No mayo Italian Tuna Salad
For Sandwiches or Salads
This Italian tuna salad is lighter in taste, texture and calories than the more traditional American tuna salad. It is great for sandwiches and just as good on a bed of leafy greens. Instead of binding the ingredients together with mayonnaise we are adding olive oil. With this change the flavors of the ingredients in the salad are more enhanced than when they are covered in mayonnaise.
It’s tasty delicious and better for you
Mayonnaise is delicious. I love it. But I have to admit, in salads like tuna salad, potato salad, egg salad you can get too much of a good thing. A mouthful of mayonnaise is not appealing to me. And it is loaded with a lot of empty calories and fat.
We are using extra virgin olive oil in this salad which is considered one of the most nutritional fats you can use.
Take a look at the nutritional values on this recipe. It’s really impressive what this simple substitution for mayo makes in nutritional value. Adding chopped tomato right into the salad as an ingredient helps provide some moisture and adds to the nutritional stats too.
There’s a reason for squeezin‘
We are going to start this salad by squeezing the tuna to get out as much liquid as possible. This is an important step. We want the tuna to be dry so it will soak up the juices rendered by the chopped tomato and the olive oil. Without squeezing, the salad would be wet and sloppy instead of fresh and light.
Here’s what YOU WILL NEED:
| 4 (5 ounce) cans solid white albacore tuna, packed in water or an equivalent amount from other sized cans |
| 1 medium sized tomato |
| 1 small red onion or an amount to your taste |
| 1/4 cup olive oil (you may want to add more) |
| 1/2 teaspoon salt |
| 1/2 teaspoon pepper |
| 6 large sturdy rolls or salad greens |
About the ingredients
Tuna
Have you ever read the label on a can of tuna fish before buying it to see what it has been packed in? Some canned tuna has been packed in oil and some tuna has been packed in water. For this recipe we prefer tuna packed in water rather than oil. Why? Flavor. When the prepared fish is packed in oil, and subsequently “sits” in it, the consistency and flavor are effected. Not necessarily in a bad way, but if you want to get as close to the taste of tuna as possible from a can, buy it packed in water.
We are using solid white albacore tuna. Anything else is going to taste more “fishy”. Some may prefer the stronger flavor so feel free to use what you like. I prefer the milder, lighter and fresher choice of white albacore in this recipe.
Olive oil
Olive oil costs a bit more than some other oils but when you consider it’s nutritional value and versatility I think it is worth it. I buy it in large bottles at my warehouse club or when on sale at the grocery store. I use it for most everything I cook. It’s low in saturated fat, but has a good amount of healthier polyunsaturated fat. It is a plant based oil, squeezed out of olives.
What’s the deal with virgin oil?
Do you know what it means when an olive oil is marked “extra virgin”? It means the oil has come from the first press of the fresh olive. That’s the most flavorful “press”. After the first press the olives are pressed again to extract more oil. That oil will be marked as olive oil.
Not all virgin oil is the same
In this recipe, olive oil is one of the primary flavors so quality rather than quantity is something to keep in mind. I have my store bought cooking olive oil which is great and can be used in this and any other recipe calling for oil. But I usually have some high quality specialty olive oil for dishes such as this where the oil is not heated in any way, but used fresh from the bottle at room temperature.
Another classic salad recipe featuring olive oil is CAPRESE SALAD.
There is a huge variety of olive oils out there. I buy my specialty olive oils from a store that has a tasting gallery. It offers an unbelievable variety of olive oil from all over the world. Like the grapes used in wines, where the olive is grown makes a difference in how it tastes. There are also olive oils that have been flavored in specialty shops, such as garlic olive oil or oils flavored with herbs or citrus. The company I buy from has a website: fioreoliveoils.com. Their site provides a lot of information about olive oil if you are interested. I am sure there are many more companies carrying specialty olive oils. I don’t have any affiliation with Fiore. I’m just a customer. They have quality goods, great customer service and it’s a fun place to visit.
Onion
We are using red onion, but you can use any onion you like or what you have on hand. Sweet onions are great in this. Scallions are too. It’s all up to you.
We have an ingredient tidbit page showing various onion choices in About Onions.
Ciabatta rolls
A ciabatta roll is a good choice for this sandwich because it is solid. If you are going to substitute with another bread, you should choose one that’s sturdy and will hold up. This tuna salad is moist; you don’t want to end up with soggy bread. The ciabatta rolls can absorb some of the moisture in the salad without getting soggy.
This is WHAT TO DO:
Squeeze the water out of the tuna
Typically when using canned tuna in a dish of any kind, you drain the liquid from the can. We are taking it one step further. Empty the the can of tuna into a fine meshed strainer set over a bowl. Then squeeze all the water out of the tuna with your hands. You want the tuna to be as dry as possible so it will later soak up the juices of our freshly chopped tomatoes and our olive oil while it’s resting.
Prepare the vegetables
I have found that most red onions where I shop at are pretty big. I can’t always find a small one. That’s okay with me. I can cut up only as much as I want for my salad and put the rest in a sandwich bag and store it in my deli meat drawer to use at another time. There’s always something I can use onions in or on. Chopped red onions are great on hot dogs!
There is no special size to cut the vegetables, cut them the way you like them. We are cutting the tomato into bite sized pieces and the onions into pieces about 1/4 inch. If you want the flavor of the onion without biting into pieces of it, chop it up small or you can even mince it. Mincing means cutting up into very small pieces. Do you know the difference between slicing, dicing and mincing? We have a post for more general information: Slice Dice Mince and Chop.
As for as how much onion to add, decide for yourself.
Cut the tomato and the red onion.
Our tuna which has been squeezed dry is in the bowl at the top.
Mix it all together
Put all the tuna, the olive oil, chopped vegetables and salt and pepper into a large bowl and turn them in together gently to keep the tomato pieces in tact.
Let it rest in the refrigerator
Cover the bowl and put the salad in the refrigerator for at least one hour. If you skip this step, you will not be getting the full flavor of the salad. While the salad rests the dry tuna will soak up all the rendered juices of the chopped tomato, onion and olive oil. The flavors meld together so every mouthful of the salad has the same delicious goodness.
Serve
Just look at the dinner you can have with very little preparation time and no cooking.
It’s light and refreshing, has protein and vegetables, and is a lot more health concious than your typical tuna salad.
Best of all, it’s delicious.
ITALIAN TUNA SALAD
Ingredients
- 4 5 ounce solid white albacore tuna canned, packed in water or equivalent amount
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 small red onion
- 1/4 cup olive oil you may want to add more
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 6 ciabatta rolls or salad greens for a salad
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- Empty contents of all 4 cans (20 ounces) of the tuna into a fine meshed strainer. Hold the strainer over the sink or rest on a bowl to drain the liquid. With your hands, squeeze the water from the tuna. It leaves the tuna in dry shredded flakes when you are done.
- Chop the tomato into bite sized pieces. Chop the red onion to your preference. We like pretty good sized pieces.
- Put tuna, tomato and onion in a large bowl, add olive oil, salt and pepper and gently mix ingredients together. A soft spatula works best for this. If the mix seems dry, just add more olive oil, a little at a time until you get the moistness you want. The tomato will add some moisture to the mix as it rests also.
- Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Serve on a sturdy bread such as ciabatta rolls or over a bed of leafy greens.