7 Innovative Takes On The Subway Tuna Recipe
Many people love the tuna sandwiches from the popular chain Subway that they want to make it at home! But like other recognizable recipes, Subway has a secret to how they prepare their specialty tuna.
Lucky for you, I know that secret. In fact, that secret isn’t so secret at all. While the tuna salad from Subway is delicious (and I will teach you how to make it!), I’m also going to share some awesome ways to innovate Subway’s tuna recipe to make even more delicious sandwiches at home!
Let’s go through a few different tuna salad recipes (including the Subway tuna recipe) and some great sandwiches that you can put together with your special tuna!
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#1 The Basic Subway Tuna Recipe
People mistakenly believe that making tuna salad for a sandwich like Subway makes is difficult. It is actually super simple! All you need is tuna, mayo, and a little elbow grease.
Here are the steps:
- 1. Get your tuna. You can use any kind of canned or bagged tuna. I prefer to use tuna that is packaged in water!
- 2. Dump it into a colander, and let the tuna drain for at least five minutes.
- 3. After the tuna is done draining, use your hands to squeeze out as much water or oil from the tuna as possible! You will want to do this in small handfuls. Repeat this step a few times to make sure you remove as much liquid as possible.
- 4. Mix in ⅓ cup of real mayonnaise. Mix it up, and see how creamy it is.
- 5. From here, add as much mayonnaise as you want! The amount of mayonnaise you add is up to you. You just want to add enough to get the tuna to start sticking to itself. I usually end up using between ½ and ⅓ cup of mayonnaise when making my tuna salad.
- 6. You’re finished! Enjoy your tuna.
Dry tuna is the secret to Subway-style tuna salad!
#2 Fancy Up That Tuna Salad!
Now that you’ve learned the basic recipe for tuna salad, you can learn an easy way to make the flavor profile just a bit more dynamic!
Follow the recipe above for basic Subway-style tuna salad. When you mix in the mayo, also add the following ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
By mixing in lemon juice, salt, and pepper, the taste of the tuna salad will be more delicious than the original! I like to add a lot of pepper because I love peppery tuna salad, but the amount you add is completely up to you.
Whenever you’re finished, enjoy eating it!
#3 What Kind Of Tuna Should You Use?
There are many different kinds of tuna at the supermarket, and they all have very different packaging and prices! You can use almost any kind of tuna when making the Subway tuna recipe, but I do have a few preferences.
Skip fresh tuna and stick to canned or vacuum-sealed varieties. These will have the texture you are looking for and are much less work to use.
Choose tuna that has been packaged in water. Water is much easier to drain out of tuna than oil, and the water-packed tuna is much healthier than oil-packed tuna, so you can treat your body a bit better by choosing the water-packed options.
If you feel like splurging, use albacore tuna packed in water! This tuna is a higher-grade tuna (and thus more expensive) that what is in most canned varieties. Can you taste the difference? Absolutely, but if you’re on a budget, the other canned varieties will be great, too.
If you have a favorite brand and style of tuna that you know you like, stick to that style. These are just my recommendations that I’ve found work well when making tuna salad recipes for sandwiches!
#4 Change Up The Serving Styles
Think outside of the box when you’re deciding how to enjoy your tuna salad. While you can put it on a sub for a Subway classic style lunch, there are some more interesting and exciting ways that I like to eat my tuna salad!
Try eating your tuna salad in some of my favorite ways:
- Wrap it up in a tortilla
- Spread it on your favorite crackers for a delicious snack
- Use tortilla chips and eat the tuna salad as a dip
- Eat it plain!
- Dip celery sticks into the tuna salad as a dip
- Mix bread cubes into the tuna salad before eating it
While some of these ways of eating tuna salad might seem a little strange, you’ll be surprised to find how delicious they are!
#5 Make A Lighter Sandwich
If you want to make a lighter meal (with less mayonnaise) it’s easy to adjust the recipe!
Mix up tuna salad from the following ingredients after thoroughly draining the tuna:
- 5 ounces of light drained tuna
- 3 tablespoons of light mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Skip the salt, but you can add pepper if you want to! Using light mayonnaise and light tuna will cut out some of the fat in traditional tuna salad, which can be very fatty since both mayo and tuna have a lot of fat in them.
When you make your sandwich, make sure to choose a whole-grain or other healthy bread option, and load it up with vegetables. I usually put the following veggies on my tuna salad sandwiches:
- Lettuce
- Tomato
- Red onion
- Pickles
Assemble your sandwich, and enjoy a healthy, delicious meal!
#6 More Tuna Add-Ins That Can Amp Up The Flavor
Once you’ve mastered the art of making tuna and of trying it in different ways, you’ll want to experiment with even more ingredients in your tuna salad!
There are so many options, so I’ll just go through a few of my favorite things to add to tuna salad to make it unique and flavorful:
Jalapenos: Chop up a few jalapenos and mix them into the tuna salad. This will give a spicy kick and a nice crunch!
Boiled eggs: Hard boil a few eggs, and cut them up into very small pieces. Mix these pieces into the tuna salad for a delicious twist on traditional tuna.
Avocado: Replace half of the mayonnaise with avocado. Seriously. It’s creamy, and you’ll be able to mix it right in! This delicious twist may look green, but it’s great.
Celery: Cut celery up very finely for a nice crunch in your tuna salad mixture.
Relish: If you’re a fan of relish, you can mix some of this into tuna salad for a salty but sweet zing. Start with a tablespoon and then increase it more if desired.
That’s just the beginning of what you could mix into tuna salad. Think about the best tuna salad or potato salad that you have ever eat - what made it so special? Try mixing these ingredients into your homemade tuna recipe for spectacular results.
#7 My Absolute Favorite Tuna Salad Sandwich
Via Simplyrecipes.com
I couldn’t wrap up this article without sharing with you my absolute favorite tuna salad sandwich to make at home.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- 1 (5 or 6 ounce) can of tuna fish
- 1/3 cup of cottage cheese
- 2 Tablespoons of mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
- 1 Tbsp of dijon mustard (optional)
Drain the tuna very well and then mix all of these ingredients together. What you’ll get is a mixture that is both creamy and crunchy at the same time, which is how I love my tuna salad! While I love tuna, I want to have more flavors, which is how I have come to use this recipe.
To make the sandwich the way that I love to make it, follow these steps:
- Toast two slices of whole-grain bread in your toaster.
- Put a slice of lettuce and a slice of tomato on the bread.
- Put two spoonfuls of your tuna salad mixture on top of this.
- Add some more slices of red onions. You can omit these if you have enough red onion in the tuna salad, but I love red onions, so I like to add extra!
- Put the sandwich together, and enjoy it!
If you’re on a no-carb diet, you can easily serve this sandwich on lettuce instead of bread! It sounds crazy, but this is sometimes how I eat it. I’ve even put the tuna salad mixture on salad and eaten it like a tuna salad salad.
Go Tuna Crazy!
It’s time to go tuna crazy and make your own tuna. I recommend starting by making the classic Subway tuna recipe. This is so easy to make, and you’ll love the results. After you’ve made this, you can experiment with sandwich types and additional ingredients.
No matter how you prepare your tuna, you’ll have a delicious meal that is high in healthy omega-3 fats, so enjoy it!
Remember to comment your favorite parts of this recipe, and share with friends who love a good tuna sandwich!
