Inside: Mix hard-boiled eggs with tuna, dill relish, and crunchy celery for this easy and healthy low-carb tuna salad. This is a perfect recipe for anyone watching their carbs or just looking for an easy salad packed with protein. This tuna salad recipe is also gluten-free and dairy-free. Plus, it’s also perfectly aligned with the Trim Healthy Mama eating framework.
Related: Keto Egg Salad
I have wonderful memories of my mother making me what I like to call “tea room” salads–chicken salad, egg salad, and pimento cheese were the three staples.
However, one classic “tea room” salad that I never tried until I was an adult was a tuna salad. Neither my maternal grandmother nor mother were big fans of seafood, so I didn’t grow up eating seafood at all.
It wasn’t until I was in my early 30s and had two young daughters of my own that I first tried canned fish.
At the time, my family was struggling on a low income and we supplemented our grocery budget with WIC checks. Because I was breastfeeding, our checks included a few cans of tuna and/or salmon each month.
Related: Tea Room Chicken Salad
I’ll be honest: I didn’t want anything to do with canned fish at first! I thought it smelled bad, as I had a lifelong aversion to most seafood (I had started eating shrimp a few years prior) due to my upbringing.
However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and when I pulled open our nearly bare kitchen cabinets one day and saw the canned fish staring back at me, I knew it was time to give it a try.
I began by giving the canned fish to my daughters. They were so young that they hadn’t developed the food aversions that my adult tastebuds carried.
To my surprise, my girls gobbled up the canned fish, even delighting in getting the most bones on the plate (yes, you can consume salmon bones, and they are packed full of calcium!).
Eventually, I decided to give the canned fish a try myself, starting with using the meat in recipes. While it took a little time to grow on me, I think the head knowledge that I was eating something so healthy eventually won me over, and now I eat canned fish at least once per week.
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Truth be told: I much prefer canned salmon to tuna. My gluten-free salmon melts and gluten-free salmon patties are so incredibly delicious (if I do say so myself!)!
I keep canned salmon stocked in my pantry, and I’ll use it frequently to boost my salads with protein.
But I think I’m the opposite of many. Tuna seems to be the popular canned fish of choice among most people. If you’re a big fan of canned tuna, I hope you’ll enjoy this easy, healthy, high protein, low-carb tuna salad recipe.
It’s full of simple ingredients but is bursting with flavor! It’s truly the best tuna salad recipe I’ve ever tried.
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Low-Carb Tuna Salad
In addition to protein-rich tuna and eggs, this tuna salad recipe recipe calls for the healthy fat you’ll find in a good mayonnaise. If not making the mayo yourself, but sure to shop for a brand that sticks to healthy ingredients. Especially try to avoid soybean oil, seed oils, and sugars.
This tuna salad is perfect for a delicious meal for your family, yet it’s fancy enough to serve at a party.
This low-carb tuna salad recipe yields four servings as written, enough to make tuna salad sandwiches for an entire family! Make it a quick lunch or light dinner.
You can always double or triple the recipe to make a big batch if you want to make more tuna salad sandwiches or a tuna salad/veggie tray for a party. This salad makes an excellent dish to serve in a pretty bowl at a baby shower.
If you’re the only one in your family who enjoys canned fish, this is still an easy salad to meal prep once and enjoy for yourself all week long.
Related: Simple, Mayo-Less Tuna Salad
This tuna salad is versatile enough to work for a variety of diets.
- Keto-Friendly: This recipe is a good choice for those following a keto diet. This flavorful keto tuna salad is low in carbohydrates and rich in healthy fats, making it an excellent choice for those aiming to achieve and maintain a state of ketosis. You could even pair this salad with keto bread if you’re craving a tuna salad sandwich!
- Gluten-Free: This tuna salad is naturally gluten-free, catering to individuals with gluten sensitivities or those adhering to a gluten-free diet.
- Diabetic-Friendly: With minimal carbohydrates and a focus on whole, nutrient-dense ingredients, this recipe is a smart choice for individuals managing diabetes. It helps maintain stable blood sugar levels while keeping one satisfied.
- Dairy-Free: This recipe is naturally dairy-free. Most mayos are dairy-free, but be sure to check your mayo label before serving this tuna salad to anyone who is dairy-free.
- Trim Healthy Mama: This low-carb tuna salad aligns with the THM plan as an S (Satisfying) recipe due to the healthy fats from the eggs and mayonnaise. The recipe is also sugar-free, which is a huge component of the THM plan. To keep in S mode, be sure to eat this tuna salad alone, in a lettuce wrap or low-carb wrap or low-carb bread, or eat it as a “dip” with raw veggie slices. This is one of my favorite ways to eat it. Alternately, you can make this tuna salad a THM XO (Crossover) by pairing it with on-plan crackers or on-plan E-friendly bread, like sourdough.
Regardless of your dietary needs and/or preferences, I hope you will enjoy this delicious tuna salad!
Related: Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 12 ounce can tuna, drained
- 3 hard boiled eggs diced
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 to 2 tablespoons dill relish
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- ¼ teaspoon celery seed
- ¼ teaspoon seasoned salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
- Cover, store in an airtight container, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Maureen
It was always a struggle for me with tuna salad. Most locations make it with tons of mayo. My mother did not make it with a lot of mayo as my father did not like mayo. I do not like mayo or any condiment. She found a way to make it tasty. Then there was a grocery store in my home town that made a tuna that was light on the mayo and oh so tasty. It is a grand treat when I go there and have a sandwich.
Joy
It’s so good!