The Best Tuna Salad Recipe for Sandwiches

This Best Tuna Salad Recipe really—in our humble opinion—is the best. We take heart- and brain-healthy tuna and stud it with sweet diced apple, tangy onion and crisp celery before enrobing it in a creamy Greek yogurt dressing, spiced up with your choice of fresh herbs. A squeeze of lemon juice adds a hit of acid to balance the flavors. Keep reading for our expert tips, including ingredient substitutions.

Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen

These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too! 

• To flake the tuna, you can use your fingers or a fork. While using your fingers is quick and easy, it can be messy. A fork will give you a better, more even flake.
• If you do not like onion in your tuna salad or are unsure whether your guests will like it, feel free to leave it out—the salad will still be delicious.
• Chilling the tuna salad in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving will enhance its flavor, and it can be refreshing on a hot day.
• We recommend spreading the tuna salad on whole-grain bread, but you can use any bread you prefer—toasted or not—or serve it in a pita pocket or rolled in lavash. If you'd like to skip the bread, serve it wrapped in large lettuce leaves, over mixed greens or tucked into a scooped-out tomato or avocado half. It is also a great dip for crackers.
  

Nutrition Notes

• Canned tuna is an easy way to get heart- and brain-healthy omega-3s into your day. These essential fatty acids are necessary for your heart and brain to function at optimal levels and also help reduce inflammation throughout your body, including the joints. Tuna is also a great source of protein. Light canned tuna is lower in mercury than albacore, so, depending on how often you eat tuna, consider choosing light tuna over albacore more often.
• Apples are loaded with disease-fighting antioxidants and gut-loving fiber. Because they're low-glycemic, they won't spike your blood sugar. Apples have been associated with a healthier heart and brain and might even help fight off cancer.
• Greek yogurt is used in this tuna salad instead of mayo to cut down on the saturated fat content. It also adds more protein, some calcium and probiotics to this tuna salad. Probiotics are those beneficial gut bacteria that are necessary for a healthy microbiome and overall health.
• Celery may be a seemingly humble vegetable, but it packs an antioxidant punch, lowering inflammation and disease risk. The onions have similar health benefits and have been linked specifically to healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels and cancer prevention. The fiber in the apples, onions and celery are prebiotics—food for the probiotics.