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This tuna salad is creamy, crisp, and anything but boring, with sweet apple, fresh basil, and Lemon brightening every bite. It comes together quickly with simple Ingredients and is perfect for sandwiches, crackers, or greens. You’re going to love the fresh twist on a classic lunch.
Why You’ll Love It
- Fresh, bright flavor — apple, basil, and lemon lighten up the creamy tuna.
- Plenty of crunch — celery and apple add texture in every bite.
- Quick to make — simple chopping and stirring, then a short chill.
- Easy to serve — enjoy it on toast, in sandwiches, over greens, or with crackers.
Ingredient Notes
The tuna should be a 12-ounce can packed in oil, drained well. Don’t rinse it; we are not trying to punish the tuna. Just drain it and let that richer flavor do its thing. Use whatever decent brand you like. I’m not precious about brands unless we’re talking mayonnaise, and even then I try not to start an argument at family dinner.
For the apple, a red apple is what you want here. Something crisp and mildly sweet. I usually reach for a Gala or Fuji if I have one, though I have used a plain old Red Delicious in a pinch and nobody filed a complaint. Dice it fairly small so you get a little crunch in each bite instead of one giant apple cube announcing itself like it owns the place.
Fresh basil matters. Dried basil is not going to give you that bright, fragrant little lift, so please don’t swap it in unless you absolutely must. If your basil plant on the windowsill has finally given up—which happens to mine every year despite my insistence that I’m “good with plants”—buy a small package from the store.
And lemon: use half a fresh lemon. The bottled stuff will work if the world is ending and you’re in pajamas, but fresh is better here. Salt and pepper are entirely up to you. Tuna is salty already, mayonnaise has opinions, and every lemon is different. Taste it.
Ingredients
- 1 (12-ounce) can tuna in oil, drained well
- 2 to 3 stalks celery, diced — I use 3 if they’re skinny, 2 if they’re those enormous grocery-store stalks
- 1 red apple, diced, skin left on because I’m not peeling an apple for tuna salad, heaven help us
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Put the drained tuna in a medium-sized bowl and break it up a little with a fork. Not into dust—you want it mixed, not mashed into fish paste. I made that mistake once while distracted by a daytime talk show, and the texture was just… no.
Add the diced celery and apple to the bowl. Try to dice them fairly evenly, though I’m certainly not standing over you with a ruler. The apple is what makes people pause after the first bite and say, “What is that?” in a good way.
Spoon in the mayonnaise, then add the chopped fresh basil and the juice from half a lemon. The basil can cling to the knife and cutting board like it has nowhere else to be, so scrape every last bit in there.
Season with salt and pepper, then stir everything together until it’s well combined. I like to fold it around with a fork rather than beating it to death with a spoon. Taste it now and adjust the salt and pepper if it needs it. Sometimes I say I don’t add salt at all, but that isn’t quite true—I usually add a tiny pinch.
Cover the bowl and chill it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. This is not a fussy, overnight-marinate situation; it just gives the lemon, basil, and apple a minute to settle in together.
Serve the tuna salad over a green salad, piled onto sandwich bread, or with your favorite crackers. Toasted bread is especially nice, although if you hand me soft white sandwich bread, I’m not turning my nose up at it.
Variations
This is delicious on a croissant, but a little too rich for me most days. Then again, I say that while spreading mayonnaise into tuna, so take my dietary wisdom with a grain of salt.
I wouldn’t mess with the apple or basil if you want the particular charm of this recipe—they’re the whole point. But you can choose your serving situation based on your mood. On greens with extra lemon, it feels almost virtuous. With sturdy crackers, it’s a snacky lunch. In a sandwich with lettuce, it takes me right back to those hurried school-day afternoons, except now my kitchen is quieter and nobody is yelling from upstairs that they “literally have nothing to wear.”
I did try adding chopped red onion once. That was not terrible, exactly, but it bulldozed right over the basil and made the whole thing taste more like every other tuna salad. So I don’t bother. There are enough onions in the world getting attention already.
Storage & Reheating
Keep leftovers covered in the refrigerator and eat them within a day or two. Because of the chopped apple, it’s really best the first day—the apple stays crisp and bright then. By the next day it’s still perfectly edible, but the apple softens a bit and the basil loses some of its pep. Life goes on.
Give it a quick stir before serving leftovers, since a little moisture can collect in the bowl. If it seems dry, add the smallest dab of mayonnaise or another squeeze of lemon. Don’t overdo it. I have turned leftovers into a slippery mess trying to “freshen them up,” and then I had to eat it anyway because I hate wasting food. A character-building lunch.
And no reheating, obviously. I feel silly even typing that, but somebody somewhere has put tuna salad in a microwave, and I just need them to know they deserve better.
Final Notes
There’s something comforting about a recipe that doesn’t ask much of you. A can opener, a cutting board, a bowl. Fifteen minutes in the refrigerator while the house keeps doing what houses do—ice maker clunking, dog barking at a delivery truck, somebody texting you a photo of a lamp they want your opinion on.
This tuna salad has that old-fashioned lunch-counter familiarity, but the apple and basil keep it from feeling stuck in the past. Which is nice. I like old things. I just don’t necessarily want to eat like it’s from another era, unless we’re talking deviled eggs, and even those were occasionally a little frightening.
Make it when lunch has gotten boring. Make it on a hot day when turning on the stove feels like an act of aggression. Make it for yourself, preferably with good crackers and five quiet minutes if you can manage it.
Though honestly, quiet is overrated sometimes.
Martha Stewart's Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 1 (12-ounce) can tuna in oil drained well
- 2 to 3 stalks celery diced
- 1 red apple diced, skin left on
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves chopped
- 1/2 lemon juice freshly squeezed
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put the drained tuna in a medium-sized bowl and break it up a little with a fork, keeping some texture rather than mashing it into a paste.
- Add the diced celery and diced red apple to the bowl, aiming for fairly even pieces so each bite has crunch.
- Spoon the mayonnaise into the bowl with the tuna, celery, and apple.
- Add the chopped fresh basil and the juice from half a lemon, scraping in any basil that clings to the knife or cutting board.
- Season with salt and pepper, then gently stir or fold everything together until well combined.
- Taste the tuna salad and adjust the salt and pepper as needed, adding just a tiny pinch of salt if desired.
- Cover the bowl and chill the tuna salad in the refrigerator for 15 minutes so the lemon, basil, and apple can settle together.
- Serve the tuna salad over greens, piled onto sandwich bread or toast, or with your favorite crackers.