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This Mediterranean tuna salad takes just minutes to put together: it’s a fast and flavorful lunch or healthy dinner!
We’re always looking for fast lunch and easy dinner ideas: and this one works for both. Introducing Mediterranean Tuna Salad! Combine canned tuna with crunchy vegetables, feta cheese, olive oil and a punch of Dijon mustard for the most flavorful salad to hit your plate! Serve it with crackers as an easy lunch, or over greens for a quick dinner with pita bread and olives. This one is so quick and versatile, it’s in our hall of fame of healthy meal ideas. Here’s how to make this tasty Mediterranean diet recipe.
Ingredients for Mediterranean tuna salad
This Mediterranean tuna salad combines quick and easy canned tuna with Mediterranean flavors: cool cucumber, briny caper, salty feta and tangy Dijon mustard. It’s pretty straightforward in its composition, but it’s a genius idea for using simple ingredients to make big flavors. We made it once, and it’s now on repeat for a simple lunch or dinner. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Canned tuna: Use either water-packed or oil packed (we prefer water packed).
- Shallot: A milder version of red onion, it’s a favorite for salads.
- Red bell pepper
- English cucumber: This variety is long and thin with no tough skin, no seeds and a milder flavor than standard cucumber: look for it in the produce section!
- Capers: These bring big salty, briny flavor: look for them jarred near the pickles in your grocery
- White wine vinegar
- Olive oil
- Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt
- Feta cheese crumbles, optional
All you have to do for this recipe: flake the tuna, chop the veggies, and mix it together! It’s seriously simple and the pop of tangy, savory flavor is unreal.
Ways to serve Mediterranean tuna salad
This Mediterranean tuna salad is great because it’s quick, healthy, and it’s super versatile! You can serve it as a sandwich or just in a bowl, with crackers, or as a gluten-free main dish. It works as a quick lunch or a super-fast dinner! Here are some ideas for ways to serve it:
- Over greens: Place it over crunchy greens and it works as lunch or dinner; add some sliced tomatoes and hard boiled eggs for a heartier meal
- Sandwich: Throw it onto bread: you can also use Mediterranean-style breads like focaccia, pita or flatbread
- Lettuce wraps: Wrap it into lettuce leaves as a gluten-free main
- Crackers: Serve with gluten-free nut crackers (we like Nut Thins) or the cracker of your choice
- Crostini: Spread over baguette slices
- In an avocado: Throw it into half of an avocado for a healthy dinner option
Canned tuna nutrition
Canned tuna is part of a healthy diet! Even better, it’s shelf stable for 2 to 5 years in your pantry. It’s a pretty amazing ingredient. Here’s what Healthline has to say about the nutritional benefits:
- Canned tuna is high in protein and low in calories. One 5-ounce can of tuna has about 30 grams of protein, which is about 60% of your daily need.
- Tuna is a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids that contribute to brain and heart health.
- Look for tuna that is sustainable and low in mercury. Find cans of light or skipjack tuna, and sure they have an MSC certification on the label.
More tuna recipes
There are so many things to do with a can of tuna! And it doesn’t have to be 1970’s cheesy casserole. Here are a few favorite tuna recipes:
- Try our 20 Tuna Recipes for Easy Meals
- Go for family favorite Crispy Tuna Cakes or easy Tuna Burgers
- Opt for fresh and healthy Avocado Tuna Salad
- Go for Classic Tuna Pasta Salad or Easy Tuna Wrap
- Try classic French Nicoise Salad
Mediterranean Tuna Salad
This Mediterranean tuna salad takes just minutes to put together: it’s a fast and flavorful lunch or healthy dinner!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 large, or 4 sandwiches 1x
- Category: Lunch
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Seafood
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 1 cup chopped English cucumber (or standard cucumber, peeled)
- 2 5-ounce cans white meat tuna
- 3 tablespoons capers, drained
- 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons feta cheese crumbles (optional)
Instructions
- Prep the red pepper, shallot and English cucumber as noted above.
- Drain the tuna and place it in a medium bowl: mash it lightly with a fork. Add the chopped vegetables, capers, white wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, feta (if using) and kosher salt and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt if desired. Stores up to 3 days refrigerated.
Absolutely fantastic. Fresh and full of flavor. My husband and I ate it by the spoonful and with crackers, both were delicious.
Amazing zingy flavor profile, perfect for summer. I’m shoveling it straight out of the bowl.
Thank you for making!
This was so delicious and I didn’t even have all of the ingredients! I was out of dijon mustard so just omitted that, replaced the capers with finely chopped green olives and added a little lemon juice to the dressing. Served with whole grain crispbreads for a delish lunch!!! Love that it’s super easy and nutritious :)
This is really easy to make and taste great the next day for lunch at work. Had to keep my husbands hands off of it.
Oh man! So good! I served it with Nut Thin crackers.
F’ing delicious
This is bussin and i would eat it during every meal for the rest of my life I don’t have much time since I have prostate cancer. Thank you for the meal that I will be enjoying for the rest of my short, short life ahead.
Wow! This was so good! Lots of crunch from the fresh vegetables with a lingering dijon and vinegar seasoning; not overloaded with the flavor of tuna. We will be making this one again.
This was amazing! I didn’t have white wine vinegar so I used rice vinegar and it was incredible. I ate this with pita chips and it made the perfect lunch. I will definitely be making this again and again!