount of cut apples (Granny Smith would be perfect), a handful of thawed peas, or a couple of chopped hard-boiled eggs to your tuna salad.
- Tuna Melt: Add melty cheese, juicy tomatoes, and golden brown, buttery grilled bread for the perfect tuna melt.
- Lettuce wraps: Tuna salad is delicious wrapped in lettuce leaves or piled on a bed of lettuce.
- Tuna pasta salad: Make a tasty tuna pasta salad by adding cooked macaroni, rotini, or your other favorite small pasta.
- Stuffed tomatoes: Hollow out juicy tomatoes and fill with tuna salad for an old-fashioned and super-delicious lunch entrée.
- Ahi Tuna Salad: Is the Ahi tuna looking fabulous at the fish market, or have you got an extra bit of Ahi tuna from last night’s dinner? Splurge and make tuna salad with it. Cook it through, then flake it up in this recipe.
- More deli salads: If you love this Tuna Salad, you might also love my Chicken Salad, Turkey Salad, Egg Salad, Ham Salad, classic Potato Salad, and my favorite Macaroni Salad.
Recipe FAQs
Instead of mayonnaise, you can make tuna salad dressing with plain yogurt or whipped silken tofu. You can also add lemon vinaigrette (¼ cup olive oil, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard, fresh herbs like dill, parsley, or chives and salt and pepper to taste).
Yes, oil-packed tuna tastes great in tuna salad (feel free to decrease the amount of mayonnaise if you do).
If you prefer water-packed tuna but only have access to oil-packed, you can remove the oil yourself. Add the tuna to a fine-mesh sieve, rinse vigorously with cold water, and press with a spatula to extract all of the liquid out of the fish.
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The Best Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 4 (5-ounce) cans tuna packed in water drained (see note 1)
- 1 cup mayonnaise or less to taste (see note 2)
- 1/3 cup celery finely chopped (about 1 rib)
- 2 tablespoons red onion minced, about 2 small slices
- 2 tablespoon sweet pickle relish (see note 3)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine tuna, mayonnaise, celery, onion, relish, lemon juice, and garlic.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like ½ teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Serve immediately or cover and chill until serving.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Tuna: I prefer tuna packed in water with a dolphin-safe label. I usually buy cans, but you can use packets instead. Or, substitute oil-packed tuna (feel free to decrease the amount of mayonnaise if you do).
- Mayonnaise: This recipe is heavy on the mayonnaise. Start with ¼ cup if you prefer and add more to taste.
- Sweet pickle relish: Or substitute dill relish or minced dill pickles if you prefer that flavor.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 3 cups of tuna salad, enough for 6 sandwiches (½ cup per sandwich).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I am in love. I never thought to add garlic to my tuna. It was delicious!
I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you! -Meggan
Normally I tinker with a recipe but this one seemed to have everything just the way I would expect right from the start. I was very impressed with the balance of this salad, keeping it for future reference! Looking forward to seeing what else you have! 🙂
I usually don’t leave reviews for recipes, but for this one I had to make an exception. This tuna salad is fantastic. I was a little bit skeptical of the addition of the sweet relish, but I had some so I gave it a shot. Delicious. The fresh garlic was also a lovely touch which I hadn’t thought of adding before. Enough savory power, enough zip, just a touch of sweetness from the relish, it really worked. It all came together to create a lovely combination. My kids–who found the fishy smell of the tuna off-putting–loved it. Also, I used frozen chopped celery. I was worried that it wouldn’t come out well with the frozen celery, but after reading accounts of success with it I tried and it was wonderful. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Hi Christina, that’s wonderful! Thank you soo much for the lovely comment, I’m glad your kids loved it. – Meggan
This recipe is very similar to the tuna salad I’ve made for years, with a couple of exceptions…
First, I love good mayonnaise (I use Duke’s), but 1 cup of mayonnaise is just WAY too much, IMO. Only 1/3 – 1/2 cup is needed.
Second, it has more balance and zip with the addition of 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard (regular yellow is okay too).
Overall very good recipe, but be careful unless you like a whole lot of mayonnaise.
Hi, I love tuna salad sammiches,but I usually only use mayo and relish. I’m going to try it with the other ingredients you listed, especially the lemon juice (fresh squeezed, of course) and garlic.Also, I love to cook salmon on the grill, with a little bit of butter and dill weed, over hickory chips. I always cook a big fillet, and use the leftover salmon and to make this salad with salmon instead of tun. Delicious!!!
That sounds simple and delicious! YUM! I hope you enjoy the tuna! – Meggan
I love tuna but I’ve always found it difficult to make just right at home. This recipe is amazing! I use it all of the time! Definite winner!!!
I like to substitute avocado for the some of the mayo. I’ll also add sun dried tomatoes, finely diced up into the tuna mix. I do not like red onion as much as white onion (which is a little sweeter in my opinion). I also do not add extra salt. There really is no need. It’s one of my go-to meals!
Excellent comprehensive coverage of one of my favorite sandwiches.
This really is the BEST tuna salad recipe! I usually just throw a little of this and that I to my tuna when I make it and sometimes it just isn’t quite “right”. But this recipe takes all the guesswork out and the result is the perfect tuna salad. It’s worth putting in the fresh ingredients rather than dried— so take the few extra minutes and do the chopping!
Great taste. Made with dry onion and garlic salt. Loved the relish in the recipe!!