If your tuna mayonnaise sandwich just isn’t cutting it for you any more, it’s probably time to give it a shake up. The combination is a staple among supermarket meal deal sarnies and homemade packed lunches but if the filling is in need of an injection of flavour there’s one ingredient you should consider.
Simply Recipes’ writer Stella Totino shared that the tuna salads she ate growing up were mayo-laden, which usually overwhelmed the flavour. However, now she prefers the Italian version of a tuna salad recipe, which replaces mayo with olive oil and adds olives, finely chopped celery, extra Dijon mustard, and white wine vinegar. But there’s one ingredient which takes it to the next level: capers.
Capers have a salty, tangy, and slightly lemony flavor with a distinct briny quality. The capers can amplify the taste of the tuna without overwhelming the tastebuds with salt.
Stella wrote: “No matter what kind of tuna salad I’m making, there’s one single ingredient that upgrades the entire dish, regardless of whatever else I throw into the bowl: capers.”
Small brined capers can help bring that pop of salinity to a dish, but also a nice pickled flavour too. These partner well with both fish and oil.
When it comes to making the perfect tuna filling, or even a salad, Stella highlighted a few “essential” ingredients to add in. These include shallots, celery, lemon pepper seasoning, mustard, as well as the capers.
For Stella’s recipe, mince three-quarters of a medium-sized shallot and cube half a celery stalk. Then chop a tablespoon of capers, before mixing them all in a bowl.
Pour the tuna into a bowl, breaking the fish apart, but be careful not to over-mash. Season the mixture with Dijon mustard, lemon pepper, mayo or olive oil, and lemon juice.
For a salad, Stella said: “When I stir the salad, I almost fold it to preserve the large chunks of tuna while ensuring all the flavors are incorporated. Finally, I taste to see if any salt is needed (it rarely is, thanks to the capers).
“Once you’ve mixed your tuna salad, either serve it as a sandwich filling, a scoop on top of a green salad, or, as I often do, as a dip for large crackers.”