Canned Tuna Salad

Name: Canned Tuna Salad with Vegetables and Light Yogurt-Style Dressing
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Canned tuna in its own juices 1 can (150-180 g, in one large piece); Green salad leaves 5-6 leaves; Mixed herbs (parsley, dill, cilantro) 6-8 sprigs; Fresh cucumber 1; Carrot 1; Canned sweet corn 4-5 tbsp (48–60 g); Balsamic vinegar 1-2 drops; Salt to taste; Sour milk (or sour cream) 3-4 tbsp; Red onion just under 1 tbsp (finely chopped); Pickled gherkins 3-4; Ready-made hot mustard a little; Balsamic vinegar 1-2 drops (to taste); Salt, black pepper to taste

☆ Rate it

1 h

Almost anywhere in the world, restaurant menus include a canned tuna salad, the classic “tuna salad”. I have never met two identical ones. Still, every recipe has canned tuna and green salad leaves, or some variety of them.

Little more than 100 years ago, tuna was hardly eaten at all, and canned tuna first went on sale on the Australian continent. Only after it gained popularity did canned tuna appear all over the world. Canned tuna is usually packed in oil, various sauces, or its own juices. Good cans usually hold a single large piece of tuna and very few spices. You also find flaked tuna, mostly for sandwiches.

Tuna salad is best made from a whole piece of canned fish, because flaked tuna soaks up liquid and the salad turns watery. The “white” meat of the tuna is the one that gets canned, while the “gray” meat from the sides of the body goes into cheap preserves and pet food. Since tuna meat is boneless and layered, a good whole piece makes an excellent salad.

The salad turns out better with not-too-fatty meat. Canned tuna is also put into puff-style Mimosa instead of sardines, which makes the salad lighter.

To make a salad for two, one small can of tuna in its own juices is enough, as one large piece weighing 150-180 grams. Use green salad leaves of any kind, as for the squid salad recipe. All the other ingredients are to your taste, although plenty of vegetables and herbs will only make the salad better. And don’t dress it with mayonnaise: a light, low-calorie sauce is the way to go.

More with tuna

Spaghetti with Canned Tuna and Tomato Sauce

20 min

Creamy Pasta with Canned Salmon or Tuna

20 min

Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

2 servings

For the salad
Canned tuna in its own juices 1 can (150-180 g, in one large piece)
Green salad leaves 5-6 leaves
Mixed herbs (parsley, dill, cilantro) 6-8 sprigs
Fresh cucumber 1
Carrot 1
Canned sweet corn 4-5 tbsp (48–60 g)
Balsamic vinegar 1-2 drops
Salt to taste
For the dressing
Sour milk (or sour cream) 3-4 tbsp
Red onion just under 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
Pickled gherkins 3-4
Ready-made hot mustard a little
Balsamic vinegar 1-2 drops (to taste)
Salt, black pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

Turn on cook modeKeeps your screen from turning off while the recipe is open

Preparing the ingredients

Prepare the tuna: drain the liquid from the can and leave the meat as it is, without flaking it. You can gently separate the layered meat into a few pieces.
Choose canned tuna in its own juices. It is the tastiest option: it holds very little liquid and the meat is very firm, like chicken.
Don’t use mayonnaise for the dressing, although many people think every salad should be generously covered in it. We will dress this salad with a light, low-calorie dressing based on plain sour milk. It is easy to make and, by the way, this sauce suits many salads and even works as a sauce for shrimp.
Boil the carrot ahead of time until tender and let it cool, and put the salad leaves and herbs in cold water so they stay crisp.
Strictly speaking, you could do without the boiled vegetables, but all the salad components are green or pastel, and I wanted a color accent. By the way, here is how to keep fresh herbs for longer. For the green salad you can use lettuce, frisée or iceberg. Bitter leaves are not a great fit, although it is up to you.

Assembling the salad

Make a border of salad leaves: dry the washed leaves as thoroughly as you can, which matters, then tear them into pieces with your fingers and arrange them around the edge of a large platter or plate to form an outer rim.
Don’t cut salad leaves with a knife. They release a lot of juice, and the tuna salad ends up looking like okroshka. This applies to any green salad.
Slice and arrange the vegetables: peel the boiled carrot and cut it into matchsticks. For long ones, cut the carrot lengthwise into thin slices, then slice them diagonally at a wide angle. Salt the carrot lightly, add 1-2 drops of balsamic vinegar, toss, and place on the plate on top of the rim of salad leaves.
Cut the fresh green cucumber, unpeeled, into matchsticks the same way. The cucumber doesn’t need salt. Place it with the carrot, spreading it all around the plate.
Place the tuna in the hollow in the middle of the vegetables, first draining off any remaining liquid. It is better not to flake the meat, just divide it into fairly large pieces that stand out in the salad. Salt very lightly, literally one pinch of fine salt.
Arrange the corn in a ring around the tuna: drain the corn and spoon the kernels around the fish in a narrow strip, taking care that the corn doesn’t cover the salad leaves, cucumbers and carrot.
The tuna salad has a layered, horizontal structure, and all the layers should be visible. Dress the salad right before serving, so at this stage you can put it in the fridge for a while.

Dressing

Make the dressing right before serving. In a small bowl, mix 3-4 tbsp of plain sour milk, which you can buy or make by souring fresh milk. Chop a red sweet onion very finely with a knife, about just under 1 tbsp, and chop 3-4 pickled gherkins just as finely. Mix the onion and gherkins into the sour milk, add a little ready-made hot mustard, season with pepper and stir until smooth. Add salt, pepper and 1-2 drops of balsamic vinegar to taste.
Add the sauce and herbs: spoon the thick sauce in a ring around the corn. Pick the leaves off the herb sprigs, chop them very finely with a knife and sprinkle around the edge of the plate.

Serving

Bring the salad to the table without mixing, then toss it gently with a spoon at the table so everything comes together. The mixed salad can be portioned into small bowls or dishes, with freshly ground black pepper if you like.
Tuna salad with vegetables doesn’t keep for long, so make only as much as you need and eat it right away.

Calories and macros

170 kcal

Serving ≈ 300 g

Protein24 g61% of kcal
Fat2 g12% of kcal
Carbs11 g27% of kcal

100 g56 kcalProtein 8 gFat 0.7 gCarbs 3.5 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

Enjoyed the recipe? Pick me as a preferred source on Google, and you'll see my recipes more often in search. Choose on Google →

How did you like this recipe?

Thanks for rating!