The Simple 1-Ingredient Swap That Finally Made Me a Tuna Salad Convert

When I was growing up, my mom made tuna salad almost every weekend for our lunch, and I dreaded it. The mayo made it too heavy for my taste, and the texture always seemed either too dry because there wasn’t enough mayo or too wet because there was too much—never just right. Avoiding those tuna salad lunches meant there was no lunch for me, so I always ate it, though very reluctantly. As an adult, my tuna salad consumption decreased exponentially—until recently. 

Fast-forward to one day this past summer when I had an empty fridge and a serious need for lunch. Canned tuna is something I always have on hand, solely for emergencies, and I realized after scanning my pantry that tuna salad might be my only path to a meal. Except that I didn’t have mayo, which, for a mayo-y tuna salad disliker like me, was just fine—especially because I always keep a tub of labneh in my fridge.I often serve the strained and lightly salted Middle Eastern yogurt drizzled with olive oil alongside hummus or baba ganoush (but more often than not, I simply eat it with a spoon). I had the idea that I could make a tuna salad with the labneh instead of mayo and a sneaking sense that I’d very possibly like it more that way. 

The results were excellent—creamy, fresh tasting, and slightly tangy—and I’ve been making labneh tuna salads ever since. As it turns out, swapping in labneh was the upgrade I didn’t know I needed to convert myself into a tuna salad lover. Soon after I discovered how well labneh works in tuna salad, I made a big batch for my family to try. My Palestinian mother was skeptical at first. “Labneh and tuna?” she scoffed. “That doesn’t go together.” But now that she’s tried it, she won’t eat tuna salad any other way—and neither will I.

5 Tips for a Flavorful Labneh Tuna Salad

Quick-pickle the onions. When I make this recipe for myself for a quick weekday lunch, I usually use onion powder purely out of convenience. But incorporating fresh onions adds a crunchy texture and much better flavor. To tame the bite of raw onions, simply soak them in red wine vinegar for about 15 minutes, then drain them before incorporating into the tuna mixture. This way you can avoid that dreaded onion breath but still bring some punch to the mix.  

Break up the tuna and mix well with the labneh. Even oil-packed tuna can be dry sometimes, and if you don’t break up that tuna well, you can be left with large chunks of dry meat. Make sure to break up the tuna into smaller pieces to eliminate any dryness and allow the labneh to coat more of the tuna. 

Opt for a thick, homogeneous labneh. When testing this recipe, I tried using a few different brands of labneh to see how much variation there was from one to the next. While labneh is a thick ingredient, its consistency differs from brand to brand. Some also separate in the container and need a good stir when opening, while others are good to go.

With some slightly thinner brands of labneh I used, I found that the tuna salad became a bit watery as it sat. For this reason, you’ll want to grab the thickest labneh you can find—ideally one that isn’t separated upon opening—which may require some trial and error. Labneh produced by Baraka worked the best in my tests and didn’t cause any pooling of liquid, but you might need to experiment with whatever brands are available where you live to find one that works well. If you do experience liquid separation with your tuna salad, simply stir it back together. Or you can stir about one tablespoon of unseasoned panko breadcrumbs into the mixture to soak up any excess moisture. This won’t alter the flavor of the tuna salad but will restore its creamy and homogeneous texture. 

Shred the carrots instead of dicing them. Carrots aren’t an ingredient normally paired with tuna, but I like the slight sweetness they bring to the salad. However, with diced onion and celery already in the mix, adding diced carrots would make the salad way too chunky and crunchy. I like to shred the carrots instead so they can bring their sweet flavor without overwhelming the salad’s texture with crunch. 

Be creative. This recipe was born out of a clean-out-the-fridge moment. While this is the most fully-loaded version of all the ways I make it, I make changes from batch to batch depending on what I have on hand. If I don’t have dill, I’ll swap in cilantro or parsley in order to achieve that herbal freshness. Sometimes I add a teaspoon of Calabrian chile paste if I want a little heat.

Since tuna salad is usually a quick meal, I encourage you to be creative and swap any of the ingredients with others that you like or already have around. After all, that’s exactly how I landed on a recipe that converted me into the tuna salad lover I am today.

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