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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, 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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Panzanella Salad
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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.
To reduce the cholesterol, consider substituting a part or all of the mayo with whipped avocado. It makes the recipe a bit green, but the flavour is delicious.
Do you have a preference between solid or chunk tuna?
Hi Brian, I usually get chunk tuna for tuna salad or tuna casserole (because I want it broken up and mixed in to the salad or noodles, or whatever) and solid tuna for something like a Nicoişe salad where big pieces are nice. But I don’t have a strong preference either way. 🙂 – Meggan
Delicious! I loved the lemon in this recipe. Thank you
You’re welcome, Paula! – Meggan
Easy, delicious, natural!!! A must. I went low on mayo as suggested and there is not a drop of it left.
Great recipe. Waaay too much mayonnaise and I LOVE Duke’s!! However I’d cut it back to 1/2 cup. If you don’t like/don’t have sweet relish I’ve made this with capers! Love that vinegar/briny flavor!❤️
Thanks for trying my recipe, Theresa! Great tip using capers! – Meggan
Has anyone made this exactly, other than subbing sardines for the tuna? I’m trying to get more sardines in my diet. Thanks.
This is my personal preference, but sardines and mayo don’t seem to work as well. My favorite way to eat sardines is heated up in a homemade spanish style spicy tomato garlic sauce, served open faced on toasted bread, so good!! You could also try a sardine pate with horseradish, dill, and cream cheese (I’ve only ever made this with canned smoked trout, but it might be good with sardines)
I added a hard boiled egg, lemon zest a little shredded carrot.
Yummy
Yum! That sounds delicious!
Meghan
I am enjoying this set of recipes. Would you consider posting cost per serving or cost per recipe? Many times I want to try certain recipes and when I get to the grocer I’m surprised by the cost of items.
Hi Jan, thank you for the question! I’m happy you are enjoying these recipes. Listing the cost per serving or cost of the recipe would be quite complicated, and can vary greatly depending on where someone lives, where and how they shop (small items or bulk), seasonality, and even brands one prefers. Sorry about that! Thank you for the suggestion. – Meggan
I tried this recipe and I am not sure why but I feel as though it’s way too much lemon juice and it was really soupy?!?
Hi Stacie, I’m sorry your tuna salad was runny! It can happen because of a couple reasons: the tuna needed to be drained even more, the relish was too juicy, or the celery was dried well enough after rinsing. I would also suggest for you to add the lemon juice last, or omit entirely if you found the flavor too strong. I hope your next batch is great! – Meggan
Really good. We adjusted to taste and added chopped jalapeno.
Glad you enjoyed it, Ron! – Meggan