Chef Kathleen Ashmore has shared her mayo-free tuna salad recipe that she has been making for years. She noted that this recipe is so "incredibly flavourful and unique" that it has become an "irresistible staple" in her home.
Pepperoncini: The Game-Changing Ingredient
To add the most flavour, the chef adds pepperoncini. Kathleen said, "The pepperoncini are a star here: they add that burst of briny flavour that makes the salad come alive, and if you really want to turn up the volume, add their brine to the dressing too." While pepperoncini is "really the game changer here", if you don't want to go out and buy some, the chef noted that you can use pickles instead.
Other Key Ingredients
Kathleen uses a few other ingredients in the recipe, one being Dijon mustard. This acts as an emulsifier, blending the oil and vinegar into a smooth, creamy dressing. Speaking of vinegar, red wine vinegar in this recipe has a tangy, slightly fruity undertone, which sits perfectly alongside the flavours in this tuna salad. Other vinegars will do the job, but red wine vinegar is the chef's "first choice".
Ingredients for Six Servings
- Four tins of tuna, in olive oil
- Half a cup of onion, minced
- Three stalks of celery, diced
- Six pepperoncini peppers, sliced thinly
- Two tablespoons of capers (optional)
- Half a cup of parsley, fresh and chopped
- Two tablespoons of Dijon mustard
- Half a cup of olive oil
- A third of a cup of pepperoncini brine
- One tablespoon of red wine vinegar
- Half a teaspoon of salt
- A quarter of a teaspoon of pepper
How to Make No-Mayo Tuna Salad Filling
This salad is not fussy to make, as there are no strict instructions on how best to create it. At the end of the day, all of the ingredients get mixed into one beautiful concoction of flavours and textures. To make it, combine the tuna and diced vegetables with the olive oil in a mixing bowl first, then add the additional dressing ingredients on top before giving the salad a healthy stir. Soaking the onion in cold water before adding it to your salad will reduce some of the bitterness, and it mellows out the flavour.
Storage and Shelf Life
Transfer any leftover tuna salad to an airtight container and refrigerate – it will last roughly three to five days in the fridge. When you next want to eat it, give it a stir and dig in.
