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This healthy tuna salad is one of my favorite lunchtime meals that makes me full and satiated. I make it healthier by swapping the mayonnaise for greek yogurt, loading it up with crunching celery. You can serve it on its own, on top of greens or in a sandwich. It’s a delicious lightened up tuna salad.
A healthier tuna salad
A lot people who are on a weight loss diet will turn to tuna because of its high level of protein – 3 oz of albacore tuna has 20g of protein but only about 100 calories. However, if you’re eating tuna as a traditional tuna salad with mayonnaise, you may be consuming unnecessary calories and fat. 1 cup of mayo has more than 1400 calories and 24g of fat.
This healthy tuna salad is full of flavor, light on calories and super easy to whip for lunch any day of the week! Swap the mayo for greek yogurt and dijon mustard and save those calories for a treat later.
Ingredients to make tuna salad
- Tuna: I like to use white albacore as it has a great chunky and firm texture that doesn’t disappear when you mix it with the other ingredients
- Celery: Celery adds a wonderful crunchy texture as well as a hit of freshness.
- Red onions: I prefer to use red onion in salads as it is much milder than white. Mince it finely so that it’s not overpowering.
- Greek yogurt: I use Greek yogurt rather than mayonnaise, to make this wonderfully creamy. Greek yogurt is also a great source of protein and probiotics.
- Lemon juice: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for a wonderful zingy taste that cuts through the yogurt.
- Dijon mustard: Mustard adds some tang and spice and works so well with the other ingredients.
- Salt and pepper: To help bring out all of the other flavors.
- Parsley: Fresh parsley really lifts this dish and makes it light and fresh tasting. You can use other fresh herbs like cilantro or dill.
RECIPE VIDEO TUTORIAL
How to make healthy tuna salad
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the ingredients for the dressing: Greek yogurt, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and parsley until well combined.
- Add the drained tuna on top, along with the celery and red onions and gently mix
- You can serve it immediately or let it cool in the fridge for half hour.
Tips To Make Tuna Salad
- Dice all of the ingredients very finely. This will make everything easier to combine and eat.
- Use tuna in water not oil. Oil packed tuna has more fat, but water packed tuna is more solid, making it perfect for this salad.
- Customize this healthy tuna salad with add-ons. You can add in additional ingredients like capers, pickles, cucumbers, tomatoes or boiled eggs.
Frequently asked questions
Once you have made the salad, place it in an airtight container and place it in the fridge. It will keep well for 3 to 4 days.
This is great on its own or served on top of a simple green salad. It makes a great sandwich spread or serve in in lettuce leaves for a light low carb lunch. It’s also a great topping for baked potatoes.
Yes, you can freeze tuna salad. However the Greek yogurt may release extra moisture, so you may find that you need to drain it after you thaw the tuna. You can liven it up with fresh celery and onions if necessary.
More summer salads
- Corn Tomato Avoado Salad
- Avocado Egg Salad
- Healthy Coleslaw
- Healthy Egg Salad
- Avocado Chicken Salad
- Cauliflower Potato Salad
- Buffalo Chicken Salad
- Shirazi Salad
If you make this healthy-ish feel good Healthy Tuna Salad recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Healthy Tuna Salad
Video
Ingredients
- 2 5- ounce cans white albacore tuna in water drained
- 2 celery stalks minced (about ¼ cup)
- 2 tablespoons minced red onion
- ⅓ cup 2% Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and parsley until well combined.
- Add the drained tuna on top, along with the celery and red onions. Gently stir until well combined.
- Serve on its own or in a sandwich or on toast.
Notes
- Instead of Greek Yogurt, you can use regular yogurt, sour cream or leave it out all together.
- You can switch the dijon mustard to yellow mustard, or leave it out.
- Use any herbs you’d like instead of parsley.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Made this as a chickpea (not tuna) salad sandwich. Love it!!
So glad you liked it!
I subbed kale for the celery, mostly because I have an abundance of it around the house of my smoothies anyway, and it still tasted amazing with everything you suggested. Since I only cook for myself, I try to be as economical as possible with what I have, so I’m not buying things to have them go bad before I’ve finished them. Wonderful recipe!
Love the idea of using kale here!
Only things I would add is one dill pickle, diced, and some dashes of Frank’s hot sauce for a bit of heat.
So glad you liked it!
Great ideas. I love tuna salad but besides using your ingredients I slice romaine up in thin strips, add diced radishes, and dill picked. Yummy, and you get extra nutrients and taste from the romaine & radishes.
Oo I love the idea of the radishes!!
This was a very good substitute for the Mayo I usually use. I also use red wine vinegar in my regular Tuna salad and wonder if I can add it here even though it already has lemon and dijon.. 🤔
Thank you for a high protein, low fat lunch option!! 😋
Hi Kelly, I have not tried this recipe with red wine vinegar but, I don’t see why you couldn’t test it out. I would cut the lemon and Dijon in half and add more if necessary.
I made a version of this using a 6oz PKG. of Albacore tuna. Substituted green onions and tops for red onion and reduced all ingredients by about half.
I was only making dinner for 2 and I didn’t want left overs. Served tuna with toasted English muffin and 3 leaves of head lettuce cut up. My husband complimented me on the meal (and he’s not a fan of fish). I was quite pleased with this recipe (and I really am NOT a fan of fish either! But I will make this again.)
So glad to hear you and your husband both enjoyed the tuna salad, Brenda!
Very good! Thank you!
You’re so welcome!
I made per your directions but had to use a bit of vegenaise, no yogurt in house. It was delicious!! The Dijon sets it off!
Thank you so much. So glad you enjoyed it, Betsy!
I couldn’t decide between your tuna and chickpea salad recipes, so I combined them! One can of tuna and one can of beans, I skipped the onions since I don’t like raw onions but added everything else. Delicious and healthy, now I have several meals prepped for the week!
Oo, I love this idea!
Forgot to mention I added finely chopped apple and chopped pecans. Yum!
This was delicious! I was looking for a tuna salad recipe without mayo or avocado (ran out) and this was perfect since I always have Greek yogurt in the fridge. I basically copied the recipe but added some fresh basil from my garden. Thanks so much! Will definitely become a regular here
Oo I love the idea of adding fresh basil! So glad you liked it!
I prefer tuna with mayo, and I found this recipe to be an excellent substitute while trying to lose a few pounds. Didn’t change anything. If you want mayo instead of yogurt please just do it. Some people are making an honest effort to loose weight and need support. Great recipe! Thank you.
You’re so welcome! So glad you liked it!