Red Onion And Celery Are Key For Tuna Salad With Optimal Crunch

Tuna salad is a versatile dish to serve as a healthy snack or last-minute lunch because you can use whatever ingredients you want with the tinned fish. There are ways to turn canned tuna into gourmet meals, but simple tuna salad will always be on our meal rotation. A classic rendition of the dish will likely use mayonnaise, mustard, pickle relish, and a variety of vegetables. No matter what vegetables go into your version of tuna salad, red onion and celery should always make their way into the bowl for next-level crunch and extra flavor.

Both red onion and celery will offer a crunchy texture to complement the flaky tuna, creamy mayonnaise, and other ingredients like hard-boiled eggs or diced pickles. Red onion is usually eaten raw and will pass on sharp and zesty flavors to the tuna salad and provide a pop of color. Meanwhile, celery has a vegetal flavor with slightly herbal and sweet notes that give bursts of flavor alongside the other ingredients in the mixture.

Tuna salad is one of those dishes where you don't really have to measure out ingredients and can instead use as little or as much celery and red onion as you like. But, if you're someone who prefers to use a recipe as a guide, one stalk of celery and two tablespoons of red onion is enough for every two cans of tuna. Chop the two vegetables into larger pieces if you want more crunch in every bite or finely dice to get a subtle crunch to match the tuna flakes in the bowl. Combine the celery and onion with the tuna and other ingredients in a large bowl and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Try these two crunchy ingredients with Tasting Table's simple apple tuna salad recipe, which already incorporates celery and red onion with apples, mayonnaise, and mustard. Then there's our spruced-up tuna salad, which offers bolder flavors with red onion, red pepper, cucumber, carrots, and Dijon mustard. Swap the cucumbers with the celery for balance or use both for the ultimate crunchy tuna salad to serve with crackers or on a tuna melt panini with sharp cheddar cheese.