The Best Tuna Salad made with Homemade Mayonnaise

In the warmer months, recipes like this homemade tuna salad are on repeat! Made with homemade mayo and served on sourdough bread, you can’t go wrong!

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Tuna salad may seem like a simple, boring thing to make, but with quality ingredients, it can taste gourmet!

To be honest, I love tuna salad sandwiches in the summer. First, because it’s a quick and easy meal, and secondly, it’s delicious and healthy!

Why I love this recipe

Simple Ingredients – I love an easy recipe that has ingredients I can usually find in my pantry. Tuna recipes like this one and tuna melts are always handy during a busy week.

Healthy – Tuna is packed with healthy fatty acids and protein making it a go-to for me in my kitchen especially during the summer.

Quick – A quick and easy recipe to whip up in a flash for lunch or dinner. Serve along side some homemade potato chips, linked here!

Ingredients to make this healthy Tuna Salad recipe

Tuna – I use a water-packed tuna, but tuna packed in oil works fine. As far as the type of tuna, I prefer either Albacore tuna or Yellowfin tuna. These are usually a flaky tuna whereas chunk light tuna is more processed and compressed.

Homemade Mayonnaise – I make my mayo from scratch. It’s super easy! Simply add an egg, a pinch of salt, and a tablespoon of either dijon mustard or vinegar and 3/4 cup of olive oil. Use an Immersion Blender to make it creamy and thick! Less than 1 minute and it’s so much better than store-bought.

Relish – I use home canned sweet pickle relish, however you can use dill pickle relish, as well. Sometimes I take sweet pickles or dill pickles and just chop them finely for my relish component.

Jalapenos (finely chopped) – Although optional, jalapenos lend an added crunch and spice.

Salt

Garlic Powder

Dill – You can use fresh dill or dried. Of course, any fresh herbs would be delicious in this salad.

Full ingredient amounts in recipe card below

How to make the best Tuna Salad recipe

In a medium bowl add the can of tuna and use a fork to flake it up before adding the other ingredients.

I prefer not to drain my tuna and just work the water back into the tuna. But, you can drain it if you prefer.

Depending on the kind of tuna you use, you may need to drain if it has added water and salt.

Finely chop the jalapeno pepper and fresh dill (if using).

Add the jalapeno, dill, garlic, salt, mayo, and relish.

Mix well.

Serve on sourdough bread for the best tuna sandwiches!

Want my favorite sourdough sandwich bread recipe? Click here!

Storage

Store leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Variations

Add finely chopped red onion and fresh for a refreshing tuna salad.

Make lettuce wraps by scooping the tuna salad into lettuce leaves for a low-carb option.

Instead of mayo, add Greek Yogurt for a gut-healthy version. Top with green onions and serve on a croissant!

Mix in some hard-boiled eggs for a super high protein tuna egg salad!