Tuna Salad with Apples
Not your average tuna salad! This Tuna Salad with Apples brings crisp apple, tangy relish, and fresh dill to the bowl for a bright, creamy lunch you'll want to make on repeat.
Servings: 6 servings (1/2 cup)
Ingredients
- 4 (5-ounce cans) water-packed tuna , well-drained (see Note 1)
- ½ to ⅔ cup mayonnaise (I use Duke's, see Note 2)
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (I use Maille)
- ½ cup small diced apple , unpeeled (see Note 3)
- ⅓ cup small diced celery (see Note 4)
- 3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish (see Note 5)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
- 1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill fronds
- salt and freshly-ground black pepper , to taste
Instructions
- Add drained tuna to a large mixing bowl and break it up lightly with a fork.
- Add mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, apple, celery, relish, red onion, lemon juice, and dill. Fold the ingredients together with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until well combined.
- Taste the tuna salad and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, lemon juice, or mayo as needed.
- You can serve this tuna salad right away, but for even better flavor, cover and refrigerate it for 30-60 minutes before serving.
Notes
1. Tuna: Use your favorite water-packed variety. Skipjack and chunk light tend to have a stronger flavor and softer texture; albacore is firmer and milder. The variety you choose will affect how much mayo you need — softer tuna tends to need less.
Drain all tuna varieties thoroughly. Excess liquid will make the salad watery.
If you're going to serve the tuna salad right away, without letting it rest in the fridge, I recommend starting with chilled tuna.
2. Mayonnaise: Use a good-quality full-fat mayo. I use Duke's, but you can also use Hellmann's. Start with ½ cup and add more after mixing if needed.
3. Apple: I like the tartness of Granny Smith in this tuna salad. I've also gotten rave reviews from family and friends when I made it with sweet-tart Honeycrisp apples, for a little extra pop of sweetness. Use the apple you like best!
4. Celery: I always peel the outer strings on celery stalks before dicing for raw salads. This is optional, but I find that it improves the texture.
5. Relish: I like using sweet pickle relish for the best flavor balance. If you want to add a little pop of sweet heat, try using Wickles Original (my taste testers loved it in this salad!). For no sweetness, use dill relish. If the relish is particularly liquidy, lightly drain it as you measure so it doesn't make the tuna salad watery.
6. Variations: Stir in about 1/2 cup of toasted chopped walnuts or sliced almonds for crunch, or add 1–2 finely minced garlic cloves for a bolder flavor profile.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 398mg | Potassium: 43mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 141IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 0.2mg
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