We love this Veggie Loaded Tuna Salad Recipe for sandwiches and salads. This easy peasy recipe is pescatarian, gluten-free, and loaded with vegetables for flavor and texture. Gah! I can’t get enough of this healthy tuna salad!
While stuffing my face yesterday I realized something — I have an entire arsenal of recipes that have never been posted.
I guess I figured simple dishes like sandwiches, wraps, salads, and such were boring and didn’t merit their own post. But what they could use, is a little attention! I’ve decided to whip up a few posts on how I take a simple ho-hum dish and amp up the nutrition density.
I gave up counting calories when they started to take over my life a few years ago… so instead I count veggies!
The glory of this is that there is no right and wrong — you can count the volume/amount of veggies added to a dish or count the variety of colorful produce makes it into your meal
Regardless, it’s a positive and healthy way to approach a meal, right? Win-win!
Every week or so I’ll toss up a VEG IT UP! style post and count veggies instead of calories. Taking your typical diet and vegging it up takes a little practice, but once the habit is formed, your body will thank you in a bazillion different ways! Shiny hair, strong nails, glowing skin, a happy heart, and even a little sparkle in your eyes or a skip in your step. So join me, and challenge yourself to add extra veg to your favorite dishes!
Let’s kick things off with the lunch that inspired this post:
Veggie Loaded Tuna Salad
Veggie Loaded Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 5 oz chunk light tuna canned in water, drained
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp dried minced onion or onion powder
- a dollop of mayo or greek yogurt (start with just a little and only add more if you need it!)
- 1 tsp plain yellow mustard (extra if desired)
- salt and pepper to taste
VEGGIES ADDED:
- shredded carrots
- shredded radish
- finely chopped or shredded celery
- finely chopped white or red onion
- chopped kosher dill pickles
- add a little... or a lot!
Instructions
- Drain your tuna.
- Chop your veggies.
- Combine with remaining ingredients and mix well.
- To make into a super flavorful sandwich that rivals your local deli, combine all ingredients, spread onto fluffy rye bread with a little mustard, top with arugula or romaine lettuce and dig in! Tuna and rye are a match made in heaven so hunt down some whole grain rye instead of the typical white bread. If you have 'em, onion and tomato are also di-vine piled on top of this sandwich. Use what you have and, as always, have fun with it! A colorful lunch is a satisfying lunch.
Notes
Nutrition
You may be tempted to whine “But Jennnnnn, adding extra crap to something as simple as a tuna salad sandwich takes so much extra work. All that chopping and slicing…”
But to that, I have two things to say:
1. Shut your beautiful mouth and 2. I have a solution!
Veg up a week’s worth of eats by prepping raw veggies just once over the weekend. You can do this with a trusty chef’s knife and cutting board or break out your food processor. The last batch I whipped up in my cheap-o food processor included finely diced/shredded celery, carrots, and radish. A handful went into a mini-batch of veggie cream cheese and I simply chopped up 1/4 a giant dill pickle and added it to another handful of shredded veggies for a practically effortless tuna salad. Now I have just enough leftover to toss on top of a big fat salad. See? Ridiculously easy meals for just a few minutes of work!
Get your gluten-free on or simply save calories by piling this veggie filled tuna salad atop a bed of greens. If you’re feelling feisty or just working with minimal ingredients scoop it up with a chunk of lettuce or even tortilla chips! You can even go full on mexican with a vegged up Fiesta Tuna Salad w/ avocado. It’s kind of a big deal around here. It has many leather-bound books and an apartment that smells of rich mahogany… It’s the Ron Burgundy of tuna salad spin-offs.
So add some extra OOMPH to your tuna salad with veggies. Don’t rely on gobs of fat for flavor — let the veggies do all the work!
And while you’re at it… try this healthy tuna salad stuffed into cucumber cups!
Do you veg up your tuna salad? If not, you totally will now… right?
If you get a chance to try this veggie loaded tuna salad, let me know! You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
oh my Wow…I have been making my Tuna salad just like this for 40+years except the mustard…people have always looked at me as if I were nuts when I tell them what’s in it. I have never seen another recipe like it until now. Good on ya!!
one other difference is i sometimes add a little old bay seasoning, I mean “a little” because a little Old Bay goes a long way.
I love your recipe.
I have been making a recipe sitting over this for years.
Yours is much better however.
In mined, I use Canned Salmon and Canned Mackerel.
These two fish are higher in Omega-3 than the tuna.
Also, they are cooked with some Bones in them.
This adds a considerable amount of Calcium.
With the crunchy vegetables in there,
you do not even notice the small crunchy bony bits … ?
Ive recently discovered picked red onions. I chop them up, add bread & butter pickles, cherry tomatoes and shredded lettuce. I add mayo, dill weed, s&p. Great as a sandwich or on greens. Ive also added banana pepperd.
yayyy glad you love it!!!! have you tried it in cucumber cups yet? its soooo good that way too! peppers and cukes make the best edible bowls! =) xoxo
I also make a Tuna Melt using my very very similar recipe. super simple and yummy…half an English muffin a nice size spoon full of tuna mix and top with swiss or other favorite cheeses put on foil under broiler until cheese melts and turns golden brown…serve with a dollop of stone ground mustard…Enjoy!
I know this is an old post, but this was AWESOME. I put my tuna salad into a red bell pepper. Double awesome. I love greek yogurt!
I love tuna salad, the mayo or the yogurt, whichever I want to put on brings creaminess on it. While the veggies gives crunchiness into it
Mmm, looks deliciously crunchy!
Just spiced up my tuna salad for tomorrow! Thanks for the ideas with the spices!! :o)
Ooh!!! So tempting! I love tuna salad. That pickle relish in there just tells me it’s extra delicious. Yummy,yummy, yummy!
I love to “veg” up my tuna! I will have to try using Greek Yogurt… sounds delish.
Love that you used Greek yogurt. Sounds delicious!
Thanks Veronica!!! Hope you love it as much as I do! I’ve made it twice this week already 😉
yummy :] i love it <3
ohmygosh yeah it IS good like that!!! I like to serve it with black beans on a veggie taco salad — what kind of beans do you use? So glad i’m not the only weirdo! haha
In a jar vs a can? No I haven’t seen it!! Where do you find jarred tuna at? LOVE the idea of cabbage and jicama!!!! You’re brilliant =)
It’s delish! You can even add some leftover guac or mashed avocado to the mix for extra creaminess =) soooo good!
Love the veggie quotient! So good!
Love the concept of counting veggies, I think it’s much more manageable to think of the additive things rather than what needs to be yanked from our diets. Have you tried tunas in a jar? So flavorful. I add red onion, celery, jicama and a little red cabbage to tuna. I also have it over greens. Never enough veg. Don’t think these are boring recipes I think these are the ones we all use time and time again.
I love me some Tuna Salad, and these ideas are fantastic to give a new spin on them! Thank you Jenn 🙂
This looks amazing! I love tuna salad, but I always feel guilty about the mayo…greek yogurt is a great solution!
I love adding veggies to tuna salad…and whatever else I can. It’s such a simple way to make your meal healthier and more filling.
I love tuna salads and this one I haven’t tried. Thanks for sharing
Love all the veggies. If you really want to get creative you can make this totally vegetarian using a combination of sunflower seeds and almonds. Have a wonderful weekend!
Thanks for the recipe!! 😀 I’m gonna try it today!
What a great Lent recipe. I bookmarked it for later. Thanks for sharing with us.
Yummy salad! I love love tuna salads especially the way you made it!!!
I love tuna sandwich!! Love it. Love tuna with pickle cucumber and cream cheese but the problem from eating tuna is THE SMELL after…hehehe.
#1 had me in absolute stitches. I love stopping by for good food and good fun!
I love tuna fish. I like mine with onion, celery and red peppers. Yum!
Oohh! Love the Idea! I usually just do tuna! New views and ideas are coming into my brain this minute and I can’t wait to try them!
Thanks for new ideas!
I always veg up my tuna sandwiches! I just LOVE it!
You seriously just made me so hungry!!! Thanks for stopping by today!
I LOVE this idea – especially the gluten-free suggestion! I’m totally buying tuna at the store tonight!
Love that! Especially with the veggie crunch! Buzzed you
Great ideas. I always veg up my tuna salad. It’s so much better with all the crunchy bits!
I love that you siad Oomoh when describing a tuna fish sandwich! I love tuna fish!!!
My weeks are so much better when I prep all my veggies in advanced. I only do it about 50% of the time though. I love all your add ins to the standard tuna salad!
My mom used to make this EVERY Sunday after church. She added apples to the mix… which sounds weird but we loved it!
Yay for veggies!!!
Get your beta-carotene on girl! =)
yayyyy! Hope you love it Laura Jayne!! I think I’m making it again for dinner… editing the photos made me crave it like woah 😉 Happy Friday!
ahhh that’s exciting! Have you tried any other fish before? It’s got a lot of flavor and the veggies and seeded rye bread compliment it really well! I hope you love it! =)
I like that…counting veggies instaed of calories. I love your add-ons to the tuna salad! I feel healthier already =)
I always add in extra veggies to my tuna sammys for the crunch! Shredded carrot sounds good, will try that next!
Yes I definitely veg mine up!
Love tuna tacos!!!! =) Totally try the radish sometime – it’s a great addition!
I used to feel that way until my mom made it fun, then I got ridiculously and hopelessly addicted! But it def is a strong strong smell and flavor — do you like any fish at all? If so I you might like it with fresh [or leftover!] grilled salmon. I’ll dig up the recipe if you do — just let me know! <3 and thanks for the sweet comment even though you’re not a tuna fan! xoxo
I don’t really like any fish actually. perhaps that is more the problem. I did however save this page to pinterest so that I can try it out one of these days on my husband. Will probably wait till its warm enough to open a window though so I can try and deal with the tuna smell 😡 lol.
Oh wow, just today I wrote on my blog for readers to tell me their fav tuna eats! I have 2 cans in my cupboard and have NEVER tried it before… I am scared… but I am brave!! I have all the ingredients you used in my kitchen right now. Could it be a sign?! Thanks <3
I seriously never thought about putting radishes in there (just ate tuna lettuce “tacos”) but you can bet I will next week! YUM!
To be honest, I actually can’t stand tuna – taste or smell. But my husband LOVES tuna. and he NEVER eats enough vegetables. I may just have to try this to get some veggies into HIS diet 🙂
Thanks for sharing!