Why You Should Add White Beans To Your Tuna Salad

Tuna salad is, without a doubt, one of the most versatile and widely adaptable lunchtime options out there. A classic mixture of dressed, seasoned canned tuna is as at home layered into a warm tuna melt as it is heaped into lettuce wraps or, of course, simply stuffed between two slices of great bread; Tuna salad is quick and convenient, as well as a fairly healthy choice. According to SF Gate, tuna salad packs protein, healthy fats, vitamins such as B12 and niacin, and minerals including iron and zinc.

If you've outgrown the standard mayo-doused preparation that was a familiar feature of many a childhood lunchbox, then you'll be relieved to know that tuna salad can be prepared in tons of ways that are better suited to the adult palate, from Tunisian-inspired to slicked with herbaceous Green Goddess dressing to laced with fresh dill. And if these fresh, creative takes on tuna salad tend to be the types that you enjoy, you're going to want to reach for a can of white beans the next time you're craving tuna.

If you enjoy creamy, protein-packed white beans, you've likely sampled some kind of variation of white bean salad. A common Italian-style salad that's often prepared with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and fresh basil (via The Washington Post), white bean salad makes a terrific companion to other common antipasto — ie, appetizer — dishes such as Caprese salad, bruschetta, and sliced cold cuts (via Italy Magazine). And if you're a fan of this style of white beans, then you'll probably be pleased to hear that it's pretty darn delicious when you add some canned tuna to it.

Tuna salad featuring white beans is a common one and Food Network's Giada de Laurentiis has sang praises of the salad's convenience — using, as it does, both canned tuna and canned white beans. And while her recipe adds a bit of Italian flair to it, with cannellini beans, capers, and arugula, she also reuses the olive oil from the can of tuna into her finished salad, which adds a briny hit of flavor. The Telegraph, meanwhile, suggests spooning the prepared salad onto toast rubbed with garlic for a fast, satisfying meal.