What is your recipe for an awesome tuna fish salad sandwich?
Asked by
ETpro (
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August 19th, 2010
I know you can throw some drained canned tuna together with some mayonnaise or low-fat mayo and have a credible sandwich. But how do you kick it up a notch and build a world-class tuna fish sandwich? Any tricks for a sandwich you want to pack for lunch or a picnic without worry about the bread becoming soggy?
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40 Answers
I don’t know if this is awesome, but this is how I make them :
Tuna, Miracle Whip (sorry, I just can’t get into real mayo.), a little splash of yellow mustard, chopped hard boiled egg, and dill relish.
I like it on pumpernickel, but I don’t have any tips for stopping the bread from getting soggy. Unless you wanted to pack the tuna salad in a tupperware and spoon it onto your bread at lunch time.
I will tell you in a few hours when my girlfriend has finished her working day.
She makes me a fine tuna salad every once in a while.
It is pretty basic, yet yummy!
My favorite tuna sandwich would be a tuna melt:
Tuna, Mayo, Spicy Brown Mustard, Pepper, and Old Bay Seasoning
I use wheat bread, butter one side of the bread, place it butter side down on the frying pan (low to medium heat), place a slice of cheese, some of the tuna, another slice of cheese, and then the other slice of wheat bread (buttered side up). Get each side to a nice golden brown and the cheese is nicely melted! It’s delicious!
The only trick I have to packing sandwiches for picnics is to keep each ingredient separate until you are ready to eat them. For a tuna melt, that really can’t be done, but they are best hot anyway. For a regular tuna sandwich, I would keep the tuna separate from the bread.
Mine is, albacore tuna mixed with as few other ingredients as possible. Mayo, bits of water chestnuts (NO CELERY, PLEASE!) and green olives, salt/pepper to taste, and two slices of wheat bread, plain or toasted. Yummmmmmmm.
@Austinlad that sounds delicious. Never thought of adding olives, but I like the idea.
Our cook in college made what he called mountian climbers. Tuna salad, however you like it, on a roll topped with american cheese (Use whatever cheese you like) Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes.
I like freshly chopped onion in my tuna salad.
@TheOnlyNeffie Thanks. I like Miracle Whip too. I enjoy the taste and texture of Real Mayonnaise, but I think Miracle Whip tastes different, but also good. And it’s far more heart healthy than Real Mayo. And packing the tuna salad in a plastic container certainly does serve to keep the bread from getting soggy.
@rebbel I’m counting on you to remember to quiz your girlfriend when she gets home. Simple but yummy recipes are high on my list.
@Seaofclouds How well does the melted cheese do in keeping the bread dry?
@Austinlad I have a dozen cans of albacore tuna to use. Spoony THE Cat loves canned tuna. When albacore went on sale, I stocked up expecting to feed it to her. But she’s a picky cat. She insists on Chicken of the Sea Chunk Light Tuna only. My wife and I love Japanese Sashimi, and we picked up some sushi-quality tuna from a Japanese fish market here. She wouldn’t even eat that, much less cooked fresh tuna or canned albacore. Go figure.
BTW green olives are a new ingredient to me. Great idea.
@Adirondackwannabe Mountain climbers. What a creative name for a pedestrian sandwich.
@ETpro I’ve never tried to take one anywhere before so I’m not really sure. I’ll have to try it sometime and let you know.
Chopped even minced onion and celery about 2 tablespoons of each per can of White Albacore tuna. 2 Tablespoons of Mayo, couple dashes of celery salt and lemon pepper touch of ginger and mix all together and put on toasted white Wonder bread or some really good cracked wheat bread with a slice of tomato and lettuce!! YUM! Keep the tuna salad, lettuce and tomato in separate baggies if you are packing a lunch.
@Seaofclouds Please do. Preferably somewhere with a toaster oven or better for heating it. :-)
@Cruiser I’d never tried ginger. Sounds interesting. I’ll give it a try.
@ETpro I eat tuna right out of the can to avoid the bread and mayo add ons. The ginger (fresh or powdered – fresh of course better), lemon pepper and celery salt make for a decent and tasty snack or main course for lunch!
Thinly sliced ahi tuna steak, rare
chipotle mayo
sourdough, lightly toasted
watercress
teeniest drizzle of soy sauce
half a shake of ginger
Mine is
Combine Albacore tuna or king salmon, miracle whip, sour cream, chopped onion, chopped tomato. Wrap in a large whole wheat tortilla with some shredded cheese, tucking in the loose ends. Grill (crispy) or bake (soft) until the cheese is melted and the wrap is warmed through.
@Austinlad Water chestnuts and olives…...you are a man after my own heart!!!!
I put water chestnuts in my pot roast
@Cruiser‘s recipe but I like lettuce & mayo on the toast .
awesome tuna fish salad needs to be hooked up with albacore tuna or a good chunk white tuna. not that pinkinsh stuff that looks like cat food. best bet is buy tuna fresh and grill it. now, using that smoky tuna, combine with finely chopped boiled eggs, onion, green pepper, celery, sweet pickle, a little mustard, some good mayo, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
wet, watery tuna salad is a total turn-off. it has to be chunky, yet slightly spreadable on a toasted wheat roll with lettuce and tomato. cheese optional, but kind of taboo. a good pickle must accompany.
@ETpro
I am sorry, she hasn’t returned yet, but i’ll keep my promise.
Promised.
@Cruiser Suitably simple. I like easy.
@papayalily Very elegant. that’s beyond a tuna salad sandwich but sounds delicious.
@WestRiverrat Aha! Sour cream. And the idea of a wrap is a great one. Thanks
@charliecompany34 Great recipe. I’m with you right down the line.
@rebbel Looking forward to it. Thanks for remembering.
I like homemade mayonnaise only
Solid pack Albacore
Freshly ground black pepper
Sprinkle of Red pepper
Sprinkle of powdered yellow curry
Minced green onion
Minced boiled egg white
Tiny cubed extra sharp cheddar cheese
Minced parsley
Baby bib lettuce and tomato slices added to sliced sourdough bread.
@Neizvestnaya That sounds really tasty. I’d never thought of using curry. Thanks.
@rebbel Thanks much. Should I clean up her English and spelling and post it for all, or is it a trade secret?
Here’s the cleaned up tuna salad well, not the salad got cleaned, but the text (Thanks, @ETpro)!:
Dice the following:
half a tasty tomato
lettuce, oregano
cucumber (if desired)
Add a well-drained can of tuna on top.
Now for the sauce
Combine:
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of mustard. NOTE: ketchup (may be mixed with or substituted from mustard
A dash of oil (unless tuna was packed in oil
Add pepper and salt to taste
Mix the sauce well and pour over the salad.
Then toss the whole mixture till thoroughly combined.
NOTE: Select really tasty tomatoes. Use Greek tomatoes if available.
A really fun and simple way is to use curry mayo! or just make a tuna melt!
Just to be clear why I’m asking, CVS had a sale for about a week with solid white albacore tuna for $0,50 a can. Limit 10 to a customer. I went in every day and bought 10. So now it’s time for some tasty varieties of tuna salad sandwiches. Beats cold cuts at the local deli at $9.99 a pound or more.
@rebbel Sounds wonderful. I will test. Thank you.
@Schroedes13 Simple is good. I really like curry, so the curried mayo idea soulds woth a try. Thanks.
also switching up the type of bread makes a different. Try kaiser rolls, baguettes, multi grain breads, rye! just a thought!
My mom used to do that all the time. Load up on whatever was on sale. Those were the days!
@ETpro you probably could use the tuna to make fish tacos as well.
@Schroedes13 I;m big on whole grain and multi-grain breads. Love baguettes, but they don’t return the favor in healthful eating.
@WestRiverrat That’s an interesting thought. I usually have dome while wheat tortilla’s in the fridge, and everything else it would take. Nice break from the daily sandwich.
This question came up when I tried to ask it myself. I think it’s funny how everyone has a different idea of what goes in the salad. My friend from work is a purist. She wants nothing but tuna and mayo. No spices—nothing. I like it when you can barely tell that there’s tuna in there.
I use tuna salad to get rid of ingredients that are about to go bad. But here is a list of stuff I use
THE BASE:
tuna
mayo
dill weed (pickles are an OK substitute, but try the dill weed just once,)
Now the optional ingredients—Like I said, I make salad to get rid of old fridge stuff, so I never make it the same way twice. Here are some things I’ve put in. Though I don’t think I’ve ever put it ALL in at once, so try at your own risk.
SPICES: I usually only use fresh—not because I’m a snob but because I’m usually getting rid of leftovers from the garden. I highly suggest NOT using all the spices at once. I pick mine based on what else is going in
Fresh basil
Fresh parsley
Fresh oregano
paprika
cumin
garlic salt or powder (salt if you already put garlic in, powder if you didn’t)
lemon pepper
Onion powder (If you don’t have onions)
ground mustard seed (more subtle than mustard itself)
FRUIT and VEGGIES:
Onion
green onion
chives
garlic
celery
carrots
grape tomatoes
apples
grapes
cucumber
dill pickles
some kind of nuts (I HATE nuts. This is what my husband puts in when he doesn’t want to share)
Other:
dash of lemon juice
Parmigiana cheese
@keobooks I love your ideas… But why so much Dill weed?... I think you just like saying “dill weed” and now… I too like saying Dill weed. *but I never cook with it… I don’t care for it at all.
LOL
My Tuna is simple.
Hellmans mayo always, and nothing else ever!
tuna, solid white, low moisture, low sodium
and that’s it!
and I either eat it off carrot sticks, or everything bagel flat pretzil chips Yum!
and I sometimes like soup with it, when on a sandwich on good warm pumpernickle bread or marble rye. Tomato slice and lettuce and that’s it.
Mine is simple. Remember I never put in all those ingredients. Whenever I make tuna salad. I just see what needs tossing out and put that in.
Dill weed is amazing for tuna salad. I don’t know why, but if you just put a tiny bit in, the tuna flavor pops. Even if you just put in a few shakers full.
@keobooks Cool. I’ll try it on the next attempt.
@ETpro That’s what I had for dinner… These food threads are a bad influence… I want Pot roast too! LOL
@GabrielsLamb Pot roast certainly sounds more like dinner fare than a tuna sandwich. Post a request for recipies.
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