Healthy Home
By Sarah, Contributing Writer
A miracle happened in my household today.
After lunch my seafood-hating, red meat-loving husband got up and helped himself to a second serving of tuna.
The heavens parted and light shone down as a chorus of angels sang. OK, not really, but I did try really hard not to gawk.
Never in our seven years of marriage has this happened with a tuna dish.
I made a mental note to file this recipe in the “budget friendly lunch that the whole family will eat” file. With 8 simple ingredients, I easily threw this lunch together in under ten minutes. It probably would have been under five minutes, except I had to find a missing puzzle piece, locate a missing shoe, and switch over a load of laundry.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m always looking for budget-conscious, nutritious meals I can throw together for a simple, yet hearty lunch. I love that this recipe does not contain mayonnaise because that seems to be one ingredient I never have on hand for long. I can’t promise the miraculous results that we achieved with this recipe, but I still hope you try it!
Simple Mayo-less Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 2 4.5 oz cans of tuna in olive oil
- 1/2 cup of grated carrot (about 1 medium carrot)
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
- 1 cup full-fat cottage cheese
- 1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Scoop tuna and olive oil out of the cans and into a medium-sized bowl. Gently break apart with a fork.
- Add remaining ingredients, except pepper, and use the fork to combine evenly.
- Add pepper to taste.
- Serve on sandwich bread, flat bread, tortillas, or lettuce wraps.
Does your family enjoy tuna?
P.S. This recipe comes straight from the new book The Frugal Secrets of Real Foodies. It’s all about eating real food on a budget and contains a lot of great information for saving money, plus over 30 budget-friendly real food recipes just like this one! Pick up your copy here.
Sarah Mueller
That sounds delicious! I appreciate that it’s egg-free as my youngest is allergic to eggs and it’s helpful to have things that he can enjoy with the whole family. I’ve never seen cottage cheese in a tuna recipe – excellent idea!
Kristen Smith
Loved this, Sarah! How fun to learn about your hubby’s reaction to this recipe. And I love the touch of fresh thyme and parsley.
Dawn @ Reveal Natural Health
Tuna and cottage cheese! Sounds like a great idea. I am pinning this to try it later. I have a go-to tuna noodle casserole recipe but I do not have a go-to tuna salad recipe. Perhaps this could be it!
Ozum
I have been meaning to try cottage cheese and your recipe was the perfect excuse. This was very light, delicious and very filling. I mixed it with lettuce and added extra seasonings. Was a great salad! Thank you for the recipe!
Julie
Do you think that this would work using tuna in water? That’s what I have on hand.
Sarah N.
Hi Julie,
I frequently make this recipe with tuna in water and it turns out great. 🙂