Mediterranean Tuna Salad with Mayo

Sharing is caring!

If you are looking for a colorful, fresh, and delicious Mediterranean Tuna Salad with Mayo you’ve come to the right place! This salad is full of veggies, beans, albacore tuna, feta cheese and is tossed with a homemade creamy herbed lemon dressing made with mayo. You can also use it as a filling for wraps or pitas. It’s perfect for a light lunch or dinner and makes a great meal during Lent. 

Choosing a tuna for tuna salad

Picking a variety of canned tuna for tuna salad recipes is sometimes difficult as there are so many choices. I prefer to use canned albacore tuna in water. Albacore tuna is meatier. It has a firm texture, mild flavor and it flakes into nice chunks rather than mushing up like chunk light tuna. It is a bit more expensive than chunk light, but costs less than yellowfin tuna making it a nice mid-price point. 

You might also enjoy these simple salad recipes:

• Sriracha Shrimp Pasta Salad
• Old Fashioned Kidney Bean Salad
• Curried Couscous Salad
• Pesto Pasta Salad

Herbed Lemon Dressing with Mayo

The dressing for this salad is different from most Mediterranean Tuna Salad recipes because it does have mayo. What can I say? I’ve tried Greek yogurt in tuna recipes and I’m just not a huge fan of the textures together. I think that the yogurt tends to get more watery as it sits and I just love mayo. The mayo in this dressing is jazzed up with the addition of fresh parsley and basil, garlic, oregano, and fresh squeezed lemon juice. You can use bottled lemon juice, but fresh definitely makes a brighter and fresher tasting salad. To make the dressing, just add all the ingredients to your food processor or blender and give it a whizz. 

*If you absolutely cannot have mayo, try substituting with an equal amount of mashed avocado. Or to make this just a touch healthier, use half mayo and half greek yogurt.

Most of the work in making this salad is in prepping and chopping your veggies. I recommend seeding both your cucumbers and your tomatoes so that the salad doesn’t become watery as it sits.  It’s also super important to make sure your canned ingredients are as well drained of excess liquid as possible for the same reason! 

Feel free to change up the ingredients to suit your tastes or what you have on hand! 

Suggested substitutions/additions include: 

• Red onion
• Garbanzo beans
• Capers
• Bell peppers
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Pepperocini
• Avocado
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Celery 

Serving suggestions

You can eat this salad just as it is, but it also makes a great filling for wraps and pitas. Also try it topped on crackers or served over mixed spring greens.

*If you make this salad ahead of time, wait until right before serving to add the dressing to keep the flavors fresh and keep the tuna from overpowering the rest of the ingredients.

Continue to Content

Mediterranean Tuna Salad with Mayo

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

A Mediterranean Tuna Salad full of veggies, beans, albacore tuna, feta cheese and tossed with a homemade creamy herbed lemon dressing made with mayo.

Print

Ingredients

Creamy Lemon Herb Mayonnaise Dressing

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 3 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
• 3-4 fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Salad

• 1 (12 ounce) can albacore tuna
• 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans*
• 1 (13.75) can quartered artichoke hearts
• 1 english cucumber
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 2 shallots*
• 1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives
• 2 ounces feta cheese crumbles

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients for the Creamy Lemon Herb Mayonnaise dressing to a food processor or blender and whizz until well blended. If you don't have either of these kitchen tools, finely chop the herbs and whisk the dressing together until well blended. Set aside.
2. Drain the canned items well and rinse the canning liquid from the beans. You may squeeze out any extra liquid from the artichokes.
3. Seed and chop the cucumbers and tomatoes.
4. Finely chop the shallot.
5. Add all the ingredients to large bowl and combine with the dressing taking care not to mash the tuna into tiny pieces.
6. Serve by itself or in a pita bread.

Notes

This salad is the best the day it is made. However, it will keep for a day or two in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.

*Garbanzo beans may be substituted for the cannellini beans.

*1/4 cup chopped red onion may be substituted for the shallots.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  KitchenAid 3.5 Cup Food Chopper
• 
  Mason Cash Red Mixing Bowl
• 
  Victorinox 3.25 Inch Classic Paring Knife 

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 409Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 360mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 9g

The Accidental Happy Baker is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate provided by Nutritionix. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through the nutritional calculator of your preference Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a review or a photo! I'd love to hear your feedback!

Pin this recipe or click the ❤️ to save it for later!