Low Calorie Tuna Salad

Quick answer: This is the lowest-calorie tuna salad in the collection — about 27 grams of protein at only 175 calories per serving, ready in 15 minutes with no cooking. No oil, no mayo, no dairy — just tuna, a pile of crisp vegetables, and a vinegar-based dressing. Serves 4. Sodium is low, about 380 mg per serving.

Every other tuna salad here adds some fat — olive oil, dairy, avocado. This one deliberately doesn’t, leaning instead on volume from vegetables to make the bowl feel substantial at a much lower calorie count.

Why This Recipe Has About 27 Grams of Protein

Just one ingredient carrying the protein here — a generous tuna portion, with the vegetables adding bulk and crunch rather than protein.

A Note on Sodium

About 380 mg per serving, roughly 17% of the WHO’s 2,300 mg daily limit — low, since there’s no cheese, olives or capers pulling the number up the way they do elsewhere in this collection.

What You Need

Makes 4 servings

• 5 cans (5 oz / 142 g each) light tuna in water, drained (about 550 g drained total)
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 200 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• ¼ red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Fresh herbs (parsley or dill), chopped
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

How to Make It

1. Drain the tuna thoroughly and flake it into a large bowl.
2. Add the cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, celery and red onion.
3. Whisk the vinegar and Dijon together, then pour over.
4. Toss, fold in the herbs, and season with salt and pepper.

Tips

Cut the vegetables small and roughly the same size as the tuna flakes. It reads as more substantial when every bite has a mix of everything.

Let it sit 5 minutes before eating so the vinegar softens the onion slightly.

Substitutions

Vinegar: lemon juice works as a milder alternative. Vegetables: any crisp, low-calorie vegetable — radish, snap peas — can be swapped in.

Storage

Up to 3 days refrigerated, sealed. Vegetables stay crisp longer than in a dairy-based dressing.

PFadmin

Low Calorie Tuna Salad

A lean low calorie tuna salad with no oil, mayo or dairy. About 27g protein at 175 calories per serving.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Calories: 175

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 550 g 5 cans, 5 oz each light tuna in water, drained
• 1 cucumber diced
• 200 g cherry tomatoes halved
• 1 bell pepper diced
• 2 stalks celery diced
• ¼ red onion thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Fresh herbs chopped
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

 

1. Drain the tuna and flake it into a bowl.
2. Add all the diced vegetables.
3. Whisk vinegar and Dijon, pour over.
4. Toss, fold in herbs, and season.

Notes

• No added oil, dairy or mayo, the lowest-calorie recipe in the collection.
• Keeps 3 days refrigerated.

Nutrition

Per serving (recipe makes 4):

Preliminary calculation from USDA FoodData Central reference values, not yet verified against a finished Tuna nutrition workbook.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this really lower calorie than the other tuna salads?

Yes — it’s the only recipe in the collection with no added oil, dairy or mayo, which is what keeps the calorie count well below the others.

Won’t this be dry without any dressing fat?

The vinegar and Dijon combination, plus the natural moisture from the vegetables, keeps it from tasting dry, though it is a leaner texture than the creamier recipes here.

Can I add avocado?

You can, but it adds meaningful calories — at that point, Tuna Avocado Salad is built specifically around that idea.

How long does it keep?

Up to 3 days refrigerated — the vegetables hold their crunch well since there’s no heavy dressing weighing them down.

More High Protein Tuna Recipes

Part of the 🥗 Tuna Salads collection, alongside Tuna Avocado Salad (also dairy-free, with added creaminess from avocado instead).

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