Every now and again I get a pretty strong craving for canned tuna, but there are two problems with that: 1) canned tuna has gotten quite expensive and 2) All that mayo can be pretty dangerous. So, I came up with this easy little Tuna and White Bean Salad to solve both of those problems.
What’s in Tuna and White Bean Salad
White beans (navy or great northern) are pretty neutral in flavor and the texture goes quite well with tuna, so they’re a really great way to bulk out tuna salad for cheap. Instead of using mayo to keep the salad moist and flavorful, I made a light and bright mix of lemon juice and olive oil. Green onions, freshly cracked pepper, and a little salt are all you need to make the flavors pop. This salad is simple, flavorful, filling, and can be eaten on crackers, in a pita, or just plain with a fork. It’s a great way to pack in that protein!
What Else Can I Add?
If you happen to have lemon pepper seasoning on hand, you can sprinkle that into the salad for a little extra pop or in place of the lemon juice and freshly cracked pepper. It will give the same great flavor with one little shake of the bottle! A chopped up hard boiled egg would also be an excellent and inexpensive way to bulk up this salad.
Tuna & White Bean Salad
Servings 3Ingredients
- 1 15 oz. can white beans ($0.86)
- 1 5 oz. can chunk light tuna in water ($0.89)
- 2 whole green onions ($0.19)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.06)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- salt & pepper to taste ($0.05)
Instructions
- Pour the can of beans into a colander and rinse with cool water. Allow the excess water to drain off. Drain the can of tuna. Combine the drained beans and tuna in a bowl. Thinly slice the green onions and add to the bowl as well.
- Add the olive oil and lemon juice to the bowl, along with a light sprinkle of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine.
- Taste the mixture and add salt, pepper, or lemon juice to your liking.
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Nutrition
How to Make Tuna and White Bean Salad – Step By Step Photos
Drain and rinse the white beans. Drain the tuna and thinly slice the green onions. Combine all three in a bowl.
Add the olive oil, lemon juice, a light sprinkle of salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. I like pepper a lot, so I added probably about 20 cranks of the pepper mill.
Stir everything together and then adjust the seasoning to your liking. You can see how the tuna and beans were kind of falling apart, which makes it not so pretty. Higher quality beans will stay intact and higher quality tuna will be more chunky than mushy. But it tasted great all the same!
I have made this salad three times in the last couple of weeks. The first time I loved it and the other times were because I couldn’t stop craving it! Also it was just what I needed to get back on track after so much heavy holiday food. Thanks, Beth!
Pretty yummy. Turned out a lot better than I expected.
hello, this is really a good salad!
but… i love garlic, then, I gave also 1 clove of garlic and 2 pickled cucumbers ;) And for my taste, the salad taste now even better!
Thanks for the recipe :)
What a fantastic substitute for mayo. Can’t wait to try this, it looks brilliant!
The Tuna White Bean Salad is absolutely delicious. I didn’t have fresh lemon juice and green onions on hand, so I used lemon pepper, extra virgin olive oil and red onion instead. I’m excited to enjoy this recipe for lunch to work, instead of sandwiches and wraps. Thank you so much, Beth!!! :-)
This is one of my go-to recipes. It’s even more fabulous with addedchopped basil from the garden.
Instead of green onions and lemon juice, try balsamic vinegar and celery leaves (you know, the parts that usually get thrown away) and black pepper!
This is my new go-to lunch. I am trying to go go veg, but I’m eating fish until I use up a large pack of tunaI bought at Costco and this recipe is perfect. I sometimes add feta if I have it around.
I make a similar dish but include arugula, sometimes switch to garbanzo beans and add feta, cucumbers and quinoa. I mix a quick honey dijon dressing separately and add per serving. Love this with sliced grapes and sunflower seeds sprinkled on to finish 😊
Oh yum! This sounds delicious! I love tuna and have been sad that the price has jumped so much on it over the last several years. This recipes looks like a great way to get my tuna fix without hurting the budget to much…plus I love how healthy it is!
This is awesome! I’m way late to commenting on this post but I just had to say how awesome it turned out. The best part is that it’s totally healthy too. I’m eating it over a bed of spinach with a big huge squirt of sriracha for dinner. I’ll definitely be making this again and again!
To quote George Takeai “Oh My!” I just finished off a batch of this tuna salad. I mashed some of the navy beans to make it just a bit creamier and added a splash of basalmic vinegar. Light, healthy, filling and wonderful tasting.
Hahaha, love the Tekeai reference. :)
Today with the heat index at 107F, this recipe came in handy. So delicious and no cooking!
I am DYING to try this Tuna and White Bean Salad, because I am a HUGE fan of tuna! Is it possible that I can use extra virgin olive oil for this recipe?
Yep, you sure can. :)
thinking about throwing this in a food processor for a spread on crackers. Anybody already tried this that can tell me if it turned out good?