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southern tuna salad with dill aioli with two lemons as garnish in a clear bowl

Southern Tuna Salad

Kyrie | Healthfully Rooted Home
Southern tuna salad is a classic tuna salad recipe using good old-fashioned ingredients - with a slight twist. Instead of using traditional mayonnaise, I use homemade dill aioli.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course dinner, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings
Calories 160 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 4 5oz. cans tuna drained
  • 4 hard boiled eggs diced
  • 3 ribs celery finely chopped
  • 1 large pickle diced
  • 1/2 cup yellow onion diced
  • 3 tsp fresh dill chopped
  • sea salt and black pepper to taste
  • 1 batch homemade dill aioli see recipe above this recipe card or use 1 cup mayo

Instructions
 

  • Make your dill aioli (recipe here). Then set it aside to let the flavors marinate while you make your tuna salad.
  • Chop and dice all your ingredients.
  • Drain the canned tuna and dump into a large bowl.
  • Add your hard boiled eggs.
  • Toss in your celery, onion, pickles, dill, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
  • Then pour in the dill aioli and toss it all to combine. You might want to start by only using half the batch, taste, then add more if you'd like.

Notes

In a pinch

Sometimes you just need an easy button when it comes to meal-time. Use the below tips when you're in a pinch!
  1. Instead of making your own aioli, just use storebought mayo.
  2. Use prechopped ingredients
  3. Use relish instead of pickles.

storage instructions for Tuna salad

Store your tuna salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. You could also wrap your tuna salad in tortillas or place it in between bread for sandwiches and store it in the refrigerator that way.

Southern tuna salad Tips

  1. Stir - Stir the dry ingredients, prior to adding your aioli, to get them fully combined. If you add your aioli before stirring everything together, you'll get some pockets of ingredients that don't fully incorporate.
  2. Marinate - Do let the dill aioli marinate while you chop, dice and mix everything together. This makes it taste even better!
  3. Quality - Buy good quality canned tuna. It'll not only taste better - but it's healthier for you too. See below for how to buy the healthiest canned tuna (the answers might surprise you).

how to buy the healthiest canned tuna

The techniques for buying the healthiest canned tuna may surprise you!
  • line and pole caught - many of the very large tuna manufacturers use unethical fishing practices for catching tuna. They'll use very large nets to catch the tuna, but they also catch sea turtles and other marine life. To avoid this, look for the term line and pole caught.
  • Chunk light - the fancy types of tuna like albacore and yellowfin may seem like the better choice, however, those larger fish actually contain more mercury than the smile fish.
  • Olive oil or water - If you can't find tuna packed in olive oil, go for water. Most of the canned tuna you find on the shelves are packed in GMO soybean oil which is unhealthy.
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