Mayo free Mediterranean tuna salad packed with tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, artichokes, and a two-ingredient dressing. It’s so refreshing and just delicious all around!

You can whip up this salad recipe in no time to enjoy for lunch with a cup of Sicilian Chicken Soup.

close up mediterranean tuna salad recipe this recipe

Mayo free tuna salad just might be my new favorite salad for a quick lunch or snack. It’s jam-packed with veggies such as cucumbers, artichokes, tomatoes, bell peppers and so much more!

Just like our avocado tuna salad, instead of mayo, this Mediterranean tuna salad is tossed in olive oil and red wine vinegar and finished off with plenty of fresh herbs.

It’s so fresh, light, and very filling. I absolutely love to prep it over the weekend to enjoy throughout the week with a side of almond flour crackers. You can serve it with pita chips, naan bread, or simply enjoy it as is. 

Secret to Flavorful Mayo Free Tuna Salad

The secret to this tasty mayo-free tuna salad lies in the actual tuna. Simple as that.

When buying tuna, look for wild or pole-and-line-caught, olive oil-packed tuna. I love the Wild Planet brand. I get mine at Costco or Amazon. It’s flavorful and tastes really good.

Oil-packed tuna seals in flavor and gives you some tender chunks of tuna to work with. Just make sure the ingredients list says “olive oil” and not “soybean” or any other variety.

Ingredients

You’ll need the following ingredients to make tuna salad. Feel free to add a little less or more of anything to suit your taste.

  • Canned tuna in olive oil
  • Grape tomatoes
  • Red onions
  • Orange bell pepper
  • Cucumbers
  • Marinated artichokes
  • Olive oil
  • Red wine vinegar
  • Fresh parsley and dill
  • Lemon
ingredients for mediterranean tuna salad

Recipe Adaptations

Mediterranean tuna salad is very easy to customize to better fit your diet or to simply use what you have on hand. Feel free to swap out any ingredients to your liking or add in anything extra that you like.

  • Olives, either black or kalamata are really delicious.
  • For creaminess, add an avocado. I would start off with half of the avocado first. Mash it up a little then stir it in. Or chop it up to keep it chunky.
  • Toss in banana peppers, roasted red peppers, or chickpeas for added flavor.
  • You can even add some feta cheese. It’s very salty so watch any additional salt.
  • Dried spices, such as oregano would be a great addition too.

How to Make Mediterranean Tuna Salad

  • Step 1: Flake the tuna – open the tuna and dump it into a bowl with all of its juices and oil. Using a fork, flake the tuna into smaller chunks.
canned tuna in a bowl
  • Step 2: Add the veggies – stir in tomatoes, red onions, bell pepper, cucumbers, artichokes, parsley, and lemon zest.
chopped up mediterranean tuna salad with artichokes
  • Step 3: Combine with dressing – pour the olive oil and red wine vinegar over the salad and toss thoroughly to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes before serving.

How Long will Tuna Salad Keep?

Tuna salad will last up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Since this salad has a lot of vegetables, it tends to release some water when stored for a longer period of time.

mayo free tuna salad

More Tuna Salad Recipes

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overhead greek tuna salad in bowl

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Katya
  • Prep Time: 20 min
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Salad
  • Method: Chop
  • Cuisine: Greek
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Description

Mayo free Mediterranean tuna salad packed with tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, artichokes, and a two ingredient dressing. It’s so refreshing and just delicious all around!

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 (5 oz.) cans olive oil-packed tuna, do not drain
  • 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped orange bell pepper
  • 2 mini cucumbers, diced or 1/2 English cucumber
  • 1/2 cup jarred marinated artichokes, drained + chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley + dill
  • Zest 1 lemon
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • Kosher salt and fresh black pepper

Instructions

  1. In a salad bowl, flake tuna with a fork into smaller chunks. 
  2. Add the rest of ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.
  3. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 15 minutes before serving.

Notes

  • Tuna – we love Wild Planet tuna in extra-virgin olive oil for this recipe.
  • Leftovers – tuna salad will last up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It tends to “water out” if stored for longer period of time.
  • Variations – this salad is so easy to cutomize with extra add-in’s. See post for full list of ideas.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 204
  • Sugar: 2.5 g
  • Sodium: 392 mg
  • Fat: 9.8 g
  • Carbohydrates: 7.4 g
  • Protein: 21.8 g
  • Cholesterol: 36.1 mg