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This White Bean Tuna Salad is not only healthy and delicious, but it is also easy to make and ready in just 10 minutes. Perfect tuna salad recipe to serve as an appetizer or side dish recipe at a family gathering or potluck.
Love tuna? Check out my Tuna Pasta Salad and my Chickpea Tuna Pasta Salad.
You will be enjoying a whole lot of crunch and flavor with this Healthy and delicious white bean tuna salad recipe. It’s super easy to make with only 10 minutes of prep time and no cook time whatsoever. It is loaded with protein and fiber for a nutritious side dish recipe that makes for a great side dish to take to a potluck.
Made with a handful of simple and healthy ingredients and all you need is toss them together into a bowl, mix and serve. Eat as is or serve with some tortilla chips! You would want to make this healthy tuna salad all the time.
Recipe Highlight
- Super easy: You will need a handful of simple ingredients that you toss together that will just just about 10 minutes to make. Can’t get any easier.
- Perfect for meal prepping: If you meal prep, this easy tuna salad recipe is perfect for you. They store well and taste great cold the next day.
- Healthy and nutritious: This tuna salad is packed with nutrition, Lean protein from the tuna and loaded with fiber from the white beans.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Red onion: You may also use white sweet onions, not yellow cooking onions. I do prefer using the red/purple onion.
- Lemon: Try to use lemons, if you have lime, you may use lime.
- Salt and pepper to taste: If you are one of those who have to measure salt and pepper, start with 1 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper. Taste and adjust. You may need to add another 1 tsp of salt.
- Beans: The goal here is to use white beans like cannellini or Great Northern white beans. If you have another beans that you prefer using you may switch it out to any other beans.
- Tuna: Use good great tune filets in a can packed in olive oil. You may use tuna packed in water but add about 1 tbsp of olive oil to the salad.
- Black Olives: Use sliced or whole. If you have whole pitted olives, cut them into smaller pieces.
- Celery Stalks: this adds a great taste and crunch
- Parsley: Please use fresh parsley and not dried.
- Chili pepper flakes: this is to serve and optional.
How to make this Tuna salad
To make the pickled onion, slice the onion very thinly, and add it to a small bowl.
Squeeze the lemon over the onion and add a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of water. Set aside until the rest of the ingredients are ready.
To a salad bowl, add the beans, together with the tuna, olives, celery, pickled onion, and freshly chopped parsley. Gently stir to combine.
Serve the salad with lemon wedges and enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
There’s so much you can do with canned tuna and the options vary from adding them to salads, making tuna sandwiches, making tuna pasta salads, or even whole meals. Add all sorts of veggies and beans to tuna to make a nutritious tuna salad, serve them with greens or pasta. You can get as creative as you like.
Yes! Tuna in cans are already cooked and ready to eat. So if you want to eat it right off can go right ahead. Canned tuna comes in very handy when pressed for time and you want to get something ready to eat within minutes.
There are many ways you can enjoy tuna in a lighter and healthier way. You can use them in wraps, sandwiches, and add them to salads.
Recipe notes and tips
- Use good grade tuna in olive oil. You may use tuna in water but you will need to add a bit of oil to the salad.
- I used white beans but you can use any other beans of choice. Don’t like beans? use chickpeas.
- Crushed red peppers are optional if you don’t like a bit of spice.
- Tip: Chill this salad in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.
- Add more veggies and crunch to this tuna salad if you like. Consider carrots or corn.
- Store leftovers in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 days.
What Goes with Tuna Salad
There are so many ways I enjoy my tuna salad. My kids just love it as a sandwich whereas I prefer enjoying mine in a low-carb wrap. You can toss in some pasta and make it into a pasta salad, and even use some lettuce to make tuna lettuce wraps.
More easy salad recipes to try
- Roasted Chickpea and Avocado Salad
- Mexican Grilled Chicken Salad
- Cucumer Tomato Feta Salad
- Tomato Mozzarella Salad
- Classic Macaroni Salad
- Roasted Beet Salad
- Tuna Macarnoi Salad
Healthy White Bean Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced plus 1 lemon, cut into wedges
- Kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste
- 30 ounces cannellini or Great Northern white beans, 2 (x 15 oz cans), drained and rinsed
- 12 ounce tuna in olive oil, 2 (x 6 oz cans), drained well
- 2/3 cup sliced black olives
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- ½ teaspoon chili pepper , or crushed red peppers, or to taste
Instructions
- To make the pickled onion, slice the onion very thinly, and add it to a small bowl.
- Squeeze the lemon over the onion and add a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of water. Set aside until the rest of the ingredients are ready.
- To a salad bowl, add the beans, together with the tuna, olives, celery, pickled onion, and freshly chopped parsley. Gently stir to combine.
- Serve the salad with lemon wedges and enjoy!
Notes
- Use good-grade tuna in olive oil. You may use tuna in water but you will need to add a bit of oil to the salad.
- I used white beans but you can use any other beans of choice. Don’t like beans? use chickpeas.
- Crushed red peppers are optional if you don’t like a bit of spice.
- Tip: Chill this salad in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
All the salads are very healthy and delicious, we eat salads a lot , we all enjoyed them.
Thanks Rena
Thank you Grace
This chicken looks so beautifully succulent and flavourful, and coriander and lime is such a great flavour combination. Love your suggestion for turning this into a salad to. Yum!
Thank you!