Tuna With Capers, Olives and Lemon

By Melissa Clark

Tuna With Capers, Olives and Lemon
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
10 minutes
Rating
5(1,234)
Comments
Read comments

This is not your mother's mayonnaise-laden tuna salad, but it's just as easy to prepare. Here's what you do: stir together some canned tuna, garlic, lemon juice, red onion, black olives, capers and fresh parsley, then spread it on buttered toast. Top it off with a round of ripe tomato or slivers of avocado and another slice of toast. That's it. If you want to make it into a dip, toss the mixture into a food processor with a few tablespoons of softened butter and a bit more olive oil. Purée until smooth and creamy and serve with carrots, fennel, bell pepper and seeded crackers. If you have a tin of sardines taunting you from inside your cabinet, we bet this recipe would work equally well with those.

Featured in: A Dip to Sustain the Cook Till Thanksgiving Dinner

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 sandwiches or 8 appetizer servings
  • 1garlic clove, finely minced
  • Juice of half a lemon, plus more to taste
  • 5tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus 4 more tablespoons if serving as dip
  • 20ounces canned tuna, preferably packed in olive oil, drained
  • ¼cup chopped red onion
  • ¼cup chopped black olives
  • 2tablespoons capers
  • 2tablespoons minced parsley or basil
  • Salt to taste
  • Buttered toast, if serving as sandwiches
  • 10tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, if serving as dip
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

682 calories; 62 grams fat; 23 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 31 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 29 grams protein; 572 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a large bowl, mash garlic with the back of a spoon. Whisk in the lemon juice and 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Combine with the tuna, onion, olives, capers, herbs and salt to taste.

  2. Step 2

    Serve on buttered toast for sandwiches, or make into a dip: Pulse the tuna salad and butter in a food processor until it is creamy. With the motor of the processor running, slowly add the additional 4 tablespoons oil. Taste and add more salt or lemon juice if needed. Serve with cut vegetables (fennel and bell peppers are nice) and crackers.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,234 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

Barbara

A similar but slightly easier version of this tuna salad includes canned tuna with store bought olive tapenade. I really like Trader Joe's. Then add whatever else you like -- lemon, olive oil, onion, red pepper, tomato, and maybe some sliced hard boiled eggs. Serve it on lettuce or wrapped up in a pita. But just the tuna and tapenade is great by itself too.

Sam

I like to slice some apple, put it on buttered toast and then put the tuna mix on the top. It adds a nice crunch and a sweet and refreshing counter-point to the salty tuna.

Hannah211

Decided to make this tonight as part of a "light" meal - decided to throw kalamata olives in stead of the usual black. Threw this on a bed of spinach and called it a meal. Delicious!

Yingelinchen

I need in total 25 minutes. 15 minutes plus 10 minutes after turning the zucchini cubes

Judy

This looks very similar to my very favorite tuna salad, which additionally calls for preserved lemon (which I learned to make just so I could enjoy the tuna salad). A second difference is serving it on toasted or grilled ciabatta rolls spread with harissa. Yum! I like another reviewer’s suggestion to use olive tapenade.

Fresh take on tuna salad

If you’re Greek you’ll like this! I loved the different take on the mayonnaise version. Plus the capers and olives add that great tang you love.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.