The Best Tuna Salad
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
The Best Tuna Salad Recipe is right here with Pecans and Raisins. It makes for such a delicious lunch or dinner! Serve it on your favorite bread and you’ll never go back. With crunchy pecans and sweet raisins, this might be your new favorite tuna salad.
The Best Tuna Salad
I wasn’t the one who made this recipe when I first tried it, it was actually my husband! He surprised me with it after I came home from a long day from work and it was so good that I gobbled it down in record time. Don’t you just love when you come home and dinner is all set and ready? Well this recipe is so easy to throw together that you’ll be eating it in no time, even if it’s all up to you.
This tuna salad with pecans and raisins uses such simple ingredients and tastes so fresh. You’ll be packing it up for lunch tomorrow, if you have any leftovers that is. It’s also a really budget friendly recipe that will keep you full for hours, win win!
Ingredient Notes
- Tuna – Flaked or chunk and canned in water, our high protein base!
- Red onion – This onion is one of the best varieties to eat raw, it’s bright and acidic and makes this dish pop.
- Celery – Such a traditional ingredient in tuna salad, it adds such a nice crunch to an otherwise soft dish.
- Pecans – If you’re going to use nuts for this recipe, I have to insist on pecans. They are sharp, not too buttery, and with a flavor that won’t over power the dish.
- Dill – Fresh or dried work perfectly well!
- Raisins – I use golden raisins as they’re sweeter, softer, and more mild.
- Mayonnaise – Feel free to use fat reduced mayo if you’re looking to cut calories! Another option would be a good Greek yogurt.
- Parsley – Chopped up fresh, dry works as well if that’s all you have on hand.
- Salt & pepper – To taste.
How To Make Tuna Salad
- Chop up everything: Chop the onions, celery, pecans, and parsley and add to a medium sized bowl.
- Combine the tuna salad: Add the rest of the tuna salad ingredients to the bowl, save for the tomato and lettuce, and stir to combine.
- Serve: Lay pieces of lettuce inside the buns and scoop in as much tuna salad as you’d like. Top with slices of tomato and serve!
FAQs & Tips
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make tuna salad healthier?
Tuna salads are great because they can be made as healthy as you want. Skip the mayo and add a good plain Greek yogurt instead. You’ll still get the tanginess but less calories. Load it up with more veggies and instead of making sandwiches, serve it as tuna salad wraps! They truly are delish!
How do I keep tuna salad from being dry?
The secret is the mayo. You want to use at least one tablespoon of mayo for 4 oz of tuna, but obviously the more mayo the better and tastier your tuna salad will be. You can also add a bit of lemon juice to add moisture.
Tips
- Use Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise for a healthier variation.
- Try other mix-ins such as diced apple, thawed peas, or play around with different herbs and spices, such as chives or curry powder.
- Try serving this salad with pita breads, croissants, bagels, lettuce leaves, wraps, etc.
Best Tuna To Use For Tuna Salad
When it comes to buying tuna there are many options out there. White vs. light tuna, solid vs. chunk vs. flake, oil-packed vs. water-packed, etc. In the end get whatever you like and can afford.
White vs. light tuna – this usually refers to a specific kind of tuna and mercury levels. If you’re looking for a lower mercury tuna, stick to skipjack or tongol tuna. White tunas are alabacore and yellowfin, but these tend to have higher levels of mercury.
Solid vs. Chunk. vs. Flake – this basically just indicates how the tuna was packaged. Solid tends to be the most expensive and flake the most affordable. I prefer chunk tuna for tuna salads, especially if making sandwiches.
Oil-packed vs. water-packed – If you’re looking for a richer tasting tuna then oil-packed is the way to go, but for these tuna salads I prefer water-packed tuna since it’s more affordable, and I don’t usually like the extra oil.
Leftovers
Refrigerate your salad in an airtight container and it should last for 3 – 5 days. You can freeze tuna salad too! It will only stay fresh for up to a week and must be stored in small batches in airtight containers.
More Delicious Recipes To Try
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
The Best Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounce tuna in water (drained)
- ½ cup red onion (chopped)
- ⅓ cup celery (chopped)
- 1 cup pecans (chopped)
- ½ tablespoon dill (dried or 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped)
- ½ cup raisins
- 2 tablespoon parsley (fresh, chopped)
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 medium tomatoes (sliced for garnish)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Chop up everything: Chop the onions, celery, pecans, and parsley and add to a medium sized bowl.
- Combine the tuna salad: Add the rest of the tuna salad ingredients to the bowl, save for the tomato and lettuce, and stir to combine.
- Serve: Serve on sandwiches, top of salad, tuna salad wraps or add to pasta salads.
Notes
- Use Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise for a healthier variation.
- Try other mix-ins such as diced apple, thawed peas, or play around with different herbs and spices, such as chives or curry powder.
- Try serving this tuna salad with pita breads, croissants, bagels, lettuce leaves, wraps, etc.
- Refrigerate your tuna salad in an airtight container and it should last for 3 – 5 days. You can freeze tuna salad too! It will only stay fresh for up to a week and must be stored in small batches in airtight containers.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
This is SO good! We love it & it’s good enough for company. 🙂
Stupendous! Love it! Made two batches, both using the mayo but may try the yogurt in the future. One batch was the basic recipe while the other batch was loaded with raisins, apple bits, pecans, and slightly less red onion. Both turned out delicious but the loaded recipe was my delight! I used both butter croissants and hardy Ciabatta rolls. A delicious recipe, convenient, easy to make, and very filling. A little bit goes a long way.
So glad you enjoyed it Jack!
Good basic tuna recipe.
Next time I probably will substitute Greek Yogurt
I made this for dinner tonight and it was awesome!
The addition of a few ingredients, puts the basic tuna salad over the top. I made this
last night and served it with Ritz crackers. It was delicious! Thank you, Jo, for sharing
another great recipe.
My pleasure, so glad you enjoyed it, Linda!
This sounds super! I would also love a recipe for chicken salad.
Love your site!!
Suzie
You can find a couple chicken salad recipes I have here: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/knockout-chicken-salad-sandwiches/ and https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/avocado-chicken-salad/
My sister-in-law made this as part of a shared meal the other night. It was SOOOOOO good that several people asked for the recipe.
I’m so happy you guys enjoyed it! 🙂