Greek Tuna Salad

Ordinary tuna salad is mostly used as a sandwich filling, but this Greek tuna salad is a whole other thing. It’s a savory, filling combination of tuna, chickpeas and fresh cucumbers, with the bold flavors and colors of red onion and feta cheese mixed in. You can think of it as a light meal all on its own, served with just a chunk of crusty bread, or offer it as a first course in a meal of Greek-inspired recipes. Either way, it’s a winning combination of flavors and textures, and it comes together in just minutes.

Ingredients for Greek Tuna Salad

• Olive oil and lemon juice: The lemon juice and olive oil combine to make the dressing for this simple salad. Any oil will do, but olive oil is heart-healthy and would be the go-to choice in any real Greek salad.
• Garbanzo beans: Garbanzo beans, or chickpeas, give the salad substance and plenty of protein along with their uniquely creamy and likable texture.
• Tuna: The canned albacore white tuna doubles down on protein and gives this salad its dominant flavor.
• Cucumber: Crisp, juicy cucumber provides a crunchy and colorful foil for the chickpeas.
• Red onion: Red onion adds a pungent savory flavor that complements the beans, tuna, cheese and vegetables.
• Feta cheese: Feta cheese is a distinctively Greek ingredient, bringing a bold, briny flavor to the salad. Its pure white color also adds visual appeal, providing a contrast with the green cucumber and red onion.

Directions

Step 1: Make the dressing

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In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Step 2: Combine the salad ingredients

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Stir in the drained chickpeas and tuna, along with the cucumber, onion and feta. Cover the bowl and refrigerate it until serving time.

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Greek Tuna Salad Variations

• Herb it up: This recipe keeps things simple, leaving room for the ingredients to shine. But you do have the option to turn things up a notch with fresh herbs. Greek oregano is an obvious choice, either added fresh along with the onion and cucumbers or in dried form whisked into the dressing. Marjoram, a similar tasting herb, is another good option that’s widely used in Greek cuisine. Thyme, chives, fresh dill and fennel fronds all provide suitably complementary flavors as well. Parsley adds little flavor of its own but does enhance the flavors of other ingredients and bring a welcome burst of color. Any combination of these herbs can brighten and enhance the basic salad.
• Add more vegetables: This recipe is relatively light on vegetables, by salad standards, but you can change that. Some choices are easy: Halved grape or cherry tomatoes, or sliced sweet bell peppers, would fit right in. Fresh fennel is a less obvious choice, but thin-shaved slices from the bulb would add crunch, moisture and a pleasantly subtle licorice flavor. You can also choose to serve the salad in a leaf of butter or Romaine lettuce, or alternatively a large leaf of Belgian endive or radicchio, for an eye-pleasing plate. And while they’re not vegetables, olives would also play nicely with the tuna, feta and other vegetables.

How to Store Greek Tuna Salad

Any leftover salad should be covered and returned to the fridge as soon as possible after the meal. Alternatively, transfer the salad from its serving bowl to a suitably sized food-storage container with a tight-fitting lid.

Can I make this Greek-style tuna salad ahead of time?

Yes, absolutely. Making it up to a day ahead of your meal allows time for the flavors to meld and mature, so if anything, the salad will only taste better as a result. That’s especially true if you stir the salad periodically, so the dressing that pools at the bottom of the bowl gets redistributed. The only potential “gotcha” is that the flavor of the red onion will become more dominant. You may want to keep back half, adding the rest when you serve the salad.

How long will my Greek tuna salad keep?

The salad will remain reliably food safe for three to four days after it’s made, but in practice the cucumbers will begin to soften and lose their texture before that. For the best quality, plan to eat any leftovers within two to three days, at most.

Greek Tuna Salad Tips

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Can I use tuna in oil, instead?

You certainly can. Tuna in water is fine, and keeps calories low, but tuna in oil tastes better. In fact, if you buy tuna packed in olive oil, you can use that same oil in the salad dressing for a second kick of tuna flavor.

The recipe specifies albacore. Can I use other kinds of tuna?

By all means, use what you have, or have access to. That said, chunk albacore tuna is widely available, and our Test Kitchen found it to be consistently the best-tasting packaged tuna.

I’m not fond of chickpeas. Can I use other beans instead?

Sure, go with what you like! White beans and black-eyed peas are both used in Greek cooking, and they’ll do fine in a salad like this. Lentils would also work. Large white beans or fava beans (or “butter beans,” as a substitute) are also common in Greek cuisine, though they’ll give the salad a more rustic, peasant-ish look. If you don’t care about the beans being regionally appropriate for Greek cooking, any small- or mid-sized bean that you like and have in your pantry is fine. Drain them, rinse them and use them as you see fit.