Basic Tuna Salad Recipe Like Mom & Grandma Used to Make (5 Ingredients) Salads Seafood Sandwiches Budget Recipes Lunch Dinner Gluten-free Low Sugar Recipes

My husband requested something for lunch the other day that shocked me: a tuna fish sandwich. That's not something normally requested by him. But, he specifically said "basic tuna salad." Basic? To him, basic tuna salad was just like what my grandma and mom used to whip up for us: tuna, mayo, mustard, relish and hard-boiled eggs. Easy enough!

Here is what you need to grab from the pantry and fridge to make grandma's simple tuna salad recipe: canned tuna packed in water, mayonnaise (my grandma only used Hellman's Real Mayonnaise), yellow mustard, hard-boiled eggs and either pickle relish or chopped pickles. And of course you always need a little salt and black pepper.

For my husband, I piled the creamy gluten-free tuna salad on fresh white sandwich bread. For me, I ate it the way we did at my grandma's house, on crackers with a bag of potato chips on the side. You could also make a tuna wrap or scoop the seafood salad onto lettuce leaves. There's really nothing "basic" about it!

Don't forget about the health benefits of tuna. Canned tuna is packed with nutrition and is a budget-friendly ingredient. Grandma knew what she was doing.

Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes (if eggs are already cooked)
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 10 ounces (2 cans) tuna packed in water, drained and flaked
• 3 - 4 tablespoons mayonnaise (or to taste)
• 1 - 2 teaspoons yellow mustard (or to taste)
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• 1 - 2 tablespoons pickle relish or chopped pickles (sweet or dill)

Recipe Notes

• I like to drain my tuna into a mesh colander over the sink. Flake it over the sink and you'll get more water out of it.

• If you want to break some of the "basic" rules, you could use Dijon or other types of mustard instead of yellow.

• Add as much mayo as you like to make the tuna salad as creamy as you like. No rules here.

• You can use pickle relish or chop your own pickles.

• I sometimes add a little Morton Nature's Seasonings to the tuna salad for extra flavor.

• Store the tuna salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.

Here's how to make it: 

1. Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl. Season with salt and black pepper.
2. Stir well to combine. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
3. Serve immediately or put into an airtight container for later.
    

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. Any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

Take 30 seconds and join the 30Seconds community, and follow us on Facebook to get recipes in your newsfeed daily. Food, fun, health, happiness.