Sometimes, there's nothing like making yourself a nice, fresh batch of tuna salad. With a little bit of zest, a little crunch, and a lot of flavor, it's perfect for sandwiches, as a dip, or in a casserole. And because it's such a versatile dish, you can pretty much customize tuna salad to your liking.
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00:00Feel like your tuna salad needs a twist? Try these tips on for size, from spicy kicks to
00:05flavor bombs to one ingredient that won't make sense until you've tried it. Keep watching
00:10for all this and more!
00:11Tuna salad is a staple dish for both everyday lunches and special occasions. The classic
00:16recipe combines ingredients such as canned tuna, onion, celery, carrots, pickles, mayo,
00:22and salt and pepper to taste. However, tuna salad is easily customizable to your own personal
00:27preferences as you can easily omit ingredients you don't like and replace them with ingredients
00:32you do like.
00:33In a way, the only mandatory elements are the tuna and the mayo, which hold everything
00:38together. A fun way to change up your tuna salad is by experimenting with ingredients
00:42of different textures. You can add crisp lettuce, crunchy potato chips, or crumbly bacon to
00:47break up the monotony of an otherwise texturally bland dish.
00:51Yet another way to mix up your tuna salad is with new flavors. For example, spices that
00:56will take your tuna up a notch include curry powder, dill, or lemon pepper. These work
01:00because their bold flavors complement the flavors of ingredients already in the dish.
01:05And if you're really bored with your regular tuna salad, there's an ingredient you can
01:09add to give the dish both a new texture and a new flavor.
01:12Adding pickled jalapeno juice to your tuna salad can give it a creamier consistency as
01:17it mixes in nicely with the mayo and gives the whole thing a pleasant, spicy kick. Be
01:22warned, though, jalapenos are middle of the road in terms of heat level. Even so, they
01:27can still pack some punch, so you should be cautious when adding jalapeno juice.
01:40Bare Feet in the Kitchen notes two tablespoons of the pickled jalapeno juice in its recipe,
01:45but recommends starting with less and increasing from there if you'd like more of a kick.
01:49If you really want to whip up a spicy tuna salad, consider making the dish with a little
01:53Mexican flair. One way to do this is to start out with your standard recipe, and then add
01:58a few extra ingredients that will kick the heat up a notch or two. For example, Mexican
02:03Food Journal recommends adding avocado, cilantro, lime juice, and serrano chilies. Keep in mind,
02:09however, that serrano chilies are much spicier than jalapenos.
02:13Another way to give your tuna salad a Mexican twist is by adding ingredients like corn,
02:17bell peppers, and onion. Cook at Home Mom even suggests including homemade taco seasoning
02:22for extra flavor. These Mexican-inspired tuna salads can be served with tostadas, lettuce
02:27wraps, or tortilla chips to really bring the meal together. If you've got leftovers, remember
02:32that when storing tuna salad, the dish should be refrigerated, and if it's been sitting
02:35for five days, you'll want to toss it. Any older than that, and you risk food poisoning,
02:40which definitely isn't going to be fun.
02:43I'm dying. I was dying earlier today, and then I died. Now I'm dead."
02:50Not all of us want to have our mouths set on fire by jalapenos or chilies, of course,
02:54but there are plenty of other ways to add something extra to your basic tuna salad recipe.
02:59For example, you might consider including a sweet element to tone down the spices. Sweet
03:03and spicy are already a perfect combination, so why not apply this to tuna salad? Budget
03:08Bites recommends adding not only cracked pepper and cayenne pepper to a tuna salad, but also
03:13brown sugar to balance out the heat. You should be mixing sugar into the recipe anyway, as
03:18it pairs well with fish. With this in mind, brown sugar isn't really too far a stretch.
03:23If you like that sweet and spicy combination but want to try something even more complex,
03:27you could take things even further. My Recipes has a version of tuna salad that includes
03:32hot pepper sauce, as well as sweet peppers, brown sugar, and grated orange peel. These
03:37ingredients will definitely give your dish a bit of a kick, but the sweeter elements
03:41will help keep that heat in check, making for one heck of a tuna salad.