Best Tuna Salad Recipe

Whats the best tuna salad recipe you have tried? Iv been expierementing and havnt been able to make anything great so anything would help.

I cant say mine is the best, but it's my favorite... Just some tuna, finely diced pickle, finely diced onion, mayo, salt, pepper and maybe a little fresh dill...

Try using fresh tuna instead of canned, grilled lightly and diced

Have you ever tried Kraft Tuna Salad Maker? Not bad at all, I add a bit more onion & pickles and use the tuna in the package that isn't full of water or oil

LL

A salad Nicesois (sp) (sorry folks). Olive oil packed tuna over little red skinned potatos, baby green beans, olives, good tomatos, boiled eggs and some salad greens. Mix the oil in the can with some good vinegar (white wine with tarragon is a fav) and pour over. With crusty bread it is the best!

I'm as basic with my tuna salad as I am with my egg salad....

tuna, lite mayo, chopped sweet pickles.

Although I seem to remember going to tea one day and getting tuna salad with raisins and celery.. that was pretty good too.

My favorite bread for tuna and mayonnaise (no pickles) is.......

toasted blueberry bagels... yes, I'm wierd..sue me.

I think tuna in oil has a much better flavor, and so I then add finely chopped celery for crunch, lots of sweet pickle relish including some of the juice for tang, hard boiled eggs, salt, pepper, and either a load of Miracle Whip or mayo to moisten and make it as creamy or dry as you would prefer. The Miracle Whip gives it a slightly sweeter taste. The hard boiled eggs kind of cut the sharpness of the pickle relish. And chill well and give time for all the flavors to meld. It's all good.

On lightly toasted white bread, mmm mmm mmmm.

I have very plebeian tastes.

quote:

Originally posted by Pwingsx

I think tuna in oil has a much better flavor, and so I then add finely chopped celery for crunch, lots of sweet pickle relish including some of the juice for tang, hard boiled eggs, salt, pepper, and either a load of Miracle Whip or mayo to moisten and make it as creamy or dry as you would prefer. The Miracle Whip gives it a slightly sweeter taste. The hard boiled eggs kind of cut the sharpness of the pickle relish. And chill well and give time for all the flavors to meld. It's all good.

On lightly toasted white bread, mmm mmm mmmm.

I have very plebeian tastes.

I agree with the tuna in oil... Hard boiled eggs... Now there's a stroke of genious!

Tuna in water (got to watch that cholesterol) with some diced celery and onions, a little salt and pepper, some more pepper, some mayo or Miracle Whip (whatever is in the fridge), served on a good onion roll or rye bread.

Like UncleVic says, fresh dill. Maybe some Worcestershire.

Albacore, Hellmann's, celery, maybe onion, salt nd pepper.

When I was growing up, I couldn't get enough of what my aunt used to call Italian Tuna Salad - drained and flaked tuna, finely diced tomato and onion, some sliced black olives, a sprinkle of oregano, salt and pepper and a splash of wine vinegar and olive oil. I make it the same but use basil (chopped fresh if I have it) instead of the oregano and sometimes substitute basalmic vinegar for the wine vinegar.

I hardly ever make the kind with mayonnaise but when I do, I always add a generous sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning. Somehow, it just seems right.

For my tuna salad, I drain a large can of water-packed chunk tuna and add two chopped hardboiled eggs, chopped onions, lemon juice and a mixture of chopped Bread & Butter pickles and Sweet & Hot pickles. Season with garlic salt, black pepper, mace (the spice!) and Tabasco. Add Miracle-Whip (about 1/2 cup) to moisten.

This is the recipe from The Hoagie Experience in the Philadelphia area. It is reprinted from the "A Taste of America" column that Jane & Michael used to write for Universal Press Syndicate at least 10 years ago and probably more. I don't know whether this restaurant is still in business, but it did make a great tasting tuna hoagie.

1 - 7 oz can albacore tuna, drained and flaked
2 tablespoons chopped sweet pickle
1/3 cup minced celery
1 tsp minced onion
1 tsp prepared dijon mustard
1/3 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise (to taste)
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Blend well but do not pulverize.

Now for another great tasting tuna which I would consider to be pulverized, or whipped, head to Dino's Hoagies in Margate, NJ. You will not be disappointed.

A number of years ago, a chain of healthfood restaurants in Southern California (Good Earth) made a tuna salad that contained toasted slivered almonds, and was it ever WONDERFUL! I'd never have thought of putting almonds into it, myself, but I've missed that tuna salad since the chain closed down.

My Mother used to make an interesting tuna sandwich when I was a kid. Canned tuna, Hellmann's mayo, celery and black olives sliced in half. Put it between two slices of her homemade bread, dunk in beaten egg and fry on both sides. Yummy!

We had King's Food hosts in the Midwest that did those, Ileechef. Tuna Frenchees and Cheese Frenchees. Deep fried sandwiches.
What could be better? You ordered on a phone in the booth.
My mother always added green olives with pimentos, sometimes black also.

The Good Earth restaurant chain (they had one at Marina del Rey in an old Van de Kamp's) was one of the WORST places one could ever eat! They could (and did) ruin an omlete!
You want health food? Go to Fatburger and get a Double King with extra bacon and cheese.........

I like the water packed tuna-finely chopped celery, onion and bell pepper, chopped boiled egg, salt , lots of pepper, mayo and lemon juice. I like to eat mine with crackers and for some reason , for years, I always like to eat pineapple along side my tuna salad. I also add chopped dill pickles. Forgot that in my original post.
A lady that I used to work with added chopped apples and chex cereals to hers. It was unusual.

Albacore in water, Hellmann's, French's yellow mustard, celery, relish, a scallion, horseradish, black pepper. On rye toast with lettuce. A few Fritos on the side.

Heaven.

Rye does go best with tuna, this is turning into a sandwich topic!!!!!!!!!

Hey, this is from the sandwich forum too, but more tuna salad inspiration may be found in this thread on tuna melts:

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1072

Here goes............

The best recipe is:

Use only canned tuna. If it isn't canned, it is something else.

Ingredients:
One large can of Bumble Bee Alcabore packed in water
Hellmann's mayo - 1/8 cup or to taste (not too much!)
Bermuda (red) onion - 1/4 or less to taste finely chopped
Celery - one closed hand full finely chopped
Celery seed (optional) 1/4 teaspoons - ground in a mortar
Chives (optional) - 1 tablespoon
Lemon juice - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt (light) to taste
White pepper (very light)

Directions:
Strain the Tuna well of all water, add lemon juice and ground in a blender or food processor to the desired texture. (Remember the finer the texture the more mayonaise is absorbed.) Do not exceed the mayo required or else it is too wet.

In a mixing bowl, fold in the mayo a little at a time.
Very finely chop the vegetables and mix in.
Add salt and pepper to taste only after sampling the batch.

Serve on seven grain bread or toasted wheat with bread and butter pickels (on the side!).

Enjoy!

These variations sound great and, being a long-time tuna sandwich lover, I'd probably go for any or all of them. The one thing I didn't see mentioned is topping the tuna spread (I do like mine "pulverized") with a handful of crushed potato chips. I prefer the plain old-fashioned style, but I guess you could use sour cream, bbq, etc. The taste and texture adds a certain something. pb

other than chopped onion and sweet relish, Ivebeen experimenting with the new flavored mayo's, wasabi(sp) tuna salad is different and tasty

Pulverized???? For tuna patties (to be fried), maybe. For sandwiches; nada...
I like lots of diced onion, lots of DILL pickle relish (diced B&B pickles sometimes added), no friggin' eggs, some freshly ground pepper, perhaps a bit of fresh celery leaves, and a bit DUKE's mayo to moisten slightly. I also @ times add a can or two of smoked Herring to the mix of Alcabore. Of course, don't forget the Duke's FAMOUS SAUCE. After same has marinated overnight, I slice up some fresh 'maters and toast some good bread (not white bread). Make sandwich, etc., top with a slice of Swiss or Jarlsburg cheese & zap in micro just until cheese begins to melt. Delish.

The ultimate tuna for me is real simple.
David Rosengarten turned me on to one technique.
You have to spend at least five minutes with a fork
mashing the tuna. That way you get all(most) of the tuna
seperated, so what you use for seasoning coats every strand.
I use one can of white and one can of light, packed in oil.
Mash it finely. Add a good amount to taste of Hellmans,a teasopoonn of dijon,celery salt
or seed and pepper. Thats it and I love it.

Y'all missed the most important ingredient!
Regardless what makes up the tuna salad, before putting on the top piece of bread, one must add a careful, single layer of:
Fritos! (original, narrow style, only)
This is especially important when there is no celery in the salad to give it crunch.

Tuna in either oil or water will do, diced sweet pickles and a little of the juice, mayo/hellman's or MW works (whatever's in the fridge), Tablespoon or two of fresh salsa, dash or two of Tabasco Chipotle and season w/ salt, black pepper and of course sprinkle it with Old Bay to suit your taste. Spread on toasted Beefsteak rye with a fresh Beefsteak tomato cut and placed on the sandwich.

I also do the Italian style with Tuna in olive oil, freshly diced homegrown plum tomatoes, chopped onion if that suits you, chopped black olive, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and Old Bay to taste.

Add (to any of the aofrementioned) a toss of finely chopped cashews, yellow mustard and some diced jalepenos and that's how I like my tuna sandwich.

My favorite tuna salad is with chopped celery, celery salt, pepper and mayo, very simple. For a change, I found this recipe years ago in a Quaker Oats cookbook - use the above, but add some toasted oats and some chopped green onion - it's really very good!

As far as I'm concerned the only canned tuna with any flavor is the one packed in olive oil (which is very good for you). Drain the oil, flake the tuna, add finely-chopped onion (to taste), finely chopped celery, mayonaise (or Miracle Whip if you prefer)mix well and refrigerate for a while so that the flavors blend. You can serve this as a sandwich on your favorite bread (with or without lettuce) or my favorite way....expecially this time of the year....take a medium sized tomato, remove the stem end and slice it into about six wedges almost to the bottom. Spread apart the wedges and pile on the tuna salad....YUM!!

That was a common summer dinner when Mom declared it too hot to cook! Usually the filled tomato was set atop a scoop of cottage cheese seated in a lettuce leaf.

I just like plain old tuna, miracle whip and diced up celery.

OT: My kids favorite chicken salad is chicken, miracle whip and dried onions! Easy, but good!

Dang I was such a lazy cook. LOL

I'm right there with you, Rapunzll...
chicken, mayo and Mrs. Dash - thanks to the sample ladies at Costco for that fancy recipe!

Can't abide canned fish of any sort (or anything made with such), so fresh tuna (poached is ok, grilled is better), fat-free Miracle Whip, minced onion & celery, sweet pickle relish, & LOTS of fresh-ground black pepper! A variation: chopped unpeeled Granny Smith apples, white Niagra grapes, & walnuts instead of onion & pickle relish. Either variation goes nicely on fresh-baked whole-wheat bread, with or without some diced Havarti cheese. I'll have to try the toasted oats idea! Re: canned fish: never tasted or smelled such an animal until I was a teenager. Growing up, if we wanted something besides pork or chicken to eat, we hunted, fished, or trapped it. Grandpa bought only coffee, tea, sugar, flour, meal, rice, salt, & pepper from the trade. Everything else we grew ourselves. (My poor city-raised kids refuse to believe we grew & made our own popcorn WITHOUT A MICROWAVE!)

My favorite is a can of tuna, minced yellow onion, chopped scallions, dill relish, finely chopped celery, chopped green olives w/ pimento, salt, pepper, onion salt mixed generously with Spin Blend salad dressing and served with thinly sliced salted tomatoes on rye bread.

I like it chilled, drained, mixed with mayo, minced sweet pickles, minced red onions, chopped cashews, chopped celery, and seasoned with garlic salt and black pepper between two slices of toasted black bread.

Andrea

Personally, I like the stuff that's put out by a lot of restaurants including (but not exclusively) the well-known chains. I've tried to duplicate it at home, but I can't. I pretty much make mine like Mavlily (including the use of oil-packed tuna--and I prefer the "light" to Albacore plus it has less mercury), but it's not as good to my taste as the commercial tuna salad. I'm not sure why I prefer it except a lot of pretty good memories associated with tuna sandwiches at Hot Shoppes and Howard Johnson's as a kid.

I guess it would depend on your type of taste, sweet or salty, as to whether you'd like my simple recipe. I'm a salty person so here goes:
Can of light water packed tuna, drained, Hellman's light mayo to your desired texture, a palm full of minced white onion. Blend together, spread on your choice of bread(7-grain does it for me) and top with thin slices of pimento stuffed green olives The more slices of olives, the saltier! YUMBO

I use water-packed Albicore, (drained, juice given to cat), a dash of ReaLemon, a couple of heaping tablespoons of sliced green salad olives with pimento, many shakes of granulated garlic or garlic buds, one scoop of Hellman's. Serve at room temperature.

As a variation, I play down the garlic and add lots of dillweed. Pinenuts can be added to this version for a nutty crunch.

Back in the '70's, there was a restaurant called "In Cahoots" in the university area of Cincinnati that served a great tuna salad plate. They'd put a big dollop of guacamole on the tuna salad and the two flavors were wonderful together. I keep meaning to try this myself...perhaps just a slice or two of avocado on tuna slad would be tasty.

Our tuna salad uses StarKist fresh pouch (whatever they call those) water-pack with mayo, celery, apples, diced cheddar, sweet pickle relish, salt, pepper, a dash of celery seed, a dash of garlic powder or salt (whichever I lay my hand on) and sweet onions.

Of course, I'm the only one in our household of five who likes it this way, so I have to make/serve in stages - tuna/mayo/cheese for one picky eater, tuna/mayo/cheese/celery/pickle relish & seasonings for the kids, and the addition of onions for me. Sounds absurd, but it's worth it.

I see a lot of posters use relish or diced pickles. My brother in law, who loves his food, clued me in: diced sweet banana peppers. He likes his with Hellman's Mayo and onions, my family prefers Miracle Whip, onions & finely diced celery. I'd prefer it on toasted wheat bread, but hey, I'm not fussy. Sometimes a package of small dinner rolls is heavenly when stuffed with tuna salad & lettuce, wrapped and left in the frige for anyone lucky enough to be looking for a little treat!

My favorite is chunk light tuna mixed with Hellmann's mayo, a good scoop of pico de gallo, and a dash of cumin rolled up in a tortilla. No purist, I.

I have two favorites. Fist one is tuma of your choice drained add pepper salt if needed taste first some tuna is naturally salty I find others are bland reconstitued sun dried tomatoes chopped up and whatever vegtables you desire and mayo. Second one is Tono Tuna right out of the can oil and all on a nice crusty bulkie or other hard roll with sliced red onion. Thats going to be todays lunch with Minestrone soup. Chow Jim

White Tuna
celery
vidala onion
red bell pepper
hellmans mayo
let chill an hour
top with a homegrown tomato on toasted potatoe bread

yum

Canned tuna in water drained well and mashed fine
Diced onion and celery to taste (I like lots of both)
Hellman's mayo to taste (I use 2-3 heaping tablespoons to a small can of tuna)
Salt and Pepper
Caraway seeds

Mom always made it with caraway seeds, so that's what I'm used to. Gives that "rye bready" taste with or without the rye bread.

I like it served on toasted rye, an onion roll or a fresh bialy (pure heaven!). Chips and a half sour pickle on the side please.

And I'll have a Dr. Brown's Black Cherry soda with it, too.

hey all,

thanks for the great ideas. i have terrible morning sickness, but have a craving for tuna salad today. usually, i'd follow suit and add onions or celery or even maybe water chestnuts for crunchiness, but veggies are making me nauseous. so i took the recommended path of tuna, mayo, a little mustard and relish, salt, pepper. toasted a hamburger bun, spread the salad on with a slice of mozzarella, romaine and avocado slices. perfect!

Beverly's Tuna Salad

Tuna in oil drained
chopped celery
chopped white cabbage
chopped white onions
emerald relish
boiled eggs chopped
black pepper
hot pepper sauce
mayo to mix

Really squeezing the water out of the tuna is a must, I drain albacore tuna and then put it in a paper towel of kitchen towel and squeeze the water out really hard. Then add Hellman's, minced celery, salt and pepper, in summer with garden tomatoes, in winter, a tuna melt is fine with tomato soup!

For a different flavor, try adding chopped cilantro!

Here is a favorite party recipe of mine. Add a spoonful of tuna salad to a halved, deseeded jalapeño, then wrap in a thin slice of Baby Swiss. Use a toothpick to hold it together.

As a kid, my dad would add chopped pecans to tuna salad. I liked it, but grew tired of it after a while.

as simply as possible. solid light tuna packed in water,
chopped onions and celery with just enough mayo to hold it together.
serve on wheat toast with ripe tomatoes.
the sandwich along with a cup of vegetarian vegetable
soup sold out every friday.

tuna in oil, drained.Mix with Hellmans mayo, diced celery, onion and dill pickle.A bit of salt and pepper.Yummy.........

Bill Voss or others,

Do you have a recipe for Tuna Frenchees? I want to ask suds to make them for me! Thanks KO

1 can albacore tuna in water (drained for my cat to eat the liquid)
1 can King Oscar sardines in Olive oil
just a spoonful of Hellmanns
4 tablespoons green salad olives chopped with pimentos
dashes ground pepper

mash everything together and sarve on your favorite bread/toast

Yummerlicious!

quote:

Originally posted by LegalLady

Have you ever tried Kraft Tuna Salad Maker? Not bad at all, I add a bit more onion & pickles and use the tuna in the package that isn't full of water or oil

LL

Hi LL,

There used to be a similar product called "Tuna Twist." Every time I make tuna salad, the ditty plays in my head:

"I'm Sir Celery!
I'm Miss Parsley!
We are the onion twins!

We're in Tuna Twist
So tuna tastes
Fresh as the garden!"

I guess you had to hear them sing it. Anyway, I mince Sir Celery, Miss Parsley and the Onion Twins (big chunks are not as good in tuna) and add a pinch of hot curry powder. Moisten with mayo, and spread on the bread! Rapunzll, your suggestion for sprinkling those canned fried onions on before you put the top bread slice on is fantastic! Never would have thought of it. Thank you!

Catherine

We use mayo, soy sauce, celery, water chestnuts and cashews!
Asian Tuna Salad, it's terrific, family & friends - love it.

The less mayo, the better! I prefer a mixture of cayenne/paprika, white pepper, celery seed, very light/thinned soy

and if you've got them: bay leaves, ginger & cloves are optional.

Can't believe I've never seen this thread before. Naturally, with a name like tarragon, you know that it's a part of my tuna salad recipe.

I turned to the albacore tuna several years ago--the taste difference is definitely worth it, mercury levels be damned (I really don't eat it that often). I usually use the vacuum packaged tuna now; it's much less messy. Here's my recipe, which is fairly simple:

albacore tuna, flaked with fork
season with shake of lemon pepper, Old Bay seasoning, and tarragon
a dollop or two of sweet relish
Miracle Whip salad dressing

Mix gently, spread on toasted bread, toasted croissant or (best) toasted onion roll.