I enjoy a tuna salad sandwich, and think mine is pretty good but I’d like to branch out. I’m talking about a can of Starkist, some mayo and…
it’s the and … I’d like to hear about. I’ve done a lot of celery and onion and a squeeze of lemon juice, sometimes with pickle and sometimes with caraway seeds. The other day on a whim I threw in some capers and it it was pretty tasty, and quite different from the same old same old.
What do you use?
Chopped green olives, onions and garlic. Yum! Eaten on saltines with cheddar cheese makes it even better.
StG
An ex of mine used to put a bunch of alfalfa sprouts in his tuna salad. It was pretty good!
I put some very odd stuff in my tuna salad–a dash of powdered curry, some green onion (or red onion, or both), some chopped apple (preferably a Granny Smith), some yogurt, sometimes a few mashed up black olives–I’m making myself hungry, and it’s only 7:30 AM.
A little bit of Dijon mustard mixed in with the mayo.
Finely diced hard-boiled egg, salt and black pepper to taste, fresh dill, dijon mustard, honey, a little cayenne pepper for heat, and finished with freshly grated aged asiago cheese.
Bacon Salt. Although actually I haven’t added it to my tuna salad in a while, but when I first got mine I was trying it with everything.
Another interesting thing I’ve done a few times is finely chop some pepperoni (I usually use turkey pepperoni, since that what I have on hand). It adds a bit of spice to the otherwise mild taste of the tuna.
Chopped egg whites, chopped onions, black pepper, mayo.
Oil and vinegar instead of mayo, or plain vogurt.
Try herbs: parsley, basil, oregano, lemongrass, pizza seasoning, lemon pepper, stuff like that. Fresh herbs are especially nice.
I chop apples in mine as a general rule, and throw in whatever spices or herbs look interesting to me at the moment. I have been tossing in some lemon pepper recently, along with some Cransins, so the whole thing has a very fruity feel.
Also, I’ve been buying canned chicken instead of tuna for a change of pace.
A friend clued me in to that. Put just a tablespoon of mayo with non-fat yoghurt and it will taste almost the same but with fewer calories.
Chopped onions, celery salt/seed, lotsa pepper or lemon pepper. Definitely yes on the Dijon or powdered mustard. I like mine on raisin bread to get that sweet/sour/salty thing going. I never thought about capers, but that sounds great. And it just occurred to me that Old Bay might be a nice addition; I’ll have to try that.
Like PRR, I like my tuna salad with curry powder. I use non-fat mayo (which tastes like ass on its own, but I doctor it up), quite a heavy dash of curry powder, and some honey mustard.
In addition to tuna, I mince up a little bit of white onion, celery, red bell pepper, and carrot. Taken together, there should be about 2/3 as much veg as tuna, so if we’re just talking a can of tuna, you can see we’re also talking a very small amount of each veg. Some people add nuts, like walnuts, but I try to stay lower fat and I find the veggies give the filling enough crunch. Some people add green grapes or apples, but I find that makes my sandwich or salad too sweet. Maybe they fight with the curry, I don’t know.
I eat my tuna salad with fresh baby spinach, either as a salad or between two pieces of whole wheat bread. Nom nom nom.
I ran across a tuna salad recipe in Cook’s Illustrated a few years ago. I don’t have it anymore, but it was da bomb, as their recipes usually are.
Here’s what I can remember about it.
They made a huge point about thoroughly drying the tuna. No more half assed draining by just pushing the can lid down on the tuna. Actually put it in a strainer, use some paper towel, get it flaky.
Ingredients included mayo, mustard, minced garlic, sweet pickle relish, salt, and pepper.
That’s some good tuna salad!
I’m of the oil and vinegar school. Get high quality tuna packed in olive oil and drain it thoroughly. Add chopped black olives, Italian parsley, capers, and shredded carrot. Dress it until it’s slightly wet with the oil and vinegar, and add lots of cracked black pepper. I like it on a crusty baguette with tomato and lettuce. Them’s good lunch eatin’.
Basically raid the spice rack and experiment, I’d say. I wonder how some dill would be in it. I have had curry powder in it and approve. Hadn’t thought about lemon pepper but it’s fish, should be good.
Chopped hardboiled eggs, mayo, and pickle relish. Y’alls recipes look more exciting than mine though. I might have to try some of them.
Tuna-well drained, grated cheese (your choice) Ranch dressing, soy bacon bits. I like mine on toasted bread.
onion (green if I’ve got 'em, regular if not), celery, sweet pickle relish (or chopped sweet pickles), dill pickle relish (or chopped dill pickles), mustard (preferably brown), mayo (Miracle Whip). Whatever herbs sound good - dill, oregano, etc.
I’ve switched entirely to the vacuum-bags of tuna. No more draining!
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Dill is a marvellous, wonderful herb that adds to many many dishes. But dill does not belong in tuna salad.
Just sayin’. Not that I have any strong opinion on the matter, YMMV, IANAT(una)S(alad)P(rofessional) etc. etc.
Just please, for the love of God, don’t.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Dill is a marvellous, wonderful herb that adds to many many dishes. But dill does not belong in tuna salad.
Just sayin’. Not that I have any strong opinion on the matter, YMMV, IANAT(una)S(alad)P(rofessional) etc. etc.
But please, for the love of God, don’t.