Tuna Salad Without Mayo (Dairy Free)

If you love healthy tuna recipes without mayo, you might want to see our avocado tuna sandwich and potato tuna salad recipes too.

You love spontaneous picnics, but don’t know what to take with you? We got you covered! This no mayo tuna salad is a perfect picnic food too. You can easily prepare sandwiches or lettuce wraps with it and take them to your picnic. 

Why You Should Make This Recipe

• Quick and easy to make. It takes less than 5 minutes and only contains a few basic ingredients. It can be made fresh every day so that you don’t have to compromise on quality.
• Easy to customize with your favorite ingredients. You can change the herbs in the recipe with your favorite ones and more veggies.
• Healthy and nutritious. Because we don’t add a ton of ingredients or mayonnaise, this is a low calorie tuna salad. It contains a good amount of  protein, healthy fats, vitamins, fiber and minerals.  

About The Ingredients and Substitutions

This healthy diet tuna salad recipe calls for 4 ingredients and a simple lemon dressing. 

• Tuna: We use canned tuna in sunflower oil. Tuna in brine or spring water works fine too. 
• Herbs: Fresh dill and arugula (rocket) pair wonderfully with tuna and add refreshing flavors. Chopped fresh parsley, lettuce and green onions would make great substitutes.
• Onion: We use red onion, but you can use white or brown onions too. 
• Dressing: And finally, for our mayo and yogurt substitute, we use a simple olive oil (extra virgin) and lemon juice dressing. They add flavor while also making the tuna mixture moist and (to a certain extent) creamy. Optionally, you can add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard too.

How To Make It

You can make delicious tuna salad without mayo. And, it takes less than 5 minutes. It is one of the best recipes for weight loss and is packed with loads of nutrients. You can even add more veggies or carbs to alter the flavor or nutritional content!

1. Prepare the tuna meat: Drain the tuna to remove the oil in the can as much as possible. You can learn how to drain canned tuna here. In a large mixing bowl, start flaking your tuna meat using a fork. You can even use two forks to make the job a lot easier and quicker. Make sure that you have relatively uniform pieces.

2. Make the salad: Once your tuna has been completely flaked, add in chopped onion, arugula and fresh dill. 
3. Make the dressing: In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Optionally, you can add a little red pepper flakes too.
4. Assemble: Pour the dressing over the salad and give it a stir.
5. Serve: You can enjoy this healthy tuna salad on its own or turn it into a delicious tuna sandwich without mayo.  

Variations

There are a few variations of this healthy tuna salad recipe. And, they are all extremely easy! This way, you can use our base recipe as inspiration to create hundreds more! Here are some of our favorite alterations to this recipe:

• Add Greek Yogurt: If you are after a creamy tuna salad without mayo, then you can substitute Greek yogurt for mayonnaise. It is healthier and gives a tasty touch to the salad. It makes a perfect substitute for mayo in tuna salad. You can just add in 1-2 tablespoons of yogurt in the dressing and mix well before pouring it over the salad. 
• Add More Veggies: There are a ton of vegetables you can add to this tuna salad with no mayo. We love adding some celery, capers, pickles, red peppers and Kalamata olives. These will completely change the flavor profile of your recipe. But, for more subtle changes, add vegetables like tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers and additional fresh herbs.  
• Add Carbs: By adding some carbs, you can easily bulk up this Mediterranean tuna salad without adding a lot more flavors to it. We like to add some pasta, orzo or rice.

How To Store It

You can store the leftovers in an airtight container  and keep it in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. And we don't recommend freezing this salad. 

Expert Tips

• If you are looking for a diet tuna salad recipe, you might prefer tuna in water. It will add fewer calories, but unfortunately also less flavor. This is easily fixable though by adding spices or herbs (which contain very few calories and lots of flavors).
• When using tuna in oil, make sure to drain it well before flaking it. This will make your tuna salad less oily and help enhance the accompanying flavors.
• Do not cook or heat canned tuna. It is already cooked and you can have it at room temperature. This is what makes canned tuna a perfect ingredient for salads and sandwiches.  

Serving Suggestions

There are loads of ways you can use this tuna salad without mayo. Naturally, you can serve it as is and it is already so delicious this way.

You can enjoy it as a tuna sandwich without mayo. It makes wonderful lunch box food too.

You can also make a lettuce wrap, serve it as a low-calorie tuna salad, or use it as a topping for crackers. 

Frequently Asked Questions

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