This healthy tuna salad filled with fresh veggies, briny capers, and plenty of fresh herbs. This delicious tuna salad is made with good for you ingredients. It is the perfect recipe to prep for a quick and easy lunch at the beginning of the week!

The Best Healthy Tuna Salad

Anyone else love a good tuna salad? It is one of my favorite recipes to make for a quick, easy, and satisfying lunch. Tuna is packed with protein and when you add a little mayonnaise to the mix you also include a great source of healthy fats.

 This healthy tuna salad is made with fresh veggies, capers, and fresh herbs to add incredible flavor and take your tuna salad to the next level.

Not only is it delicious, this recipe is Paleo-friendly, Whole30 compliant, and Keto-friendly. Whip up a batch for lunch this week!

Is Tuna Salad Healthy?

Tuna salad can sometimes have a bit of negative reputation when it comes to healthy eating, but when made with real food ingredients it can be a great source of protein and healthy fats. The key is to use canned tuna that has been packed in water, not oil, as well as a mayonnaise that has been made with a high quality oil and without any added sweetener. This brand of mayonnaise is my favorite to use in all of my recipes calling for mayo.

tuna salad ingredients

Tuna Salad Ingredients

Canned Tuna: Tuna is packed with lean protein and is a great quick healthy option. Be sure to pick canned tuna that has been packed in water and not oil.

Mayonnaise: Pick a mayonnaise made a high quality oil like avocado oil to keep this tuna salad healthy.

Dijon Mustard: A little bit of this goes a long way and adds just the right amount of flavor to the tuna salad.

Celery: Every good tuna salad needs a little crunch and fresh celery adds both crunch and flavor.

Capers: Capers have a briny flavor that works really well with seafood. Just a few tablespoons in this tuna salad take things to a whole new level.

Red Onion: For even more flavor. Be sure to finely dice the red onion to avoid having huge chunks in your tuna salad.

Parsley and Dill: This tuna salad gets an extra kick of fresh flavor from herbs.

Healthy Tuna Salad with With Greek Yogurt

Don’t love mayonnaise? You can easily substitute plain Greek yogurt for mayonnaise in this recipe instead. Greek yogurt is a great substitute for mayonnaise in many recipes, like this Curry Chicken Salad, and will also pack an extra punch of protein in your tuna salad.

Another great option to use in place of mayonnaise is mashed avocado! Once the avocado is mashed and creamy it works really well as a binder for your tuna salad. Plus, it gives you another great dose of healthy fats.

tuna salad ingredients in mixing bowl

How to Make Healthy Tuna Salad

Making this healthy tuna salad is incredibly quick and easy. Five minutes is all you really need!

Step One: Drain the water from the canned tuna. You don’t want soggy, watery tuna salad so be sure to drain all of the water from the canned tuna before adding it to your mixing bowl. I like to press the lid of the can against the tuna to ensure that all of the water has been removed.

Step Two: Next, add the mayonnaise, mustard, capers, celery, onion, capers, lemon juice, fresh herbs, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper to the tuna in the mixing bowl.

Step Three: Stir everything until well combined and give the tuna salad a taste. Adjust the levels of salt and pepper to fit your tastebuds and then either serve immediately or place the tuna salad in an air-tight container in the fridge.

tuna salad over crackers

How to Serve Tuna Salad?

There are several different ways you can serve this healthy tuna salad.

Here are a few ideas:

  • Pair it with crackers and fresh veggies
  • Make a tuna salad sandwich on your favorite toasted bread
  • Scoop it into lettuce wraps

How Long Does Tuna Salad Keep?

Tuna salad will keep in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for three to four days.

tuna salad over greens in bowl

More Healthy Protein Packed Salads to Love

tuna salad sandwich

I hope you give this Healthy Tuna Salad a try! It’s protein-packed and absolutely delicious! If you do give this recipe a try, let me know! 

Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @allthehealthythings on INSTAGRAM. Your reviews and ratings help support All the Healthy Things and make it possible for me to continue to create the recipes you trust and love.

Print
tuna salad over crackers

Healthy Tuna Salad (Paleo, Whole30, Gluten-Free)

  • Author: Ashlea Carver
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Lunch
  • Method: No cook
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Gluten Free
  • Author: Ashlea Carver
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Lunch
  • Method: No cook
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

  • 25oz cans tuna packed in water, drained
  • 1/3 cup Whole30 compliant mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup chopped celery
  • 3 tablespoons capers
  • 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
  • juice of one lemon
  • salt + pepper to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Method

  1. Add the canned tuna, mayonnaise, mustard, capers, celery, onion, capers, lemon juice, fresh herbs, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper to the tuna in the mixing bowl.
  2. Stir everything until well combined and give the tuna salad a taste. Adjust the levels of salt and pepper to fit your tastebuds and then either serve immediately or place the tuna salad in an air-tight container in the fridge.
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Recipe by: Ashlea Carver / All the Healthy Things | Photography by: THE MINDFUL HAPA

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22 Comments

  1. This recipe was so delicious. It’s very similar to a local cafe that I have eaten at. I’m doing Whole30 and my Dijon was not compliant so I used spicy brown mustard that was. Also did not have fresh herbs so I used dry and it was AMAZING! Ate it in an almond flour tortilla from TJ’s.






  2. Amanda G. says:

    I finally found my perfect tuna salad recipe! I never thought to include capers before, and I loved the flavor it gave it!






  3. I made this for my lunch today and it was a great tuna salad; had some unique ingredients compared to most. I loved the capers and dill. They complimented the tuna so well! I know it says 4 servings, but it’s gonna make about 2 for myself. I couldn’t stop eating it! Plan to try it on a sweet potato next!






  4. I made this for my lunch today and it was a great tuna salad; had some unique ingredients compared to most. Loved the capers and dill. It complimented the tuna so well! I know it says 4 servings, but its gonna make about 2 for myself. I couldn’t stop eating it!

  5. This was the best tuna salad I’ve ever had. I am so glad I found it! I had some extra boiled eggs so I added those as well, but followed everything else. My husband and I finished it and I used the exact recipe with some extra baked chicken I had for a chicken salad version. Thanks so much! I am so excited to try more recipes from your site.






  6. Miriam Kook says:

    This is so yummy. I used chipotle whole 30 mayonnaise which added a nice kick to it.So delicious!






    1. Natalie Perkins (ATHT) says:

      The chipotle mayonnaise sounds so good, Miriam! I’m so glad you made this recipe work for you! Thanks for sharing!

  7. This is the best tuna salad I’ve ever had! The lemon, capers, and herbs really take it to the next level!






    1. Natalie Perkins says:

      So glad you loved it, Megan! Thank you for leaving a review!

  8. So good! I just made this to eat during the week for lunch and it’s probably the best tuna salad I’ve ever tried – the combination of ingredients is perfect. I did swap out the capers for diced pickles just because I had them on hand, other than that, I followed the recipe and I highly recommend!






    1. Natalie Perkins (ATHT) says:

      I’m so glad you made the recipe work for you, Mandy! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!

  9. Sandra Peterson says:

    Great tasting tuna even thou had no cspers.
    I put the tuna in a low carb high protein wrap with spinach and avocado sluces






    1. Ashlea Carver says:

      That sounds delicious, Sandra! Thanks for sharing!

  10. This was delicious! I did end up cutting the lemon juice in half, but then served it over a bed of greens with cucumber, kalamata olives, bell pepper and radish. So good! The capers give it a nice little briny punch.






    1. Ashlea Carver says:

      Thank you for sharing, Megan! Sounds delicious!

  11. Love this recipe! Easy, quick, and full of flavor! My boyfriend eats it on bread and I put it on a salad. Healthy, delicious, and filling! Love your recipes!






    1. Ashlea Carver says:

      Thank you, Shannon! So glad y’all loved this one!

  12. Amazing recipe! My husband loves tuna and is very particular about tuna salad and absolutely loved it. This recipe was such a hit and so easy! Thank you for sharing!






    1. Ashlea Carver says:

      So happy you loved it, Sammie!

  13. This was delicious! Usually, I don’t eat tuna because it was ruined for me from all of the awful tuna casseroles I ate as a child. This was amazing though – thank you! I definitely will be putting this into my rotation. My 3.5 year-old also loves it. (:






    1. Ashlea Carver says:

      Yay! so happy you and the kiddo love it! I’m also not a fan of tuna casseroles so I completely understand 🙂

  14. I love tuna salad, capers made a terrific addition. That is the one ingredient missing in mine. Thanks a bunch❤️