Just like the title says, this is the only Mediterranean Tuna Salad Recipe you’ll ever need. Made with canned tuna, butter lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, peas, and corn and finished with creamy lemon dressing.
One of the things I like best about this salad is how quick and easy it is to make. For a mega-large bowl of salad that can feed 4-5 people, you’ll need only 10 minutes and some basic chopping skills.
Easy & Healthy Tuna Salad Recipe
Although this Mediterranean tuna salad with dijon dressing is not an authentic Mediterranean recipe, it uses common ingredients for people who live along the Mediterranean sea. In addition, the lemony dressing is so good that it will take this salad to another level. Oh, and what’s even better, you can use this dressing for many other salads, and it will make them just as delicious!
If you are a fan of salads that have protein in them, I’d also suggest you try my Mediterranean Chickpea Salad.
Ingredients in Mediterranean Tuna Salad
- Canned tuna
- Butter Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Peas and corn
- Olives
- Red onion
For the salad dressing, you’ll need: olive oil, lemon, mustard, black pepper, and salt to taste.
Optional extras:
Suppose you want to customize your salad (give it your own chef’s touch). In that case, add crispy garlic-flavored croutons, avocado, and sun-dried tomatoes, sprinkle some feta cheese at the end, or add a touch of parmesan and oregano in the dressing. If you have white beans on hand, they go great in this salad as well.
How To Make Mediterranean Tuna Salad
Cut all the veggies into the desired pieces. I chop mine into medium bite-sized pieces, but you can choose your size. Toss everything in a big bowl, add the dressing on top, and combine.
If you want to make your salad look extra fancy, in a big shallow bowl, add the lettuce at the bottom, followed by the tomatoes and cucumber, then the peas and corn, pitted olives, and red onion at the end. This would create colorful layers of veggies that look super fancy. One rule that applies to almost all salads is that you should drizzle the dressing right before serving. No one wants a soggy salad that’s been sitting in the dressing for hours.
Lemon Mustard Dresssing
The easiest way to make this type of dressing is in a jar or airtight container. Add all the ingredients, close the lid tightly and shake until all the ingredients are infused into the olive oil, and the dressing is cearmy and thicker.
If you don’t have an airtight container or jar, add everything into a bowl and mix the dressing with a whisk or fork.
A few FAQs about this salad
I’d recommend making this salad the night before you plan on serving it. You can chop all the ingredients and add them to an airtight container. Then right before serving, add the dressing and enjoy. This rule applies to most salads, not just this Mediterranean Tuna Salad.
Another method I’ve seen trending all over the internet but haven’t tried myself is adding the dressing at the bottom of an airtight container, adding the salad on top, and mixing right before serving. I’d imagine this to work if you’d plan on bringing the salad to work. But, overall, it might be a pretty decent method if you can’t store the dressing in a separate container.
I can imagine serving this salad with so many delicious side dishes. However, since the salad is quick and easy packed with healthy and nutritious ingredients, the first thing that comes to mind is slices of toasted bread topped with hummus which is also healthy and doesn’t add a lot of additional cooking time.
However, if you have a little bit more time on hand, you can make a side of healthy brown rice with lemon and parsley or crispy, buttery baked potatoes.
More delicious recipes to try:
Protein Quinoa Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Tomato And Avocado Salad
Roasted Pepper And Tomato Salad
Mediterranean Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cans of tuna
- 80 g 1/2 cup cooked peas
- 1/4 cup cooked corn
- 2 cups lettuce
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives
- 1 shallot
Dressing:
- 4-5 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 + 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Dice all the veggies into medium bite-sized pieces.
- In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, diced shallot, peas and corn, olives, and tuna.
- In an airtight container or a jar, add all of the ingredients for the dressing. Close the lid tightly and shake until everything is well combined.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad mix and serve.
Notes
- If you don’t have a jar or airtight container for the dressing, you can mix it in anything that has a lid or whisk it well with a whisk.
- You can use either canned or frozen peas and corn.
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