As a person who brings their lunch to work on a regular basis, I try to develop recipes that I can prep in the beginning of the week and then portion out each day to save on time and effort. This tuna salad recipe is one of my favorites and perfect to make in larger batches.
I’ve always been a big tunafish sandwich fan. However, now that I am cutting down on carbs and sugar, I’ve created new ways to eat tuna so that I still get the same great taste but with half the fat and less carbs.
The secret to this recipe is the fact that I swapped low-fat cottage cheese for mayo. Just 4oz of low-fat cottage cheese has 10g of protein and only 2.5g fat! That blows mayo out of the water. It’s so simple, but makes a huge difference nutrition-wise. I served this tuna salad to my fiance, who is not at all a fan of cottage cheese, and he honestly had no idea it wasn’t made with mayo!
My other slow carb tip is to add white beans into the salad. Sometimes I get sick of eating just plain beans, so I try to mix them into different recipes so that I get the benefits of them without the full plain taste. You barely even realize they’re there, but they add a ton of fiber and protein into the mix. The beans will help fill you up as well, without filling you out. Always a bonus!
In addition to sneaking in the beans, I also sneak in various veggies. They add a nice little crunch to the salad and boost your vitamin intake as well. My traditional recipe uses carrots and red onions, however celery, tomatoes, avocado, etc. would also taste delicious! I was always told to “eat the rainbow,” so the more colorful, the better! Be creative.
The addition of spicy brown mustard helps give the tuna salad a little bit of a kick and boosts the flavor. It also adds extra moisture since there is no mayo involved.
There are lots of different ways to enjoy this salad once you finish making it. Sometimes I just scoop some into a bowl and eat it as is.
One of the most common ways I enjoy it is by putting it over top of baby spinach. This particular time, I added in avocado and tomatoes on top.
I recently blogged about top pins from Pinterest I wanted to try. One of the pins I found used cucumber bowls to eat tuna/chicken/egg salad. I tried this method as well and it was fabulous!! The cucumber is so refreshing with the salad and it was so much fun to eat! All I did was cut up a cucumber into pieces of about 3 inches in length. I didn’t have a melon baller, so I used a 1/2 tsp to scoop out the inside of the cucumber and filled them with the tuna salad. Needless to say, I’ll definitely be making these again!
Let me know in comments how you enjoyed your tuna salad! Enjoy!
Slow Carb Tuna Salad Recipe {Mayo Free}
2013-07-29 16:38:28
Serves 4
A low-fat version of a traditional tuna salad packed with protein, fiber, and colorful veggies.
Prep Time
10 min
Total Time
10 min
Ingredients
- 1 can tuna fish (12oz), light chunk packed in water
- 1 can white beans (15.5oz)
- 4oz low-fat cottage cheese, 2% milkfat
- 1-2 tbs (or to taste) spicy brown mustard
- 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
- 8-10 baby carrots, chopped
- 1/8 tsp celery salt (regular salt may be substituted)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients, except for the white beans, together in a large bowl. Once everything is thoroughly mixed, add in the white beans and carefully mix so that they don't break apart. Serve on top of spinach and top with vegetables of choice.
Notes
- *Tuna may also be substituted with chicken to create a chicken salad recipe.
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