Tuna and White Bean Salad is such a delicious and healthy way to enjoy tuna, with added fiber from the cannellini beans! This tuna salad has no mayo. Instead, we’re using oil-packed tuna, and adding some of the oil from the can into the dressing of the salad (along with tangy red wine vinegar and herbs). You’ll love this 10-minute, 5-ingredient, high-protein recipe made from pantry ingredients!
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You can serve this tuna white bean salad any way you normally would enjoy tuna salad – on a sandwich, with crackers, in a lettuce wrap, or even use it for a tuna melt. I sliced up some good bread and toasted it in a skillet with olive oil, then topped it with the tuna salad for an open faced sandwich. Or just dive in with a fork! Delicious!
Something that makes this extra delicious is we’re macerating the red onions briefly in the red wine vinegar before mixing in the other ingredients. Letting the cut onions soak in the acid for just a few minutes helps take the bite out of them and bring out their natural sweetness. So you don’t get that super strong raw onion taste, you know?
I used tarragon in this, because I have a ton in my garden, but if tarragon isn’t your thing (it has a pretty strong flavor), you can use basically any other herb you want.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Canned tuna packed in olive oil – you’ll use both the tuna and the oil from the can for the dressing. If you want to use water packed tuna, that’s fine – just add olive oil to the salad. Other tinned fish like sardines or salmon can be used too!
- Canned cannellini beans – or another delicate, thin-skinned bean like navy or pinto. Beans firmer in texture like chickpeas can be used but I recommend mashing them a bit to create a more homogenous texture (like in smashed chickpea salad)
- Red onion – or another onion, or double the amount of sliced green onions.
- Fresh tarragon – or any other delicate herb you want. Tarragon has a distinct licorice flavor, so if that’s not your thing, try parsley, basil, dill, and/or mint.
- Red wine vinegar – lemon juice or another vinegar can be used if you prefer.
- Salt and Pepper
How to make Tuna and White Bean Salad
First, mix up finely diced red onions with red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Let them sit for a few minutes while you drain the tuna (save the oil in a small bowl!) and drain and rinse the canned beans.
Then, add the drained tuna, beans, tarragon or other herbs, and 2 tablespoons of the oil from the tuna to the bowl and mix everything together. All done! Told you it was easy! I like serving it on top of a piece of good bread, toasted in olive oil in a skillet, for an open-faced sandwich.
If the tuna white bean salad seems dry…
Just add a little more oil, either from the canned tuna or other olive oil. Or go more traditional for tuna salad and mix in some mayo!
How to store
This salad holds up really well as leftovers, so it’s great for meal prep. Just store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to about 5 days. I don’t think it will freeze well.
Other easy canned tuna recipes
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Tuna and White Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 5 oz. tuna packed in oil (one can)
- 15 oz. canned cannellini beans (one can)
- ¼ cup minced red onion
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt plus more if needed
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper plus more if needed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or other herbs, see notes
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Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together the ¼ cup minced red onion, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Let sit for approximately 5 minutes. While you're waiting, drain the oil from the 5 oz. tuna packed in oil into a small bowl and reserve. Drain and rinse the 15 oz. canned cannellini beans.
- Add the drained tuna, drained and rinsed beans, and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon to the bowl with the onions. Measure out 2 tablespoons of the oil from the can of tuna and add that as well. Mix together.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve on toasted bread, in a sandwich, on lettuce wraps, or eat with a fork!
Notes
- Tarragon has a distinct licorice flavor that may be off-putting to those who don’t enjoy that flavor. Feel free to use another herb! Any delicate herb will do well here (parsley, basil, dill, mint, etc.), and feel free to use more than 1 tablespoon, too.
- Other beans may be used here. Small, thin-skinned, creamy, delicate tasting beans like pinto beans, navy beans, or great northern beans would be a good substitute. Chickpeas may work if you mash them up a bit so the texture of the salad is more homogenous.
- If you want to use tuna packed in water, that’s fine. Just drain it, and add 2-3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil into the salad in lieu of the oil from the can.
- Other tinned fish may be used here as well, such as sardines or salmon.
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Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
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