The Easy Way To Add More Flavor And Protein To Tuna Salad

Canned tuna is the perfect canvas for creativity, offering numerous ways to upgrade a plain tuna salad. If you're looking to both elevate the flavor and boost the protein, cured eggs are an excellent choice. While just the egg yolks are popular for preserving, you can also cure the entire egg. All you need is salt and seasonings, but you can also swap out the salt for miso or use soy sauce to cure the eggs.

The process creates a yolk that is bursting with rich, eggy, and almost cheesy flavor, adding a pop of umami to your tuna salad — particularly if you go with the miso or soy sauce over salt. And since the yolks harden during the process, they're easy to incorporate into and on top of the fish. Just grab a microplane grater and shave them right in, like parmesan.

Curing an egg isn't quite as quick as, say, hard-boiling one, but it might be a lot easier than you think. The process simply involves coating a raw yolk or a simmered whole egg with salt and seasonings and allowing it to cure for several days in the refrigerator. For yolks, you'll need a little extra time in the oven or dehydrator after the cure. Once you're done, the yolks can be kept handy in the refrigerator for several days, ready to add a punch of protein and a load of extra flavor to your tuna salad.

If you don't have cured eggs on hand — or just want to add even more rich umami to your tuna — there's no shortage of options. Sauces like soy sauce and fish sauce are easy ways to upgrade the simple salad, or you can sprinkle in a bit of mushroom powder. For a bolder flavor, try squeezing in some shrimp paste or tossing in finely diced anchovies. For a boost of flavor with added texture, kick it up with some kimchi.

Upping the protein in the salad is as easy as turning to substitutes for mayonnaise. Greek yogurt is one high-protein alternative, but you can also use cottage cheese in place of mayo. With cottage cheese, you can mix the tuna right into it or whip it for a smoother texture. Chickpeas or other protein-packed beans can easily be folded in, too. For some crunchiness, sprinkle in crushed nuts like walnuts, pistachios, or almonds.

If you want to emulate the subtle cheesiness of cured eggs, reach for grated cheese. Parmesan and pecorino both add cheesy, umami flavor to tuna salad. Or, use your salad to make a tuna melt, topping it with the cheese of your choice. Finally, fortified nutritional yeast is another option that can impart a similar flavor while adding B vitamins and a bit of additional protein, too.