Tuna Egg Salad is made with hard boiled eggs, flaky tuna, crunchy dill pickles, crisp red onions and celery in a light, and tangy creamy dressing. Perfect for high protein, low carb healthy salads and wraps!
For more meal prep ideas try my basic healthy tuna salad, chicken egg salad or delicious healthy egg salad.
Table of Contents
The combination of egg and tuna is how I like to pack even more protein into one incredible salad and sandwich filling.
This healthy salad recipe comes together in minutes and has the perfect creamy tangy dressing that is light, fresh, and super flavorful!
Tuna egg salad lasts in the fridge for days, so is great for making ahead and meal prep for easy lunch, dinner, or the snacks in between.
That is if you don’t keep dipping back into the fridge to take a spoonful and finish it all!
Ingredients You Will Need
To make tuna egg salad you need just a handful of simple ingredients.
- Tuna: I like to make a lot at once, so for this recipe, I use 3 cans of tuna, packed in water.
- Eggs: Hard boil the eggs. Here are also quick tutorials how to hard boil eggs in Instant Pot or how to hard boil eggs in air fryer.
- Dressing: Dill pickles, celery, red onion, lemon juice, plain Greek yogurt with at least 2% M.F, and mayo. For an added nutritional bonus, use mayo with avocado oil.
- Seasoning: Garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
What Kind of Tuna Is Best to Use?
Canned tuna is a convenient and budget-friendly alternative to preparing a tuna steak and we all usually have a can or two in our pantry. They are not created equal, so here are some things to keep in mind when picking up your next few cans:
- Albacore white tuna is lighter and less flavorful than light tuna, however, people tend to prefer its texture. Light tuna, which you’ve probably noticed is darker and pinker, delivers more flavor. Both are fine and serve a purpose (kind of like chicken white or dark meat).
- Look for sustainable, ethical fishing practices (pole caught), and BPA-free cans.
- Overexposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) is said to have detrimental effects on the body and the brain.
- Overall, tuna has great nutritional value and despite the mercury levels we need to keep in mind, enjoying tuna once or twice a week can be a great way to add extra protein into our diet.
How to Make Tuna Egg Salad
Here is how to make tuna egg salad in 4 simple steps and in one bowl. There is a full recipe card below.
- Drain the tuna cans: Using a can opener, open the lid almost all of the way. Instead of bringing the lid up and open, use it to press down onto the tuna. Flip over the can and allow the juices to drain out completely.
- Combine tuna and eggs: In a large bowl, add the drained tuna and use a fork to separate into smaller flakes. Add chopped boiled eggs, pickles, celery, red onion, lemon juice, garlic, mayonnaise, and seasonings, and give it a good stir with a fork.
- Refrigerate: This type of creamy salad is best served cold, so refrigerate it at least 30 minutes before serving.
Variations
- More dill: If you like the flavor of dill, swap the lemon juice for a little of the pickle juice instead.
- Acidic ingredient: Red wine vinegar is also a great alternative to the lemon juice.
- Pickles: Use pickle relish in place of the chopped pickles.
- Mustard: For some extra zest, add in some pungent Dijon mustard, which always pairs well with eggs!
- Onion: I use red onions for tuna egg salad because they’re sweeter and less pungent but you can use white onion or green onions if you prefer.
- Heat: A drizzle of sriracha would bring in some nice heat.
- Spices: Paprika is always nice with eggs, but smoked paprika with eggs is even nicer!
- Bacon: Speaking of smoky flavor, some chopped bacon could be a great addition.
- Avocado: Pairs so well with avocado egg salad and would add another creamy layer of deliciousness here, too!
Tips for Best Results
- Double, triple, or half this recipe. Easily! Then again, leftovers keep well, so I don’t think you can ever make too much.
- Best served cold, so make sure to chill the tuna and egg salad before you take a bite.
- If your eggs are fresh add a bit of vinegar to the boiling water. Might help with peeling.
- Have fun with your egg slicer if you have one. Much easier than chopping!
What to Serve It with?
Turn it into a wrap, using either a romaine lettuce leaf or collard greens or a tortilla shell for a tortilla wrap.
Have your morning eggs a little differently. Slather some sliced or mashed avocado on a slice of toasted bread, add some sliced tomatoes, and top that with some tuna egg salad for healthy breakfast or lunch.
Crackers: Enjoy a bowl of it on its own and scoop it up with some crackers!
How to Store Leftovers
To store: Keep this jazzed-up healthy tuna fish salad recipe with egg covered in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Make ahead and portion it out for a week’s worth of lunches!
Do not freeze: Freezing eggs and mayo is not as great an idea as you might hope. The texture changes after it’s frozen which is no longer appealing!
FAQs
Not at all! Sometimes I’ll use avocado instead of eggs.
Absolutely. Use just the Greek yogurt and you’ll still have a creamy salad dressing.
This is a personal taste. Some people much prefer the taste of tangy dill and others prefer the sweet pickle flavor. There’s no hard and fast rule, just use the one you enjoy more.
This salad can’t sit out for very long, not just because of the eggs and tuna, but also because of the dairy in the dressing. Once you’re done serving it, it’s best to place it in the fridge until you need it again.
More Salad Recipes to Try
- Mexican tuna salad
- Cottage cheese egg salad
- Healthy tuna pasta salad
- Canned salmon salad
- Healthy chicken salad
- Chickpea salad with tuna
- Avocado tuna salad
You might also love to browse my collection of healthy lunch ideas or healthy egg recipes!
Tuna Egg Salad
Ingredients
- 3 x 6 oz cans tuna packed in water
- 3 hard boiled eggs peeled and chopped
- 2 small dill pickles diced
- 1 large celery rib diced
- 1/4 cup red onion minced
- 1 tbsp lemon juice or red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp garlic powder optional
- 1/4 tsp salt more to taste
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt, 2%+ fat
- 2 tbsp mayo I use avocado oil mayo
Instructions
- Drain cans with tuna well. I usually press hard onto the lid while draining the can completely. Transfer to a large bowl and separate into flakes with a fork.
- Add chopped and peeled hard boiled eggs, pickles, celery, red onion, lemon juice, garlic powder (if using), salt, pepper, yogurt and mayo. Stir well with a fork and refrigerate.
- Serve cold in a sandwich or over salad greens.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate tightly covered for up to 5 days. Do not freeze.
- Make Ahead: Tuna egg salad tastes best cold. For best results, refrigerate 30 minutes before eating.
- What canned tuna to buy? I buy canned light tuna packed in water. Albacore tuna has less “fishy” taste and white “meaty” texture or yellowfin/skipjack/light tuna is tan to pink in colour and has more strong fish taste.
- Hard boiled eggs: I use Instant Pot hard boiled eggs recipe.
- If your eggs are fresh add a bit of vinegar to the boiling water. Might help with peeling (no guarantees!).
- Pickles: Sweet pickles or pickle relish could be used instead of dill pickles.
- No mayo? No problem! Just use Greek yogurt.
Very tasty but I prefer without eggs. Still a super lunch item !!!
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I have not tried this recipe but would like as it look really good but makes a lot for 1 person.
Are you able to break it down if someone only wants to make it using 1 tin of tuna & 1 egg.
Sure. Here are the measurements –
1 small dill pickle diced
1/3 large celery rib diced
2 tbsp red onion minced
1/2 tbsp lemon juice or red wine vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder optional
Pinch salt more to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, 2%+ fat
1 tbsp mayo I use avocado oil mayo
Great as always ! Thanks 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic lunch idea, so quick and easy!
So glad you enjoyed it, it’s great for a make ahead lunch agreed!