Tuna Salad with Apples, Walnuts, and Raisins
Time and time again, I always go back to my favorite tuna salad recipe which includes crunchy apples, sweet raisins and buttery walnuts. Served over greens, its my go-to gluten free and paleo-friendly lunch.
I started to throw this lunch together as my mom was making the charoset for Passover. Charoset is probably the most delicious part of Passover – it’s a chopped apple mixture with raisins, walnuts, and then all mixed together with a little sweet wine, cinnamon, and honey. It represents the “mortar” the Jews used to build the pyramids back in the day, but for me, it just means I play the fun game called “how many tablespoons of this can I steal throughout the seder without anyone seeing?”
Anyways, I promise this story has a point. Like I said, I was putting the pieces together for my go-to tuna salad next to my mom, including apples…walnuts…raisins. And I realized that I kind of eat charoset all of the time! Except a slightly more savory and healthy version. This is my favorite way to eat tuna, and as I’ve mentioned before, I can eat tuna every day for lunch happily. When I go out to lunch with people who eat lunch with me often (parents, boyfriend, colleagues) they already know what I’m going to order.
The best thing about this tuna is that it makes ahead beautifully. When I worked on a project that was local to my home and wasn’t traveling, I made a big batch of this at the beginning of the week to last through Wednesday. My only recommendation for those who want to make ahead would be to keep the walnuts seperate until you’re ready to eat, just so they keep their super-crunchy texture. The ingredients are basic, and you can easily store 90% of them and just restock on the apples/red onions/greens every week. Raisins, walnuts, red onion, a little mustard and mayo of choice, red wine vinegar, and TUNA of course! I usually top my off with a couple of squeezes of lemon and shakes of S&P, but up to you.
I have found that the way to get the best texture when making tuna salad is to mix the drained tuna with the wet ingredients first (vinegar, mayo, mustard). That way you can really whip up the tuna. I’ve noticed that restaurant tuna salads leave very few large “chunks” (hate that word) of tuna in their salad – they really mix it up finely before adding in the rest of the ingredients. I’ve found that that’s the best way to get the tuna to a great texture, and then folding in the rest of the ingredients.
Other options for serving? Nate is a fan of this tuna salad on a multigrain bagel topped with some cheese and popped into the toaster oven for a couple minutes. I usually opt for a bed of greens, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, and some type of cracker situation – recently been going for some of those flavorless gluten free crackers. If anyone has some good recommendations for gluten free crackers that are also multigrain, pass along!
So, I’ve been enjoying the best of Passover flavors year round!
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Tuna Salad with Apples, Walnuts, and Raisins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 servings 1x
Description
This tuna salad incorporates crunchy apples and walnuts and sweet raisins for great textures and flavors. Served over greens its a great gluten free and paleo friendly lunch!
Ingredients
- 1 can tuna packed in water
- ½ small apple, diced
- 1 tbsp raisins
- 5–6 walnut halves, chopped
- 1 tbsp mayo (I love Earth Balance vegan organic mayo, but use Sir Kensington’s if strict paleo)
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- Dash of red wine vinegar
- Handful of mixed greens
- Optional: Balsamic vinegar for dressing, salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Drain the tuna can of its water
- In a small bowl, mix the tuna with the mayo, lemon, vinegar until thoroughly combined
- Fold in the apples, raisins and walnuts
- On a fresh bed of greens, place your tuna mixture
- Optional drizzle of balsamic vinegar
- Enjoy!
Notes
If you want to pack this for work (which I often have) I would recommend keeping the tuna, greens, and walnuts separate from each other until you’re ready to eat. That way all of the ingredients stay at their best texture!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
Question for you all: What is your go-to lunch? And should I be worried about how much tuna I eat?
