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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.
More delicious salads
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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.
The ingredients are on point but the bread is completely too burnt for my liking. I honestly wouldn’t even have use that bread for the picture , it throws the whole mouth watering idea off. Yet I’m sure it taste good just wayyyyy to burnt to sell to the public.
The photographer that shot this recipe for me was fired in January. It’s on my list to reshoot, so hopefully soon I can get this fixed. Thank you, sorry about that! -Meggan
This is the basic recipe I have always used but I add 2or 3 chopped hard boiled eggs, lemon juice and finely chopped red and green pepper!
Very good recipe. I think dill relish may be better but that’s also personal preference
1 Cup of mayonnaise is way too much. I had to add another 5 oz can of tuna into the mix just to make it reasonable, and even then it was too much mayonnaise. I suggest people start with half a cup of mayonnaise and adjust accordingly.
It makes my life is more easier than before to enjoy tuna salad. I love it
Your ingredients/proportions worked out fine….love tuna salad. But I love as a sandwich. In the store debating between french bread and potato rolls???? This time went with the soft and chewy potato rolls.
One of the best tuna salads with a sandwich I’ve been tried.
Thank you so much Robert! That means a lot. I love it too so it always makes me happy when someone is willing to try it. 😀 -Meggan
FOUNDATION TO A GREAT RECIPE. I’m admittedly a bit obsessive about following a recipe to the letter the first time I try it (to be as objective as possible in my review), but it’s rare that I have all ingredients on hand to do so. This time I did. and went for it. One cup of mayo sounded like too much, but given all the positive reviews, I just threw it in. I should have gone with my gut and started with half that amount and added more if necessary–with the full cup, it looked like a mayo soup. Fortunately I had a six-ounce can of tuna on hand to mix in. With that, the consistency was just right for my taste.
With extra tuna salad, I split the batch into two before seasoning. One I seasoned with salt & pepper per the recipe, the other I used Old Bay seasoning (and also added two diced hard-boiled eggs). Both were excellent, but will go with less mayo, Old Bay and eggs as my permanent go-to. Thanks for sharing this!
Hi,
This was great. It taste like a deli-style tuna sandwich with rye. It taste fresher and better. Instead, I used a quarter of squeezed lemon to replace of the lemon juice. Also, Albacore. Thank You for this fresh receipe.
Thank you so much! Yes, albacore. Good call. 🙂 Take care and thanks again! -Meggan
Girl, tuna never gets old! This recipe is really good. I make my own mayo to keep the sodium down. I had NO idea Hellman’s was so salty! Keep the recipes flowing, thanks for this classic!