This Thai tuna salad is a great recipe because you can throw it together in about 10 minutes. Canned tuna is often nice in Asian recipes and I have used it in stir-fries before. This recipe adds Thai ingredients to the mix to offer an authentic Southeast Asian flavor.
There is no cooking involved in this Thai tuna salad and you can have this on the table in less than half an hour from right now, if you have all the ingredients. If not, feel free to make adaptations because there are plenty of tweaks you could make to such a versatile dish.
Thai Tuna Salad: Play with the Flavors
Maybe you would like to switch the spices. I used ground ginger because I didn’t have fresh, and you can see in the photo I also added some strawberries for color, and some strips of cucumber and bell pepper for color and crunch too.
The salad has red pepper flakes and you can add more if you want a little spice, or even a little cayenne pepper or a a teaspoon or 2 of finely diced red chili pepper. I like to up the shallot amount too, so you could do that if you want the extra piquancy. Red onion would also work.
How to Serve Thai Tuna Salad
This is nice served on a bed of salad leaves. I like Romaine or iceberg, or sometimes the softer lettuce like butter lettuce works well too. Another idea is to forget the lettuce and serve some chips with the salad. If you want to make it as an appetizer, this recipe will serve 4 not 2.
It is a very healthy salad and if you use sweetener instead of brown sugar this turns into a low carb option as well as a low calorie one, so make this and you will definitely enjoy it! This is a healthy recipe because it is pretty much fat-free and it is also nice and filling. You might like to enjoy it for lunch or make it for dinner. We had Thai tuna salad for dinner last night and it was really satisfying.
Tasty Thai Tuna Salad
The tuna in this salad is spiced up with lime, shallot, ginger and more. Add cilantro and peanuts for an authentic Thai flavor. This is quick and easy to prepare and tastes fantastic.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients
- 14 oz (400g) canned tuna, drained
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 3 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
- 2 thinly sliced green onions
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar (or your favorite sweetener)
- 2 tablespoons finely diced shallot
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon chopped roasted peanuts
- Big handful of lettuce, to serve
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, plus more, for garnish
- 8 strips of red bell pepper and cucumber, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the tuna with the lime juice, fish sauce, shallot, sugar, ginger, green onion, red pepper flakes and peanuts with 2 tablespoons of cilantro in a bowl, and toss gently.
- Let the mixture stand for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 days in the refrigerator. Serve on a bed of lettuce, either chilled or at room temperature, as you prefer.
- Garnish with some more cilantro on top, and add some bell pepper strips and cucumber strips if you want.
