My improvised mayo-free tuna salad!

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dontpanic1984
dontpanic1984 Posts: 82 Member
in Recipes
I've never been a fan of tuna salad or chicken salad soaked in mayo. Mayonnaise always seems like it should just be a in a jar that says "calorie spread." Plus I'm not crazy about the taste and texture of traditional tuna salad - sooooo I made this up!

(I'm not a big measurer, so you'll have to experiment to get things how you like 'em according to taste)

Chunk light tuna in water
Zest and juice of a lime (or more, depending on how much you're making)
Dash of Louisiana hot sauce (not enough to make it spicy, just enough to add a bit of flavor)
Minced fresh garlic
A drizzle of olive or grapeseed oil (about 3 tablespoons for a big, big batch)
A few dashes of red wine vinegar
Fresh ground black pepper
Capers
Diced red onion
Chopped kalamata olives

I eat it on whole grain crackers, or wrapped in a purple cabbage leaf with a bit of hummus, a couple of tomato slices, and some pickled jalapenos (because I love the heat!)

When I put in the proportions I used, it came out to about 120 calories for a cabbage wrap - and 13 g of protein! Only 5g fat. You can cut the fat by omitting the oil, but i think the flavors come together better w/ the oil.

All that protein made it SUPER filling!

I'll let you know when I come up with the next low-cal lunch!

Replies

  • Mrs_McFadden
    Mrs_McFadden Posts: 1,139
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    Awesome idea- I always make mine with Sriracha sauce and a tiny bit of mayo and chopped cucumber. I love experimenting with it's just too bad we can't eat it all of the time (mercury issue).
  • dontpanic1984
    dontpanic1984 Posts: 82 Member
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    Nice idea w/ the Sriracha! Taking notes...
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    You shouldn't use canned tuna. It's full of mercury which is extremely toxic and doesn't get flushed from your body, and it is also high in BPA which it leaches from the can itself.

    Salmon is much better and doesn't taste too much different, but again, don't get it in a can.
  • lkm111
    lkm111 Posts: 629 Member
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    I do something very close. It's my take on a wrap in "Eating for Life" cookbook.

    1 can tuna, drained
    1 T parsley
    Juice of a lime
    1-2 T Light Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
    1-2 dashes Old Bay seasoning

    Mix and wrap in choice of wrap (I like Flat Out). Add tomato and lettuce. Filling makes enough for two wraps.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    I also do the siracha and cucumbers in my tuna. I also like to use a low fat sour cream in place of mayo. I usually only use 1 tbsp of sour cream (or mayo, when I used it) but could use 2 tbsp of the sour cream, if i wanted, for the same amount of cal as the 1 tbsp of mayo.

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