Homemade Fresh Tuna Salad Recipe
Published September 8, 2021. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Leave the can on the shelf because this fresh tuna salad is loaded with grilled ahi and vegetables in this mouthwatering recipe.
I try to eat as much seafood as possible, I just love it. Whether it’s a simple shrimp cocktail or a Linguine with clam sauce pasta, I love making it, and I love eating it.
Tuna Salad
Tuna salad is known as a “bound salad” and combines roughly chopped tuna fish with vegetables and a mayonnaise dressing while being served cooled. During the late 1800s, it was common practice that no scraps would ever go to waste. Any leftover fish would be simply tossed with vegetables and mayonnaise and then served on lettuce for lunch.
While tuna hadn’t become popularized yet at this point, the gesture or technique had already been in place. So, when canned tuna showed up in the early 1900s the tuna salad sandwich became a quick staple at lunch tables across America.
Here are the basic ingredients in a traditional tuna salad:
- Tuna – Freshly cooked ahi is preferred in this recipe.
- Celery – A few ribs of small, diced celery go a long way.
- Pickles – Kosher dill or sweet pickles can be used. Relish is often used as well.
- Onions – Red onion is best in this recipe although you can use yellow, white, or sweet.
- Olives – Sliced black olives or chunks of black olives would be classically used, although I don’t care for them in there.
- Mayonnaise – Any brand will do, although homemade mayonnaise would be amazing.
How to Make Tuna Salad from Scratch
Use these simple to follow instructions to make this delicious tuna salad recipe from scratch:
Coat the fresh tuna in olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Grill the tuna on both sides until dark grill marks have formed and cooked throughout. Chill completely in the refrigerator.
Add all the prepared vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper to a bowl.
Roughly mince the fresh tuna and add it to the bowl with vegetables.
Mix until completely combined and serve or cover and chill until ready to serve.
Variations
There are several different ingredients you can add to a classic tuna salad to customize it to make it your own. Here are a few things you can put in it:
- Capers
- Hard-Boiled Eggs
- Raisins
- Dried Cherries
- Olives
- Dill
- Parsley
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead – You can make this up to 1 day ahead of time.
How to Store – Cover and chill for up to 3 days. This will not freeze well.
chef notes + tips
- If you plan on serving this the next day, drain off any excess liquid and re-season with salt, pepper, and toss with a little more mayonnaise.
- You can substitute out the fresh tuna in this recipe with frozen-thawed, or even canned.
- Feel free to pan-sear or broil the tuna if you do not have access to a grill.
More Seafood Recipes
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Video
Homemade Fresh Tuna Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- two 10 ounce fresh tuna fillets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 peeled and small diced red onion
- 3 small, diced stalks of celery
- 2 small, diced pickles
- 2 tablespoons roughly minced capers
- 1 finely minced garlic clove
- 4 small-diced hard-boiled eggs
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to high heat, 450° to 550°.
- Coat the tuna in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Add the tuna to the grill and cook for about 7-8 minutes per side or until dark grill marks have formed and the tuna is cooked throughout, no pink. Place the tuna on a plate and chill in the refrigerator until completely cooled.
- In the meantime, prep all the vegetables and add them to a large bowl along with the eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- When the tuna is done cooling roughly mince it until it is in bite-size pieces and then add it to the bowl with the vegetable mixture.
- Mix until everything is well mixed in and serve.
Yummy 😋 and easy to prepare. Thanks you 😊
My pleasure!
I grilled some delicious skewered tuna, swordfish and salmon, the other night, and had a good bit leftover – typical me, always cooking for an army! When I saw your homemade fresh tuna salad recipe this morning, I thought -“AHA – just what I’m looking for “- and I happened to have all your suggested ingredients on hand. It’s now chilling in the fridge and will be gobbled up tonight for dinner! Thanks for your tips!
My pleasure!
I made this tuna salad tonight! I absolutely hate tuna salad made from a can! It’s so mushy, and smells fishy! Yuck! This had such good flavor and texture! I did add some diced apples to it just to add a sweet bite to all of the savory things going on! I’m hooked! *chefkiss*
Sooo good Chef Billy thank you for your recipe tasty yes😁😋
Great recipe! Fresh tuna is so much better than canned!
Love thi recipe so easy an delicious
Thank you love your recipes there always tasty yummy ChefBilly
Chef, I made this fresh tuna salad yesterday Outstanding! I didn’t change a thing ,followed your recipe exactly except I used Hellmann’s mayo instead of homemade as I have a large container in my fridge. I will never use canned tuna again. The flavors that you used made this a first class salad recipe. We ate this over butter lettuce and had a pureed vegetable soup. Thanks for a great dinner.
Fresh is a game changer!
Just finished making this fresh tuna salad. Absolutely fabulous. The flavors and ingredients melded together and I can not wait to have this with vegetable soup tonight. Chef Billy, you really know what you are doing and explain everything so well.
Thank you for your recipes.
I saw this recipe and it reminded me of my dear mother’s favorite. Only she skipped the eggs and mustard. I tricked it up a bit and added some smoked Paprika, and used Dill Pickle relish. Turned out fantastic. Thank you, Billy, for a walk down memory lane. Sometimes food tied to emotions work so well. Cheers!
made this last night for my wife, whose idea for tuna salad is tuna, mayo, salt and pepper. in fact, that’s the first thing she said when she sat down for dinner. she LOVED it! she ate it again today for lunch, and said she would have the leftovers for tonight’s dinner. 🙂
awesome!
Man was this a yummy tuna salad. I made it yesterday and had it for lunch today. The flavors are so fresh and vibrant. Thank you for this wonderful tuna recipe. I will make often.
Excellent!
This is the best tuna salad ever! I will never eat canned tuna again.
thanks for giving it a shot!!
This was delicious we used our left over sashimi to make and tossed with salad.
Tuna recipe sounds delish