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Greek Yogurt Tuna Salad

greek yogurt tuna salad sandwich on wooden board
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5 from 9 reviews

This is a healthy and easy tuna salad recipe that uses Greek yogurt instead of mayo! This Greek yogurt tuna salad is tangy yet balanced, with a hint of sweetness from pickle relish.

Ingredients

Scale
  • two 5 ounce (142 g) cans tuna packed in water (see note 1)
  • 1/2 cup (120 g) plain Greek yogurt (recommended: full fat or 2%)
  • 1/3 cup (45 g) finely chopped celery (about 1 medium rib)
  • 1/3 cup (45 g) finely chopped red onion (about 1/4 medium onion)
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons (35 g) sweet pickle relish
  • 1 tablespoon (14 g) Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste (see note 2)
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

Equipment needed:

  • fine mesh strainer (see notes 3 - 4)

Instructions

  1. Finely chop the celery and red onion, set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, add the Greek yogurt, sweet pickle relish, Dijon mustard, kosher salt, black pepper, and cayenne (if using). Whisk together to evenly combine. Set aside.
  3. Open the cans of tuna. Place the tuna into the fine mesh strainer, held over a bowl or the sink. Very firmly press the tuna down into the mesh to squeeze out as much of the moisture from the tuna as possible. The tuna should be very dry when finished.
  4. Add the tuna, plus the finely chopped celery and red onion, to the bowl with the Greek yogurt mixture. Stir with a spoon to incorporate the ingredients well.
  5. Taste the tuna salad and add more salt and/or pepper if needed. Serve immediately, or, for best flavor, chill in the fridge, covered, for several hours or overnight.

Notes

Here I used solid white albacore tuna packed in water. Tuna labeled "solid" comes in larger pieces, which I found makes it a little easier to drain more of the liquid away (as opposed to tuna labeled "chunk"). However, this recipe will work with any type of canned tuna you prefer. If you want the tuna salad to be lower in calories and fat, choose tuna packed in water rather than tuna packed in oil.

This recipe was developed using Diamond Crystal kosher salt; to substitute Morton kosher or regular table salt, start with a little less than the 1/2 teaspoon salt called for in the recipe, and add more as needed to taste.

A fine mesh strainer is useful because you can firmly press the tuna down into the strainer, helping to remove as much moisture from the tuna as possible. This will give the tuna salad a firmer texture and more flavor. 

If you don't have a fine mesh strainer, you can get a similar effect by lining a regular colander with a piece of cheesecloth (or even a clean paper towel!). This will allow you to press the tuna into the colander to help it drain, but will keep the smaller pieces of tuna from falling through the holes.

The nutrition information below is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator, using 2% Greek yogurt. The nutrition counts of your dish will vary based on the brand, type, and exact amounts of ingredients used. This nutrition estimate should not be considered a substitute for professional medical, health, or nutritional advice. See our full disclosure policy.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://nibbleanddine.com/greek-yogurt-tuna-salad/