The Canned Ingredient That Gives Tuna Salad A Little Something Extra

For many, tuna salad is a meal staple. Its cool texture and protein-packed nutrients make it especially ideal during hot summer months. The only drawback with the dish is that it can feel a little bland, but thankfully there are ways to create a more elevated tuna salad with ease. For example, add some horseradish for a hint of spice or make it taste like heaven when you use avocado instead of mayonnaise.

But if you want to give basic tuna salad a little upgrade, try adding some English peas (which happen to be former President Thomas Jefferson's favorite vegetable). This simple ingredient gives some color to the appearance of tuna salad, as well as some variation in the salad's texture. This addition is an elegant way to make the salad more interesting with minimal prep or effort required. The best part is that you can use either canned or frozen peas, so you can choose whichever product is most convenient for you without having to worry about it affecting the quality of your tuna salad.

If you're using canned English peas, you only need to add a single can to the tuna salad. If you are using frozen English peas, 1 cup of frozen peas for every can of tuna is more than plenty. Regardless of which approach you take, feel free to add as much or as little as you'd like until you achieve a texture and balance that you enjoy.

If you opt for frozen peas, make sure to allow them to thaw out – pour the peas into a colander and run them under cold water – in order to improve the texture of the final product. Last but not least, consider adding some additional ingredients to complement the peas and improve the overall taste and texture of tuna salad. Common add-ins include vegetables like red onion, diced celery, water chestnuts, or chopped green peppers; condiments like sweet pickle relish, crème fraîche, or Worcestershire sauce; or additional protein like eggs or Greek yogurt. You can also include some carbs by adding pasta to the tuna salad, serving it on sliced bread, with crackers for dipping, or stuffing the tuna salad into large pasta shells. If you'd rather keep things simple, try adding fresh dill to the tuna salad before serving to make it taste brighter. Feel free to mix and match any of these ideas until you find a flavor and texture combination that you love.