The Best Tuna Salad -

A few years ago I visited Palm Springs for the first time. I had brunch at Norma’s at the Parker hotel and had THE best tuna salad sandwich of all time. Seriously, I’ve dreamed about it ever since! I got to enjoy it again this past Spring, but it’s something I’ve since wanted to be able to recreate on my own so I could enjoy it whenever I wanted. After reaching out to the restaurant and playing around a bit on my own, I finally came up with one that is just as delicious AND is Whole 30 approved. Win, win. Plus, its super easy to make. I’m sharing the recipe and my recap on my Whole 30 so far now that I’ve hit the half way point.

The best part about it was that Norma’s used REAL tuna. I know real tuna isn’t always as easy to keep on hand, so I’ll tell you that I’ve made it with real tuna and canned tuna and I love it either way. Below, is the best tuna salad recipe. I hope that you love it as much as I do! It’s been the recipe I’ve made most frequently during this Whole 30.

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces of tuna (either 2 cans or 1 pound)
1/2 cup of diced celery
1/4 cup of relish
3 Tablespoons of mayo
2.5 Tablespoons fresh, chopped cilantro
1.5 hard boiled eggs, diced
1 Tablespoon of chopped scallions
Lemon juice to taste
Salt + Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

If you’re using real tuna, start by searing the tuna until it’s medium rare and both sides are slightly pink. Be sure it doesn’t get dry! Let it cool, then shred it into pieces. If you’re using canned tuna, drain it and separate it.
Chop all of your veggies + eggs + herbs.
In a medium size bowl add the shredded tuna, celery, cilantro, mayo, egg, scallions, lemon juice, and salt + pepper.
Stir until all ingredients are well mixed.
Serve with carrots and cucumbers.*

*If you’re not doing a Whole 30 its amazing as a sandwich, too. I love to use toasted, sprouted Ezekiel bread. If you really want to be ‘not Whole 30’ you can even melt some cheese and make it a tuna melt. Regardless of how you eat it, I’m certain it’ll be the best tuna salad you’ve ever had!!

I use Primal Kitchen mayo made with avocado oil for my mayo. I was actually out of the regular kind and had to use the chipotle lime flavor one day and I think I liked it even better. Try both and see which is your favorite, but this is also a simple way to switch up the flavors a bit. I love all things spicy, so I loved the little kick the chipotle mayo gave it. I’ve been using that one when I make this ever since!

Norma’s didn’t use celery or relish in their tuna salad, but I just love a little crunch and any excuse to eat pickles, so I added it in. I use Rick’s Picks relish, as its the only one I found that was Whole 30 approved. I’ve also added grapes and walnuts before, too, similar to a chicken salad. I’ve been trying (and have been successful so far) to not eat meat and only eat fish this round of the Whole 30, so I’ve used what I would often use in a chicken salad in this before, too. You can adjust it to make it your own!

Yesterday marked the halfway point of my Whole 30! This part is so much easier for me mentally because it’s the downward slope. I usually have a day or two where I kinda feel bored with food towards the end, but I’ve been keeping some recipes on standby for those days so it hopefully doesn’t happen! If you follow along on Instagram and watch my stories, then you may have seen on Friday that I wasn’t feeling so great. I was feeling blah and bloated and just not great about myself. I have phases of that during the earlier stages of the Whole 30, but not working out that morning just added fuel to the fire. I think as women, we all have those days. I can go from feeling great about myself to feeling down and like crap in just a few days! I always notice that the worse I ate before I started a Whole 30 depends on how long the ‘meh’ phase may last and ever since our wedding I have been eating pretttty off the rails. Plus, the holidays only made it all worse. I fought through how I felt on Friday and am already feeling better, but am still waiting for the ‘magic’ part of everything to kick in. It always comes at different times for me!

If you’re doing a Whole 30, I’d love to hear how its going for you. Check out all my Whole 30 recipes here and be sure to share any that you love with me!! I hope you all have a fabulous week! XO