I’ve been having so much fun working my way through a big tub of gochujang that I bought a while back, adding it to random things I’m eating and discovering how much flavor it can bring to my meals. My latest experiment was gochujang tuna salad. It creates a uniquely savory and spicy tuna salad that is great for sandwiches, wraps, or just stuffing into crunchy vegetables!
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What is Gochujang?
Gochujang is a Korean chile paste made with chile peppers, rice, fermented soybeans, and salt. It kind of reminds me of a spicy version of miso. Gochujang is really starting to trend in the U.S. because of its uniquely sweet-salty-spicy and UMAMI flavor, and because we’re all kind of over our infatuation with sriracha and looking for the next best thing. You can usually find a tub or tube of gochujang in the international aisle of most major grocery stores (I used this one), or if you’re really adventurous, try making your own homemade gochujang!
Scroll down to the step by step photos section below the recipe to see images of what gochujang looks like.
How to Serve Gochujang Tuna Salad
As with most tuna salad, this tuna salad can be made into a sandwich or wrap, scooped up with crackers or vegetables, or you can even serve it in little lettuce cups (maybe topped with some shredded carrot).
Try These Other Tuna Salad Flavors
Love to jazz up your tuna salad? Try these other tuna salad variations:
Gochujang Tuna Salad
Servings 4 ½ cup eachIngredients
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise ($0.10)
- 1 Tbsp gochujang ($0.23)
- 1 12oz. can chunk light tuna in water ($1.99)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.20)
Instructions
- First, stir the mayonnaise and gochujang together until smooth.
- Drain the tuna well, then add it to the gochujang mayonnaise mixture, along with the sliced green onions. Stir until the tuna is evenly mixed with the mayonnaise. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Gochujang Tuna Salad – Step by Step Photos
This is the type of gochujang that I used. It comes in a tub and lasts next to forever in the fridge. I got this at Kroger, which actually had 2-3 different brands available.
And this is what it looks like inside. It’s a thick, red paste. It looks (and tastes) like a spicy version of miso.
Because gochujang is so thick, you’ll want to mix it together with the mayonnaise first. Combine ¼ cup mayonnaise and 1 Tbsp gochujang and stir until smooth.
Drain one 12oz. can of chunk light tuna in water and slice two green onions. Add both to the gochujang mayonnaise.
Stir the tuna and green onions into the gochujang mayonnaise until evenly combined.
Enjoy with vegetables, crackers, as a sandwich, or a wrap!
YUM! I had gochujang lying around so made this and put it on a sandwich, so good.
This is delicious. One of my favorite lunches to add to my tuna rotation. Highly recommend.
Would this work with canned salmon instead of tuna?
Yes, I bet that would be delicious!
Made it with the canned salmon…..delicious! Ate it on a hoagie roll.
Nice!! Thanks for sharing how it turned out. :)
We had leftovers after baking an enormous Costco salmon fillet and used some of it in this recipe. It was fabulous, even better than with tuna.
Tried this recipe for snacks with my cousins and they gave me 2 thumbs up! Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely delicious! Made on a whim, and it’s gonna be a go-to lunch option!
Just an update (and I forgot to leave 5 stars — oops!) This dish has really inspired me, and tonight I’m gonna be making a gochujang tuna melt type crostini! Thanks again for the delicious recipe!
Loved it. Super simple and tons of flavour. Looking forward to bringing this out as an new nacho topping for some summer bbq evenings outdoors.
Made this for lunch today and followed the recipe exactly. I loved this! What a clever and simple way to dress up plain tuna salad using items that keep well in the fridge and pantry. I’ll definitely keep this recipe in mind in the future.
Forgot to give my star rating, five stars for this for sure!
Great recipe! I couldn’t find tuna at my kroger so I used ground turkey instead! I don’t know what gochujang is but my wife definitely wouldn’t let me eat it, so I used ketchup instead. The texture on the ground turkey is a little rough, my kids loved this one!
So you didn’t make this recipe at all then?
Why bother rating a recipe for ‘gochujang tuna salad’ if you omitted both the gochujang and the tuna?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk55bJWOFyk&ab_channel=SmoshPit
aye bro you’re famous.
Smosh brought me here lol. I don’t think my dude should be allowed to rate this recipe
Smosh also brought me here but because i was interested in the original recipe!
Haha me too! Just watched it on Smosh and was intrigued! Can’t believe I found the exact comment ahha!!
Dude that youtube cracked me up!
Just here to say thank you for feeding me on pennies in grad school, and thank you for feeding me now as a financially-stable “adult”. I turn to you when I’m in a rut whether I’m on a budget or not. Thank you!
What is the date for this post?
Are all of your posts also available on YouTube?
You can find the dates for the posts at the very bottom, just before the comment section. This one is brand new, posted on January 16, 2021. I do not make videos for all the recipes (there are over 1,000!), so not all of them will be on Youtube. :)
Unfortunately, here in the state of New Jersey we don’t have a Kroger. So I’ll stick with your spicy version of tuna salad. Although, this looks amazing.
Any Asian market will carry it. New Jersey has both H Mart and Lotte Asian markets.
We don’t have a Kroger in my area, either, but every supermarket in town has some brand of Gochujang. The one I bought was not quite so thick as the Sempio brand, but spectacularly good–made an insane tuna salad!
I’ve been using Gochujang to flavor meatballs, both before cooking and in a mostly soy glaze. We like pork balls, but the ones I did with chicken were terrific, too. I think it would perk up a stir fry, too. Or toss some in soup.
I am in Upstate NY, and even we have Gogujang, although the brand I got was different. Look in the Asian food aisle if you don’t have an Asian Market nearby.
This looks great. I will definitely try it. Any other ways you find to use gochujang would be great to know!
Go look up the recipe for gochujang stew at futuredish.com. Sooooo tasty.
I was delighted to see this! I have a tub of gochujang that I’m playing with. I like to use cottage cheese instead of mayo, but I don’t see why that would pose a problem. Might even slice up some radish for some crunch!