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Cooking Notes
Katherina
For those financially strapped people in the world I find that if you rinse the tuna with cold water in a fine mesh strainer takes away most of the salt in the tuna. Also a trick that I learned while working at a deli is to grab the tuna by the handful and squeeze out the water. This makes the tuna dryer which will allow the flavors in the recipe like the lemon juice and mayo soak into the tuna without making it soggy.
JM
I completely agree. Everyone has a tuna salad recipe. This one belongs to Craig Claiborne, who certainly knew his stuff. Let's save all the ad-libbing and over-tweaking of a classic recipe for another forum. Let's talk about THIS recipe.
Fred Stone
i'm ok with the Claiborne contents, except:
Canned tuna is loaded with salt. Therefore, kill the capers and don't add salt.
Perfect tuna salad requires solid light tuna in olive oil, not drained.
grated carrot adds sweetness. kalamata olives add to a Mediterranean flavor. scallions are milder that red onion. finally adding a tablespoon of hummus, and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard takes the whole project from good tuna salad to heavenly.
JillianM
A lovely classic recipe as I am a life-long fan!
Over the years I have experimented within the recipe and I find that oil packed tuna (and wild salmon) has less salt (because oil is a preservative while water packed uses extra salt as preservative). Capers are also preserved and can be awful tasting briney & salty while others divine. I recommend white balsamic preserved because they have a little sweetness. It took me years to figure this out and I now love adding capers. Bon Apetite!
Al
After opening the can of tuna, press down on the lid to squeeze the water out, leaving the drier tuna to absorb mayo and other favors. Btw that liquid in a small bowl is a great treat for your cats.
Melissa J.
If you're only interested in the recipe, just skip the comments altogether. But some folks like reading about variations & tweaks. I often learn as much from the comments as from the recipe. Of course, there are know-it-alls in any online forum (some might even read your comment as such, since it too criticizes others and has NOTHING to do with the recipe), but thankfully, nobody forces us to read anything we're not interested in, so live and let live, right? Have a great day!
A. H.
I sometimes stretch my supply of canned tuna by adding mashed chickpeas to the mix. You can add as much as a tuna can of (unmashed) cooked chickpeas, roughly the same amount by volume as the tuna. The taste changes a little, but chickpeas are fairly mild and so the mix still tastes very much like tuna. Many people will not notice the chickpeas at all.
Craig Claiborne may not have approved, but this is a good way to economize if you are making a batch of tuna for a family.
Clara Belle Weatherman
I go for Duke's mayo every time. Look at the labels: Duke's is the only mayo (other than homemade) that doesn't contain sugar. Who wants sugar in mayo! Hellman's does.
Blosmo
A trick to giving canned, water-packed tuna the unctuous mouth feel the salad needs: Heat a Tbl olive oil in a serving spoon over a stove burner until hot, not smoking, then sprinkle the minced onion into oil. It makes an inexplicably tasty difference.
Charles Michener
The quality of tuna makes all the difference. Ventresca yellowfin tuna (Tonnino brand) elevates this to something special. A good, less costly choice: Wild Planet. Besides celery, lots of chopped parsley and chives are essential (also a few chopped celery leaves.) Capers not only drained but rinsed and chopped. A tsp of Dijon to go with a dollop of Hellman's (yes!), a few squirts of lemon juice, and a splash of really good olive oil. But go light on the extras. Let the tuna shine.
Tom G.
Consider adding dill instead of capers.
Eddie Lew
A Greek grocery store owner, when I asked her why is her tuna so good answered, "mix white and light tuna." That did it! That was over 40 years ago, and IMO it's still the best. I add mayo, red onion and a bit of Louisiana hot sauce and I'm in hog heaven.
I also just discovered dried fried scallion at Kam Man in NY's Chinatown and I add that instead of onion; it adds crunch. Try the dried fried garlic too (not on tuna!). Dried fried garlic and scallion, they're Googlable!
Alan
Strange how no one thinks of canned wild salmon, a tragically ignored great food. Makes a great mousse as well.
David
You are right. But this forum is for sharing ideas. It's always interesting to read how some cooks tweak the recipes, to suit their taste.
Julia Childless
Capers: Don't buy those in brine. At good Italian markets, they sell capers dry, preserved in salt. They last forever in the fridge. Rinse off the coarse salt in a sieve. These are authentic capers, bigger than the things in brine which I am told are really just nasturtium buds. There is no comparison in taste.
White tuna, water-packed. meh. I get Italian in olive oil, the kind in little glass jars is wonderful. You'll never go back to Bumblebee.
Mark H.
Like Chili, everyone has their own tuna salad. There are some excellent ideas in the comments that sound tasty. But it doesn't help those who want to try this recipe and want to know what to expect.I made this recipe exactly as spec'ed. Here's what I found:1.) Prefer the Tuna in Oil over Tuna in water.2.) Like the red bells!3.) Mince the capers.
Drew
This recipe is good. A trick I learned eating canned tuna in my travels... First, olive oil packed only. Never water. That's for amateurs. Next, get a single square of sanitary tissue or a thin paper napkin, open your tuna, do not drain it!!! Place the square on top, so that it is saturated with oil and set a corner in fire. Let this burn for about 3-4 minutes. Then extinguish the paper if it is still burning and use a fork to carefully remove the charred paper, it slides right off. Now salad...
Dan
Back in the day when this recipe was published fats and oils were demonized and tuna packed in water was all the rage. Quality tuna in olive oil is a fine substitute if you decrease the mayo a bit.
LMD
I didn't have any celery so I substituted carrots, thankfully the end result was divine! Just had a seriously elevated tuna melt with good sourdough bread, looseleaf lettuce and cheddar cheese. Will definitely make this again and again.
Josephus
You can buy salt-free canned tuna from MadeinUSAForever.com. It's pole-caught wild tuna and excellent. Have used it for years.
Karen
Instead of mayonnaise, I add honey mustard, diced carrots and I mash up an avocado. It's delicious!
marcia
I’m always looking to add more fermented items to my diet, for gut health. So I chop Kimchi and add it to tuna along with some sweet relish and mayo. It adds crunch so I skip the celery.
John T
If you don’t want to use mayonnaise, you can easily substitute it with hummus. Works as well and avoids any lactose intolerance issues.
Drew
Mayo should not have any lactose. It's a n emulsion of egg yolk and oil. There's no milk.
Katy
Great recipe! Made as written, did not need any extra salt at the end. Never would have thought to add red bell pepper to tuna salad - delicious!
Mary K
I have made this many times, adhering exactly to the recipe. Always great!
QUAASAM
excellent.
Alison
Substituted Dijon mustard and olive oil for the mayo for dairy-free. Delicious!
Aaron
But there's no dairy in mayonnaise
Jane
Trader Joe’s makes no salt added tuna. It’s wonderful. Red can
quaasam
excellent.
chase
Swapped Mayo for Buffalo Mayo, grapes for celery (just didn’t have celery but could add back in), and didn’t have capers. Buffalo Mayo made this thing pop!
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