Mexican Tuna Salad
Mexican tuna salad is quick, easy and packed with flavor. This healthy Mexican tuna salad recipe only takes 5 minutes and is fresh, bright, and made with no mayo! This no cook lunch uses pantry ingredients and is a delicious twist on traditional Mexican tuna salad.
Why you will love this recipe
- Quick and easy – all you have to do is chop the veggies and combine everything in a large bowl. Eat with crackers, sliced veggies or in a sandwich or wrap. This healthy Mexican tuna salad recipe is perfect for lunch or dinner and can easily be doubled or tripled.
- Simple ingredients – this Mexican tuna salad is made with ingredients you likely already have in your pantry or fridge. Because this recipe is made with canned tuna, it is pretty budget friendly as well.
- Great make ahead meal – you can make this healthy Mexican tuna salad can be made in advance and served up to 1-2 days later. Great for meal prep or making the night before.
- No mayo tuna salad recipe! Unlike most Mexican tuna salad recipes, this healthy tuna salad is made without mayo and instead uses olive oil and lime juice as a dressing and has avocado for healthy fats. That makes this healthy tuna salad with no mayo great for most diets! It’s paleo, Whole30, low carb and keto friendly.
Ingredients
- Lime juice – lime juice brightens up the flavor of the tuna and gives this Mexican tuna salad a tangy bite.
- Olive oil – olive oil helps to create the dressing for the salad. If you are trying to reduce calories, you can omit the olive oil if needed but it does add some richness to the dish.
- Spices: Salt, garlic powder, ground cumin, red pepper flakes – these spices help to elevate the flavors of the Mexican tuna salad and give it a smoky, spicy flavor.
- Avocado – the avocado provides some creaminess and healthy fats to the salad. If you are making this salad more than 1 day in advance, wait to cut the avocado until right before serving.
- Canned tuna – use your favorite type of canned tuna – in water or in olive oil. Drain the tuna before adding it to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. I love Skipjack tuna in olive oil.
- Red onion – red onion provides a bite and also some crunch to the Mexican tuna salad recipe. If you don’t love red onion, you can use green onion in place of the red onion or simply omitting it.
How to make Mexican tuna salad
Start by chopping the red onion, cilantro and cutting the avocado into small chunks.
Drain the tuna and add it to a medium sized bowl.
Add the chopped red onion, cilantro, cubed avocado, spices, olive oil and lime juice to the bowl. Stir well
Serve immediately or refrigerate before serving.
Top tips
- You can use tuna in water or tuna in olive oil. I prefer to use tuna packed in olive oil. In my recipe testing, I have discovered that tuna packed in olive oil tends to have a richer, deeper flavor and is so much more flavorful and moister than tuna packed in water, even when drained. Personally, I don’t add the oil from the can, but don’t go out of my way to drain it off either.
- If you are prepping this more than 1 day in advance, wait to add the avocado until you are serving it to avoid it getting brown on the outside.
- If you are using tuna that is unsalted, be sure to add a pinch more salt to the recipe to bring the flavors
Other additions
This Mexican tuna salad recipe is so flavorful and perfect for a quick, easy healthy lunch. Here are some other additions that you could make depending on what you have on hand and what you are craving.
- Veggies: Chopped tomatoes, red bell peppers, roasted red peppers, shredded red cabbage, charred corn, romaine lettuce
- Spice: Add pickled or fresh jalapeno, chipotle in adobo, cayenne pepper or more crushed red pepper flakes
- Creaminess: Add canned white beans or black beans (drained and rinsed of packing liquid)
How to serve Mexican tuna salad recipe
- Crackers
- Tortilla chips
- Slices of cucumber or bell peppers
- In a wrap or on bread
- In a tortilla
- On a crispy tostada shell
- On sweet potato toast
- In lettuce cups or in a collard green wrap
What to serve alongside tuna Mexican salad
Fries: Sweet Potato Fries, Rutabaga Fries, Carrot Fries, Parsnip Fries, Butternut Squash Fries
Potatoes: Air Fryer Sweet Potato Cubes, Air Fryer Potato Cubes, Vegan Roasted Potatoes
Rice or Quinoa: Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice, Instant Pot Yellow Rice, Cilantro Lime Quinoa
Veggies: Air Fryer Roasted Zucchini, Air Fryer Tomatoes, Air Fryer Frozen Cauliflower, Air Fryer Frozen Broccoli
Soup: Mexican Cauliflower White Bean Soup, Spicy White Bean Stew, Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Soup, Spicy Sweet Potato Soup, Black Bean Soup
Common questions
Can you make this with something other than tuna
Yes! You can also use canned salmon or canned chicken. You could make this vegan by using canned chickpeas in place of the tuna.
What is the best tuna to use?
Skipjack tuna is typically the least expensive and easy to find. You can buy tuna in water or tuna in olive oil. Skipjack also has 3-4 times less mercury than albacore tuna, so if you eat tuna often, skipjack is a great option. It’s important to note that skipjack tuna does have a much stronger fishy taste than albacore or yellowfin tuna.
When I am buying tuna, I always look for line caught, pole caught, or troll caught as these are more sustainable fishing option.
Some of the brands of tuna I love are Mind Fish Co, SafeCatch, Wild Planet, Thrive Market and Trader Joe’s (which is the most budget friendly). You can find Safe Catch and Wild Planet in most grocery stores, Whole Foods, Amazon and Thrive Market. If you are interested in checking out Thrive Market, you can get 25% off your first order!
What if you don’t like cilantro?
If you don’t like cilantro, you can simply omit it or you can replace it with flat leaf parsley. The flavor will change slightly but adding fresh herbs helps keep the recipe bright and fresh tasting.
Can you make this for meal prep?
Yes, you can make Mexican tuna salad for meal prep. The recipe keeps well for 2-3 days in the fridge. For the best color and texture, wait to add the avocado to the salad until right before serving.
It’s easy to double or triple this recipe in a large bowl to serve during the week. This is also a great no cooking required dinner.
Storing leftovers
Fridge: Store leftover tuna Mexican salad in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezer: I don’t recommend freezing this tuna salad in advance. However, you can blend together the cilantro, lime juice and olive oil and freeze it in ice cube trays. Defrost on the counter before using.
Substitutions
- Lime juice – you can replace the lime juice with lemon juice, red wine vinegar (about 1 tablespoon) or apple cider vinegar. Each of these substitutions will change the flavor slightly but all will work well.
- Olive oil – you can use avocado oil in place of the olive oil. You can also omit the oil if needed.
- Spices – the spices help to increase the flavor in this tuna salad recipe. If you don’t have ground cumin, you can replace it with smoked paprika for a similar smoky flavor. If you don’t have garlic powder, you can use onion powder or 1 tablespoon of dried chives. If you don’t have red pepper flakes, you can use cayenne pepper.
- Tuna – you can use whatever canned tuna you have on hand for this recipe. You could also use canned salmon, canned chicken or chickpeas or white beans in place of the tuna.
- Cilantro – cilantro gives the dish a really fresh, bright flavor. If you don’ have cilantro you can use flat leaf parsley.
- Avocado – avocado provides creaminess and healthy fats to the dish. If you don’t have avocado, simply leave it out.
- Red onion – red onion provides some crunch and helps give the Mexican tuna salad slight pungent flavor that offsets the brightness from the lime and fresh herbs perfectly. You can also use green onion or white onion if needed or simply omit the red onion from the recipe. You could use red bell pepper for the same kind of crunch.
If you love this recipe, you should try
Whole30 Mexican Tuna Stuffed Peppers
Mexican Tuna Salad
Guided Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 medium lime, juiced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/8-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 small avocado
- 3 tbsp cilantro leaves, chopped
- 3 tbsp red onion, chopped
- 1 can tuna, drained
Instructions
- Chop the cilantro, red onion and cube the avocado.
- Drain the tuna from the can and place it in a medium bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.
- Serve with crackers, chips, raw veggies or on bread or tortillas..
Notes
- You can use tuna in water or tuna in olive oil. I prefer to use tuna packed in olive oil. In my recipe testing, I have discovered that tuna packed in olive oil tends to have a richer, deeper flavor and is so much more flavorful and moister than tuna packed in water, even when drained. Personally, I don’t add the oil from the can, but don’t go out of my way to drain it off either.
- If you are prepping this more than 1 day in advance, wait to add the avocado until you are serving it to avoid it getting brown on the outside.
- If you are using tuna that is unsalted, be sure to add a pinch more salt to the recipe to bring the flavors.
- Fridge: Store leftover tuna Mexican salad in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: I don’t recommend freezing this tuna salad in advance. However, you can blend together the cilantro, lime juice and olive oil and freeze it in ice cube trays. Defrost on the counter before using.
NOT A FAN OF TUNA SO I USED CANNED CHICKEN . CAME OUT GREAT . USED SAME ING.
That is such a great substitution Pat, glad you loved the recipe using canned chicken. Hope you have a great day! Sam
Not a huge fan of tuna salad, in general, but this recipe was exactly what I needed! The combination of ingredients made the TS very light and refreshing. I substituted fresh lemon juice for the lime and it was divine.