Easy tuna salad made with three basic ingredients. This mayo-free tuna salad recipe takes less than 5 minutes to make, is packed with healthy fats and protein, and is perfect for work lunches.
I almost didn’t post this recipe on account of the fact it’s so easy. After a little back and forth, I reasoned that I, myself, am always looking for inspiration for lunch, so I figured you could potentially get some good use out of it.
Made with three simple ingredients, this mayo-free tuna salad recipe requires just tuna, avocado, and lemon juice. The avocado replaces mayonnaise for a creamy tuna salad that’s full of healthier fats.
I’ve found the ratio of 1 can of tuna : 1/2 an avocado : 1 TBL lemon juice yield a marvelous result. You can play with the ratio, multiply it by any number to feed more people, and/or follow it to a T.
Full disclosure: this isn’t the first time you’ve seen this concept on my site. I posted Avocado Pesto Tuna Salad and Cucumber Dill Avocado Tuna Salad, both of which utilize the avocado replacement. Those two recipes are certainly packed with flavor, and ultra fun to consume, but I wanted to break it down to the cellular level in case you are like me and sometimes can’t be bothered to add extra fluff to your lunch. We’ve got places to be and things to do, so keeping it simple is key sometimes.
Fun fact: Did you know tuna has a HUGE amount of protein per weight? It’s one of the most protein-rich animal proteins you can eat. For those of you who are cognizant of your protein intake (I am x200), tuna is a great option for taking in your desired amount in a quick and also low-calorie way (if that’s your jam).
You can play with this tuna salad concept to your heart’s delight. Add a little drizzle of stone ground or dijon mustard, chop up some veggies and throw them in, incorporate spices or herbs, you name it.
I typically eat tuna salad on top of a green salad to take in a bunch of nutrients and fiber for that well-balanced meal sitch, but you can absolutely make a sandwich out of it. Or eat it as is. For the salad pictured in these photos, I used spinach, carrot, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, sliced almonds, goat cheese, and a simple avocado oil-lemon juice dressing.
Meal prep?: You can absolutely make this ahead of time for your work lunches. I have kept this tuna salad in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 days and it continues tasting fresh (nope, the avocado doesn’t turn brown). The only reason I haven’t tested it past the three day mark is because I’ve consumed it before it has sat longer, but I’m willing to bet you could stretch it to 4 or 5 days. So if you like to make big batches of food for work lunches, this would be a fantastic recipe to quadruple.
3-Ingredient Mayo-Free Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 2 5-ounce can tuna, drained
- 1 ripe avocado pitted and mashed
- 1 to 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice to taste
- 1 pinch sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Add all tuna salad ingredients to a small mixing bowl and stir together until well-combined. Sea salt to taste and enjoy on top of a green salad or in a sandwich. Keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
yummy! So easy so and so good and so healthy! Thank you for posting this. I will be making this more often!
I love hearing that, Dana! Thank you for following up to share your experience 🙂
My parents used to make tuna salad sandwiches that they’d keep in the freezer, so all my brother and I had to do was take a sandwich every day to school, and it’d be thawed and good in time for lunches.
Can this tuna salad be frozen?
What a great idea!! I’ve never frozen this particular recipe, but my guess is the avocado may thaw a bit funky…I imagine it would be a bit brown and liquidy, but I can’t be sure having never tried it. It may be worth freezing just a small amount of it to test it before freezing a whole batch!
made this today. it was PERFECT and so easy!!
Woop woop! So thrilled to hear it! Thanks so much for letting me know, Diana!
What kind of dressing did you use on this salad? It looks good as you have it pictured.
Such an easy and healthy salad recipe. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I’m all about no-mayo recipes so I’m glad you posted it! I love that you used avocado — this is something I would truly enjoy!