When I was growing up, tuna salad sandwiches were some of my favorites. My mom mixed up a delicious concoction to serve on wheat, rye or pita breads, usually topped with alfalfa sprouts.
Yes, I was mocked ridiculously in the lunch room, but I didn’t care. I loved it.
However, I’ve found that some do wrong by tuna salad. So, so wrong.
My husband was scarred for life by his aunt blending tuna salad into a paste. It took awhile for me to convince him that it was good and that mayonnaise was not the enemy.
I realize that in some parts of the country it is common to add sweet pickles or hard cooked eggs, but you won’t find those in my tuna salad. No, no. I make it like my mama used to make — with celery seed and dill weed — and altogether savory. No sweet.
Solid white tuna is essential. While chunk light tuna is generally the least expensive of the canned varieties, it doesn’t have the right texture. And, honestly, I’ve found that even solid white has become less solid over the years. It used to be an entire piece of tuna in a can, but not any longer.
In order to stretch our dollar a little bit, I cheat and use two cans solid white and one can chunk. It’s a happy medium.
Serve the tuna mixture on a bed of lettuce or in lettuce wraps for a low-carb/whole 30 option.
Tuna Salad with Celery Seed and Dill Weed
Ingredients
- 2 5-ounce cans albacore tuna drained
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1/4 tsp celery seed optional
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp dry parsley flakes
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- pinch ground cayenne pepper
- 2 to 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 green onion chopped
- 1/2 rib celery chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
- 8 slices sandwich bread or rolls or lettuce leaves
Instructions
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, place the tuna. Do not break up too finely, just enough to have small chunks. You want to mix this as little and as lightly as possible.
- Squeeze the lemon juice over the fish.
- Add the celery seed, salt, dill weed, parsley, pepper and cayenne. Add mayonnaise, tossing lightly, until enough mayo has been incorporated to bind the ingredients. Fold in the onion and celery.
- Serve as a sandwich filling or in lettuce wraps.
Notes
Nutritional values are approximate and based on 1/6 the recipe.
