10 Crunchy Dippers To Scoop Your Tuna Salad

In a world where even the price of eggs has become volatile, many of us are turning to shelf-stables for low-priced meals and snacks. Seemingly steadfast against the rising cost of groceries, canned tuna remains as one of the most dependable shelf-stable products in the store, and one that is just as versatile as it is affordable. Tuna can be served directly from the can, spooned onto a Niçoise salad, baked into a classic American casserole, or, most commonly, stirred with mayo and served as tuna salad. The creamy, crunchy, fishy salad can itself be a meal or a snack with the right accoutrements, sometimes even earning the privilege of being served as stylish hors d'oeuvres. It's undeniably the best way to stretch your budget, and canned tuna comes with a pretty decent nutrition label, too.

There are plenty of ways to upgrade canned tuna salad to make it more exciting, but what about the vessels used for scooping, dipping, and serving the tuna? Being as versatile as it is, tuna salad can be piled onto far more than a simple Ritz or a slice of bread. We've rounded up 10 crunchy dippers that will transform the humble, creamy salad into an elegant app, a sushi-like snack, or a protein-packed lunch — giving you 10 new ways to stretch that small-but-mighty can of packed fish into a few more meals.

If you like the taste of sushi, maki, ramen, or even poke bowls, nori is what you need to try with your tuna salad. Also known as seaweed, the dark sheets are used for rolling sushi and melting into ramen broth for a deep umami flavor and silky texture. Used with tuna salad, nori isn't that different from your favorite sushi roll: just slice a few inches of nori from the sheet, add a spoonful of tuna salad, gently fold it together, and enjoy!

To compliment the nori, you can add a few ingredients to the tuna salad that also reflect Japanese flavors. Instead of regular mayonnaise, swap in Kewpie mayo. Add a few chopped scallions and a drizzle of Sriracha for flavor, then consider topping with sesame seeds or togarashi. You can also season the tuna salad with rice vinegar, soy sauce, or sesame oil for a stronger, saltier, or nuttier flavor.

If you've ever eaten at P.F. Chang's, you're probably familiar with one of the chain's most popular menu items — the spicy chicken lettuce wraps. If you've never had the pleasure of snacking on the shareable, build-your own style appetizer in-restaurant, you can make it for yourself at home — and you can swap in tuna salad for a particularly budget-friendly version. Using crisp iceberg lettuce, the crunchy bottoms of Romaine, or a head of little gem, spoon creamy tuna salad into the concave cup of the leaf for a healthy, hearty, shareable snack.

The tuna itself can take a few different forms when paired with lettuce depending on what flavors you're craving. You can replicate the Asian-inspired lettuce wraps from P.F. Chang's by adding soy sauce, chili peppers, Sriracha, a few chopped water chestnuts, and some peanuts. However, this would also work just as well with the usual mayo, celery, and onion combo.

So maybe you're really more of a cracker person — and that's OK, because you can still get creative within the super-crunchy category. Parmesan crisps are a gluten-free cracker-like option that offer a cheesy, salty, savory flavor. When store-bought, the crisps are a light and crispy, rice-cake-like texture with a uniform shape and size that is good for hosting and serving. Homemade Parmesan crisps are a little more rustic looking, with a thin and crispy texture and lacey, abstract shape. They're easy to make in a pinch, especially if you tend to keep Parmesan on hand (as you should), making them a good backup to crackers when the tuna craving hits.

Parmesan crisps work well with a classic mayo tuna salad, especially one made with Dijon, lemon, and extra dill. You can also make it a salad-inspired snack by stirring Caesar dressing into the tuna, as the Parmesan crisps complete the Caesar in a crunchy, crouton-like way (you can add a piece of lettuce on top for the missing leafy element).

Maybe a little fancier than the casual snack, phyllo shells provide an excellent cup-like base for an inexpensive canapé. Crunchy but light, airy, and buttery, phyllo shells are a crispy balance to creamy tuna salad while being stylish enough for an appetizer tray. Phyllo shells are sold in the freezer section near similar products like pie crusts and puff pastry sheets, and can also be made from frozen phyllo dough (or homemade, if you're extra ambitious). To make phyllo cups, simply roll out the phyllo dough into a thin sheet, slice into 2-inch squares, and press into a mini muffin tin.

You can fill phyllo shells with just about any style of tuna salad thanks to the neutral flavor of the buttery cup. We'd recommend keeping up the fancy theme by mixing up a super-creamy tuna salad (consider making your own mayo) and topping with caviar, fresh dill, and curly microgreens.

Next to crackers, cucumber is probably the second most popular tuna dipper. Crunchy, snappy, and refreshing, the easily sliceable veg seamlessly combines with any tuna salad, the fresh flavor complimenting everything from Sriracha to caviar. Cucumber slices can be a quick, dippable snack for tuna salad, or you can level up and make them into cup shapes for a higher-end hors d'oeuvres.

To make cucumber cups, peel the cucumber (if desired) and cut into 1-inch slices. Gently scoop the top of the slice with a spoon or melon baller to create a bowl shape, then fill with a spoonful of tuna salad. Because cucumber and dill are a perfect flavor match (think Tzatziki), fill your tuna salad with lemon, Greek yogurt, and capers, then top the cucumber canapé with a healthy amount of the leafiest dill.

This is a dipper for the fitness enthusiasts. Rice cakes are an excellent source of carbohydrates, necessary for fueling the body before vigorous exercise. Paired with protein-packed tuna, rice cakes become a seriously powerful tool for athletes — and a delicious one that can be served as a meal or a snack. Even better, rice cakes are generally flavorless, meaning you can manipulate them to fit any flavor add-ins.

One thing we recommend when using rice cakes: add something creamy to balance the dry mouthfeel of the rice cake. For example, you can go green-goddess style by coating the rice cake in mashed avocado and creamy tuna salad filled with scallions, yogurt, and herbs. You can also layer the cake with hummus before adding a Mediterranean-inspired tuna salad mixed with lemons, olives, parsley, and tomato. Feel free to seek out mini rice cakes, which are easier to snack on — and a little less dry, too.

Another vessel that works well with hummus and other Mediterranean mix-ins is the pita chip. A salty, crispy baked piece of pita, these are probably the most familiar dipper of the list. Similar to tortilla chips and crackers, pita chips work well with virtually any kind of tuna salad. Pita chips are popular enough now to be found in almost any grocery store, but if you can't find pita in chip form, you do have some options.

First, you can always skip the chip and use soft pita instead — which also works well for meal-sized portions, too. You can also just bake your own pita chips, which is easy enough to do in less than 20 minutes. Simply slice the pita into triangles, drizzle with oil, season, and bake until crispy. Then just pile on the tuna — we recommend mixing in a little Tzatziki or hummus for a perfect pita chip compliment.

A similar vehicle to pita chips are crispy baked wontons, which work best with Asian-inspired flavors like the ones recommended for the nori sheets. Crispy, airy, and salty, we know baked wontons best from recipes like crab rangoon dip or poke canapés. The wontons can be used similarly for tuna salad, either being used to dip or serve the creamy, fishy mixture.

With wontons, you can keep it simple with a scallion and Sriracha-based tuna salad, or you can get a little creative with Asian-inspired options. You could model the tuna salad off of crab rangoons and warm it up with cream cheese, Monterey Jack, chili sauce, and scallions for a warm and gooey tuna dip. You could also skip the mayo entirely and instead mix the tuna with soy sauce, fish sauce, and lemon for a lighter, canned tuna poke bowl-inspired snack.

This option is for the snacker with a sweet tooth — though if you haven't yet tried a sweet version of tuna salad, you might want to whip up a batch. Before you close the page in disgust, let us clarify. There isn't any sugar or chocolate in this suggestion, just fruit-forward elements that transform the tuna salad into a lighter, sweeter snack than is typical. Think of it this way: if you're the type of person who likes grapes in your chicken salad, you should try tuna with apple slices.

Though a standard onion-and-mustard tuna salad would work perfectly fine on top of crunchy Gala or Fuji slices, you can make the combo even sweeter by adding dried cranberries, slices of grape, and poppy seeds to the mix. You can also add apple right into the tuna salad for an extra dose of crunch, or balance the sweetness with a nut like almond or pecan. And for a unique, sweet-and-spicy version, try mixing in hot honey mustard instead of Dijon.

Endives are kind of like the cooler, sleeker cousin of lettuce. While the application is similar, the result is a little different thanks to endive's slightly bitter flavor and added crunch. Endive can be eaten raw and is often used for salads, sandwiches, and hors d'oeuvres with salty-sweet dressings and fillings to balance the bitter bite. To use endive leaves for dipping into tuna, grab a few small Belgian endives from the store, wash them well, then just peel back each leaf and break it off at the core. You can also scoop the tuna salad into the slender bowl of the endive leaf, which is also a good way to serve tuna salad as a springtime appetizer.

Because endive is a fairly flavor-neutral base, the tuna salad you pair with it can be both creative and a little bold. For example, mixing horseradish into the tuna salad would make a great, nose-clearing spicy version, best when paired with creamy, tangy crème fraîche. Endives also pair well with bacon, apples, pecans, and grapes, which can be mixed into tuna for a salad with a lot of different flavor (Waldorf, anyone?).