Dill Pickle Tuna Salad

Creamy, slightly mustardy, and chock full of crunchy additions like dill pickle, red onion, and crisp celery, this Dill Pickle Tuna Salad recipe makes the ULTIMATE tuna salad sandwich!

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I am actually eating a Dill Pickle Tuna Salad sandwich right now, as I write this. I make it all the time, and I just made it again yesterday for my youngest because tuna is his all-time favorite sandwich.

The great thing about this recipe is that it makes a big batch. You’ll have enough for cold tuna sandwiches, tuna melts, or add a scoop on top of your salad.

I like to put my tuna on toasted bread that has a little bit of mayo on it. My husband likes to remind me that there’s already mayo in the tuna, but, hey, that’s how I roll.

Raise your hand if you like pickles in your tuna. If you’re like me, you know that tuna salad HAS to have pickles in it! Am I right!?!

Onion is a bonus, celery is a bonus, but pickles? They’re a must-have.

As you can see from all the pictures I’ve added in this post, we make Dill Pickle Tuna Salad Sandwiches many different ways!

Sometimes on wheat, sometimes on sourdough. Sometimes with lettuce, sometimes without. Sometimes I don’t add onion or celery because my kids will complain.

However, often times I’ll throw some pickled jalapeno in there and everyone loves that! Have you tried it? It’s fantastic!

The sandwich I’m eating right now is my perfect version of a tuna sandwich, and it’s the recipe I posted down below.

It has ALL the good things in it – mayo, Dijon mustard, lots of chopped dill pickle, finely diced red onion and celery, and the trifecta of perfect tuna seasonings: black pepper, white pepper, and celery seed. Of course, there’s also salt in there.

Certainly, tuna can be “good” without those three seasonings, but I really believe having them makes the tuna spectacular.

What kind of tuna is best for tuna salad?

Something that makes this THE BEST recipe for tuna salad, is the combination of chunk light tuna and chunk white tuna.

They each have a different texture and fat content. Together they provide the perfect Dill Pickle Tuna Salad texture and flavor!

Ingredients needed for this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):

Chunk light tuna
Solid white tuna
Mayo
Dijon mustard
Pickles
Red onion
Celery
Seasonings (black pepper, white pepper, celery seed, salt)

Years ago, I would make my tuna with Claussen pickles, the kind you find in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.

Loved them, but then I started my homemade pickling journey, and have been making my own ever since.

I like to use my own Garlic Dill Pickles (shown below) to make Dill Pickle Tuna Salad, but if you like spicy, I recommend you try Habanero Garlic Pickles, they add a nice little kick!

Looking for more lunchtime recipes? Here are some favorites:

How long is tuna salad good for?

Tuna salad can be kept in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

My Quick Pickle Cookbook: 10 Easy Recipes + Bonus Pickling Guide (pictured below) is an eBook filled with 10 delicious pickle recipes all in one convenient location! It includes a bonus pickling guide to help you get started!

NOTES:

If you like a little heat in your food, try adding a tablespoon or so of chopped pickled jalapeno slices. They add a nice little somethin’ somethin’!
A little bit of celery seed goes a long way. If your celery seed jar is anything like mine, it has enormous holes in the shaker top, which is just asking for a mountain of celery seed to fall out! I recommend adding a couple dashes to your hand, then dumping it in the tuna.

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