Tuna Caesar Salad
Tuna caesar salad is such a satisfying and delicious meal that is so easy to make and perfect for lunch or dinner. This healthy caesar tuna salad is budget friendly and packed with protein (thanks to the canned tuna). Made with croutons, caesar dressing (store-bought or homemade) and crisp, crunchy lettuce, this salad is such a fun twist on classic caesar salad.
If you love making salad at home, you should try this Cruciferous Crunch Salad or Mediterranean Chickpea Salad.
Why you will love this recipe
- Easy to make – salads like this are perfect for lazy days. Even if you choose to make your own dressing and croutons, it’s still a filling meal that can be made in 10 minutes.
- Great for meal prep – this healthy filling tuna caesar salad is great for prepping ahead. Make the dressing in advance, chop the onion, tear the lettuce and when you are ready assemble the salad. If you are making homemade gluten free croutons, they really are best fresh. Use crackers or roasted potatoes in place of the croutons if you want to prep it all in advance.
- Budget friendly – using canned tuna in place of chicken or another typical protein is so budget friendly. The salad will still be high in protein but much more budget friendly.
Ingredients
- Romaine lettuce – romaine lettuce is crunchy, crisp and the perfect bed for the rest of the ingredients. Be sure to use a really fresh head of lettuce. If you don’t have romaine you can try this with buttercrunch lettuce or even iceberg.
- Red onion – I really like the crunch and the flavor of the red onion, especially when paired with the tuna. If you want to keep this salad more traditional, leave out the red onion.
- Canned tuna – canned tuna makes this salad more of a meal and is really budget friendly. Even if you don’t love tuna, you should try it in this recipe. The red onion and capers paired with the caesar dressing really pair well with canned tuna. I prefer Skipjack tuna in olive oil for the best flavor and taste.
- Capers – capers are salty and briny (like olives) and add so much flavor to the salad. Capers can be found in most grocery stores (around the olives). If you don’t have capers, you can use olives or simply omit them.
- Croutons – croutons are crucial for a classic Caesar salad. The crunch adds texture and interest to the salad, especially in comparison with the thick, creamy dressing. I like to make my own homemade gluten free croutons in the air fryer, but you can also use store bought. Making homemade croutons is so easy with an air fryer!
- Caesar dressing – you can make your own caesar dressing or use my favorite cashew caesar dressing recipe (or use your favorite recipe).
How to make tuna caesar salad
Start by making your croutons (if making homemade). Cut up the bread into cubes, spray with olive oil and salt and cook in the air fryer at 360F for 6 minutes, shaking the basket 1-2 times.
If you are making your own dressing, do that now. If you are making the cashew caesar dressing, soak the cashews in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain then add them to the blender with the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
Tear or cut the lettuce into bite size pieces (tear if you are making this salad in advance, it will retain more texture). Thinly slice the red onion.
Assemble the salad: Add the lettuce to the bowl. Top with sliced red onion, capers, tuna, croutons and dressing. Toss well so that everything is well coated and enjoy.
Top tips
- Use canned tuna packed in olive oil for the best texture and flavor. Use a fork to scoop tuna out of the can to leave any extra oil behind.
- Make the caesar dressing a day or two in advance. It gets more flavorful as it sits in the fridge.
- No croutons on hand? Use crushed us crackers in place of the croutons or make your own croutons in the air fryer.
- Make this salad Whole30 friendly by replacing the croutons with roasted potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes and using a compliant dressing.
Other additions
This is a pretty traditional Caser salad recipe. You can take it to the next level by adding one or more additional ingredients. Note you may need more dressing depending on how much more you add.
- White beans – add some cannellini beans, great northern white beans, chickpeas or butter beans
- Veggies: Add cucumber, tomato, radish, celery, carrots, avocado, green onions
- Cheese: Get that classic caesar salad flavor by adding some parmesan cheese you can use regular or vegan for dairy free
- Crunch – add some almonds, sunflower seeds, air fryer chickpeas
- Olives
- Roasted potato cubes or sweet potato cubes (use these in addition to the other ingredients or in place of the croutons for a Whole30 and paleo friendly version).
- Hard boiled eggs
What to serve with caesar tuna salad
Soup – Serve this along side of Greek Chickpea Soup, Tomato Gnocchi Soup, Vegan Rice Soup or Red Pepper and Lentil Soup
Appetizers – Butterbean Hummus and Crackers, Spinach Artichoke Dip and Chips or veggies, or Buffalo Chickpea Dip
Pasta – Veggie Pesto Pasta, Pasta with Carrot sauce, Sundried Tomato Mushroom Pasta, White Bean Pasta
Fries – serve with a side of sweet potato wedges, carrot fries, butternut squash fries, rutabaga fries or just a big bowl of regular French fries.
Common questions
What is the best kind of tuna for salads
I really love Skipjack tuna for this tuna caesar salad recipe. Skipjack is budget friendly and I think it blends in the dressing very well, not overpowering in flavor. To help with the texture and flavor I recommend using tuna packed in olive oil, I find that the taste and texture is better.
Skipjack tuna also has 3-4x less mercury than albacore, so if you are eating tuna often, this is certainly something to consider.
Whatever kind of tuna you decide to get, try to buy pole caught, line caught or troll caught tuna (it will be advertised on the can) as this type of fishing is much more sustainable.
Some of the brands of tuna I love are Trader Joe’s (super budget friendly), Mind Fish Co, SafeCatch, Wild Planet, and Thrive Market. 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 are good store bought caesar dressings
I usually make my own Caesar salad dressing because it’s very simple and I almost always have the ingredients on hand. However I do like the ingredients in (and the taste of) Primal Kitchen Caesar Dressing (this is much more budget friendly on Thrive Market). Chosen Foods Caesar dressing is also a good choice.
Is it better to cut or tear romaine lettuce for salad
Tearing lettuce helps to keep the texture, so if you are prepping your lettuce in advance, tear it instead of cutting it.
If you plan on eating your salad right away, you can cut the lettuce.
Meal Prep Tips and Storing Leftovers
Prep the individual components of the salad up to 3-4 days before enjoying.
Wait to add the dressing and croutons right before serving for the best texture. Store the croutons in a separate bag and the dressing in a small container.
Once you add dressing to the salad, the greens will start to wilt pretty quickly and the croutons will lose their crunch, so leftovers of this salad likely won’t keep more than an hour or two.
Substitutions
- Romaine lettuce – you can also use buttercrunch lettuce, iceburg lettuce or replace the romaine with spring mix, arugula, baby spinach or finely chopped kale.
- Red onion – you could also use green onion in place of the red onion. If you don’t have either, simply omit from the recipe.
- Croutons – if you don’t have croutons, you can use crushed up crackers, make your own croutons with bread or use roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes in place of the croutons.
- Capers – you can also use olives in place of capers or omit them from the recipe.
- Canned tuna – you can also use canned salmon, sardines (smoked would be really good), smoked oysters or even canned chicken or beans in place of the tuna.
- Caesar dressing – if you don’t caesar dressing on hand, check out my cashew caesar dressing, you likely have all the ingredients for this in your pantry. You could also enjoy this recipe with ranch dressing or a creamy balsamic dressing.
If you love this recipe, you should try
Tuna Caesar Salad
Ingredients
- 2 large heads romaine lettuce
- 1/4 medium red onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup caesar dressing
- 2 cans solid tuna, in olive oil
- 2 tbsp capers
- 1/2 cup croutons
Instructions
- If you are making homemade croutons and homemade dressing, make them first.
- Tear or chop the lettuce, chop the red onions.
- Assemble the salad, add the lettuce, red onion, capers, tuna and croutons to the bowl. Add about 1/4 cup of dressing and toss the salad. Add more dressing as needed.
Notes
- Use canned tuna packed in olive oil for the best texture and flavor. Use a fork to scoop tuna out of the can to leave any extra oil behind.
- Make the caesar dressing a day or two in advance. It gets more flavorful as it sits in the fridge.
- No croutons on hand? Use crushed us crackers in place of the croutons or make your own croutons in the air fryer.
- Make this salad Whole30 friendly by replacing the croutons with roasted potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes and using a compliant dressing.
- Prep the individual components of the salad up to 3-4 days before enjoying.
- Wait to add the dressing and croutons right before serving for the best texture. Store the croutons in a separate bag and the dressing in a small container.
- Once you add dressing to the salad, the greens will start to wilt pretty quickly and the croutons will lose their crunch, so leftovers of this salad likely won’t keep more than an hour or two.
