Unbelievably Delicious Vegetable Tuna Salad Recipe

This tuna salad recipe is a fresh twist on the classic, packed with shredded carrots, garlic, onion, and cheese for extra flavor and texture in every bite. This is the quick, protein rich meal of my dreams!

This is another recipe in our occasional, ongoing series of easy meals from your pantry! For this series “pantry” includes not only the pantry shelves, but also the things we may have (or that we preserved!) in our fridges and freezers, too.

While you may be used to recipe writers who are overly effusive in their descriptions of foods, I want to be clear here that I am being literal when I say this is a recipe “of my dreams.” While I was testing this I made it once and it was way better than I thought it would be – and then I kept thinking about it (like almost daily) until I had the time and ingredients to make it again.

Yes, I really did day dream about tuna salad! I just couldn’t believe how good this was – and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting it. I mean we all have had tuna salad in our lives and it’s usually okay (if you like tuna, that is).

But this – oh, it’s jumped over every other tuna I’ve made to the front of the line. And it’s quick and healthy to boot!

I developed this amazing tuna salad from a sweet reader, Mary, who sent me her son’s recipe they really enjoyed and thought I might, too. There were no measurements, so I tested and tweaked it to be able to provide measurements, as well as add a few more ingredients that provide a bit of brightness and contrast to the flavors.

This is good as a salad on top of lettuce like I show here, as well as a filling for a wrap or sandwich, and of course dipped with crackers. The added veggies makes this a great all-in-one meal option that’s balanced with 22 grams of protein per serving and healthy fats.

I hope you like it as much as I do!!

Recipe Ingredient Notes

• Tuna: I use skipjack or yellowfin tuna – basically the least expensive is the best in this case (see more in the note below).
• Cheese: Use any kind you like or leave it out entirely. I feel like parmesan adds wonderful flavor, but if you’d like to toast the tuna on bread, mozzarella will melt the best, and sharp cheddar is nice, too.
• Mayonnaise/Olive oil: You can use both of these like I do (and like my reader’s recipe), or you can use one or the other (nice if you are avoiding eggs). Start with the amounts I’ve given in the recipe card and then add more as needed to get to the consistency you like.
• Vinegar: Do not skip this – I felt it really brought the salad to life! Any kind of vinegar works, though I most often use apple cider vinegar.

Note: Wondering if tuna is healthy and safe to eat? I went into details in this tuna patty recipe, including citing sources and the best tuna to buy (in a nutshell: skipjack or yellowfin tuna and has the LEAST amount of mercury, albacore the most).

Serving Options

• On a bed of lettuce.
• As a sandwich or wrap filling.
• Dipped with crackers or bread.
• Tuna melt option: spread open-faced on a piece of bread and toast for a minute or so until the edges are browning and the cheese in the filling is melting (mozzarella and cheddar are the best for melty cheese).

I hope you enjoy this tuna salad recipe (even if you don’t dream about it, lol) – if you make it, be sure to leave a rating and review so I know how you liked it!

More Easy Tuna Recipes

• Greek Tuna And Tomato Salad Recipe
• Mediterranean Pita Tuna Patties Board (Quick & Easy Meal Idea)
• Tuna Pasta with Lemon and Olives (20 Minute Pantry Recipe)