This Seasoning Is All You Need For Tuna Salad With 100x The Flavor

Tuna salad doesn't have to be boring. At its simplest, it's just mayo and canned tuna whipped together, and while you can add a little salt and pepper or some red wine vinegar for tang, if you're looking to really elevate it, there's one seasoning blend that has a big impact: Old Bay.

Old Bay and seafood go together like peas and carrots, but it's more common to find it on shrimp and crabs and less so on tuna salad. But the salty, savory blend couples with the rich mayonnaise to produce a flavor-packed dressing for tuna, too. A few of the most notable seasonings that make up Old Bay are paprika, celery seed, red pepper, and mustard. Each of those spices brings bold flavor on its own, with paprika and red pepper bringing the heat, dry mustard packing a tangy bite, and celery seed adding an earthy undertone that balances those bolder flavors. There's black pepper in the seasoning, too, plus salt to bring out the savoriness of the blend. Canned tuna has a mild, slightly rich flavor (especially if it's packed in oil), meaning it actually holds up perfectly to such a robust seasoning blend because it becomes a vessel for the Old Bay to be the standout flavor.

Old Bay can be salty when overused, so it's best to start small and build on the flavor to reach your desired taste. To blend it well into the tuna, add it right to the mayonnaise before it gets folded in. Use about two teaspoons per cup of mayo, and adjust as needed; you can even start with one teaspoon if you're not sure how strong you want the flavor. To help balance the flavor and build texture, add some finely chopped celery to the tuna salad. Make sure the celery strings are peeled first, though, so they're not stringy when chopped.

When serving the tuna salad sandwich-style, opt for a slightly sweet bun or roll, such as brioche. Even raisin bread is an excellent savory-sweet bread swap for tuna salad sandwiches. Between the rich mayo, briny tuna, and savory Old Bay, a little sweetness from something like brioche or raisin bread will round out the dish to be a well-balanced meal. Finally, for an extra hit of flavor — and a pretty presentation — sprinkle just a little Old Bay on top before serving.