This easy Avocado Tuna Salad is a delicious twist on traditional tuna salad. Just a few simple ingredients give this salad an amazing flavor for a light healthy low-carb lunch or dinner.
One of my favorite lunch ideas are tuna and chicken salad recipes. Although I love classic tuna salad and chicken salad, I equally love the idea of using no mayo and swapping it out with ripe avocados to get more of those unsaturated, healthy fats. I have already experimented with this Avocado Chicken Salad and decided to make this healthy avocado tuna salad this week.
Table of contents
I left the avocado diced in this version and it is truly delicious. Using avocado in place of mayonnaise it the best creamy texture! The cilantro and lemon juice blend so wonderful together.
This is by far my new favorite way to make tuna salad! I love it in a wrap or sandwich but I’ve even been known to use grab some crackers or tortilla chips! For low-carb option for a keto diet, serve over a bed of greens or make lettuce wraps by adding the tuna salad to a large piece of romaine or butter lettuce.
Ingredients Needed:
- Canned White Tuna – Drained of water
- Avocados – Peeled and diced into cubes
- Cucumber – sliced in half with the skin left on. English is my preference but you can use a regular cucumber as well. It gives the best fresh crunch!
- Red Onion – sliced thin.
- Fresh Cilantro – chopped
- Lemon juice – freshly squeezed is best but you can substitute with bottled if that’s what you have.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – helps to blend the flavors together
- Salt and Black Pepper to taste
How to make this healthy recipe:
Open and drain the can of tuna completely.
Add the tuna to a large bowl and then add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well to combine.
Drizzle the entire salad with the lemon juice and olive oil and gently toss to coat.
Freshness tip: once you add the salt, the salad is best when eaten within a couple of hours because it will cause the cucumber to soften and wilt.
If you need to make it ahead of time, just combine all of the ingredients except the salt and refrigerate. Then add the salt just before you are planning to serve it.
Substitutions/Variations
- Add a tablespoon of dijon mustard for a little extra tang.
2. Add in a few cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper or sliced celery, if desired.
3. Substitute green onions or sweet onions if preferred.
FAQ’s
A good quality tuna tastes best in this recipe. Solid albacore tuna in water is best in my opinion. You can use other chunk light tuna in oil or water as well if you’d like. I highly recommend this Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna for it’s low mercury content.
Store in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days. Remember, if you have added salt the cucumbers may make it a little more watery. If you are expecting leftovers, you may want to salt the individual servings instead of the whole batch.
More hearty salad recipes to try:
Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad Recipe
Avocado Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 9-10 oz tuna in water drained and flaked – (2) 5 oz. cans or (3) 3oz. pouches
- 2 large avocados peeled & sliced into cubes
- ½ English cucumber sliced
- ½ red onion sliced thin
- ¼ cup cilantro more if desired
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large salad bowl, combine the drained tuna, diced avocado, thin sliced red onion and sliced cucumber and ¼ cup cilantro. ( more if you love like me)
- Drizzle salad ingredients with 2 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoon olive oil and black pepper. See tip above about adding salt.
- Toss to combine and serve.
Miss Wonderful
I would add Romain instead of cilantro
Sherri
That would be perfectly fine as well 🙂
Lisa
I omitted the cilantro and added some white beans and used onion salat
Sherri
I love that and how customizable it is 🙂
Greg
great idea. Cilantro taste like eating soap to me. Celery is also a great addition. Not sure what onion salat is?
Ivory
This dish look so yummy, I can hardly wait to make. It has all the things I love it in. Thank you for making my water. Yum!
Miz Helen
Your Avocado Tuna Salad looks delicious, I love the combination! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday, your post is awesome. Hope you are having a great week and come back to see us soon!
Miz Helen
April J Harris
What a lovely, healthy tuna salad, Sherri! Pinning and sharing. Thank you so much for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party. Have a great weekend!
Sue
Hi Sherri, I’m with you- I’m sooo over this heat!!! I feel totally wilted! We’ve been eating a lot of salads too. This looks luscious.
I also have your bean dip recipe and shared it with friends. Going to make it soon.
Thanks for all the great recipes!