Fresh Tuna Salad Recipe

My 30-minute fresh tuna salad recipe uses grilled ahi tuna with hard-boiled eggs, capers, celery, red onion, pickles, and a Dijon mayo dressing. Leave the can on the shelf and make this one from scratch.

I try to eat as much seafood as possible because I just love it. Whether it is a simple shrimp cocktail or a plate of linguine with white clam sauce, I love making it and I love eating it. This tuna salad is a recipe that takes a little more time than popping open a can, but trust me, the difference in flavor is worth every minute.

Tuna Salad

Tuna salad is what is known as a “bound salad,” which means it combines chopped protein with vegetables and a mayonnaise dressing served cold. During the late 1800s, it was common practice that no scraps would go to waste, and any leftover fish would be tossed with vegetables and mayo and served on lettuce for lunch. When canned tuna arrived in the early 1900s, the tuna salad sandwich became a quick staple at lunch tables across America. Most people have only ever had it with canned tuna, and that is exactly why my version exists.

The big difference here is that I grill fresh ahi tuna instead of using canned. When you hear the term ahi, that is just Hawaiian for yellowfin or bigeye tuna, so when people say ahi tuna they are really just saying tuna tuna. I coat the fillets in olive oil, season them with salt and pepper, and grill them until they are cooked through with dark grill marks. Then I chill the tuna completely in the refrigerator before roughly chopping it and mixing it with all the vegetables.

The grilled flavor changes the entire salad. I load it up with celery, red onion, homemade dill pickles, capers, garlic, and hard-boiled eggs because I love a hearty loaded tuna salad. Everything gets bound together with mayo, Dijon mustard, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Check out below how I love serving this dish, or simply eat it straight out of the bowl with a fork. No judgment.

Ingredients and Substitutions

This salad is built around fresh tuna and loaded with vegetables. Here are all the ingredients I use, along with a few easy substitutions:

• Tuna – I use two 10-ounce fresh tuna fillets. Fresh tuna has a beautiful purplish-red color and firm texture that holds up on the grill and chops into perfect bite-sized pieces. Frozen and thawed tuna works if fresh is not available. Canned tuna also works, just drain it well.
• Celery – I small dice a few stalks for crunch. Celery is a classic tuna salad ingredient so do not skip it.
• Pickles – I small dice kosher dill pickles. Bread and butter pickles will make the salad sweeter, which is a nice variation. Relish works as a substitute, but whole pickles give better texture.
• Onions – Red onion is best in this recipe although you can use yellow, white, or sweet.
• Capers – I roughly mince them and add them to the bowl. Capers add a tangy, briny punch that takes the salad over the top. This ingredient is optional but I always include it.
• Garlic – One finely minced clove.
• Hard-Boiled Eggs – I small dice four eggs and fold them into the salad. The eggs make it heartier and more filling. I run them through an egg slicer for a quick dice.
• Mayonnaise – Homemade mayo will take this to another level, but any brand works.
• Dijon Mustard – One tablespoon mixed in with the mayo. Dijon is sharper and more interesting than yellow mustard in this application.
• Lemon Juice – Squeezed in at the end for brightness and tang.

How to Make Tuna Salad from Scratch

Prep the tuna: I preheat the grill to high heat, between 450 and 550 degrees. I coat the tuna fillets in olive oil and season both sides with salt and pepper.

Cook: I grill for 7 to 8 minutes per side until dark grill marks form and the fish is cooked through but not dried out.

Chill the tuna: I transfer the grilled tuna to a plate and place it in the refrigerator until it is completely cooled.

Prep the vegetables: While the tuna cools, I small dice the red onion, celery, pickles, and capers, and finely mince the garlic. I dice the hard-boiled eggs and add everything to a large bowl along with the mayo, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

Chop and combine: I roughly chop the cooled tuna into bite-sized pieces using a chef knife and add it to the bowl with the vegetable mixture. I mix until everything is combined and well incorporated.

Serve: I serve the tuna salad immediately, or cover and chill it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Serving Suggestions

I serve this tuna salad a few different ways depending on the day. On a weeknight, I pile it onto toasted brioche bread with a leaf of butter lettuce for a sandwich. When I want something lighter, I serve it on a bed of greens with a drizzle of my Cobb salad dressing on the side.

For a full lunch spread, I place the tuna salad alongside a chef salad and some crackers. My wife is the one who got me into adding capers to the salad in the first place, and now I cannot make it without them. I highly recommend it,

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: I make this up to 1 day ahead of time. The flavors actually improve after sitting in the refrigerator for a few hours.

How to Store: I cover and chill the tuna salad for up to 3 days. This does not freeze well.

How to Reheat: This is served cold. No reheating needed.

More Seafood Recipes

• Fried Shrimp
• Swordfish Recipe
• Seared Sea Scallops
• Crab Cakes
• Blackened Salmon