Tuna & Green Bean Salad
This simple Tuna and Green Bean Salad is the perfect make ahead salad for summer! It’s loaded with flaky canned tuna, cherry tomatoes, blanched greens beans, artichoke hearts, slices of red onion, olives and lots of fresh herbs. It’s great for a make ahead lunch or light dinner. This green bean and tuna salad is Paleo, Whole30, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Dairy Free and Specific Carbohydrate Diet Legal.
WHY YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS TUNA & GREEN BEAN SALAD
- It’s the perfect salad for summer because you can make it, leave it in the fridge and enjoy it for quick meals over the following 3 days
- It’s so flavourful! It’s loaded with fresh herbs, canned artichokes, juicy tomatoes, salty olives and tender green beans, plus flakes of tuna
- It only takes 25 minutes to make!
- It’s super versatile, there is no need to follow the recipe to a T, you can add in more or less of each ingredient depending on the flavours you like and what you have on hand
HOW TO COOK THE GREEN BEANS
I like to blanch the green beans so that they have a slight crunch, but feel free to cook them longer if you prefer them on the softer side. Cook the green beans to your desired tenderness and then once cooked, immediately transfer them to a bowl filled 1/2 full of water and ice. Transferring them to the ice bath will immediately stop them from cooking any further while also helping them to maintain their green vibrant colour.
WHAT TYPE OF OLIVE SHOULD I USE?
I prefer pitted kalamata olives in this recipe but any type of olive you like works! You could add Castelvetrano olives which are my absolute favourite olives or any other type of green olives, just be sure they are pitted.
WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO THIS SALAD?
There are so many options! If you would like to add more veggies to the salad, chopped cucumber or steamed asparagus cut into pieces would be delicious. If you eat dairy, 1/2 cup of crumbled feta would would be delicious! If you eat beans (not Whole30 or paleo) add in half a can of butter beans or kidney beans. Other delicious additions would be 1/2 a jar of roasted red peppers or 1/2 cup of roughly chopped sundried tomatoes.
WHAT’S IN THE DRESSING
The dressing is incredibly simple, just good quality extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, plus chopped capers, fresh parsley and fresh basil.
HOW LONG WILL THIS SALAD LAST IN THE FRIDGE?
Once the salad is tossed in the dressing, leftovers will last in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. I recommend bringing the the salad out of the fridge and leaving it to warm up on the counter for 5 minutes before eating. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice and a touch more salt and pepper to bring out to revive the salad.
CAN I MAKE THIS SALAD IN ADVANCE?
Although this Tuna & Green Bean Salad is best made the day of, you can prepare it a day in advance. The green beans can be cooked up to 2 days in advance and stored in a container with the chopped tomatoes, tuna, artichokes, red onion and olives. I recommend adding the dressing and fresh herbs up to 2 hours before serving.
Here are a few more hearty salads that you might enjoy:
- Salmon, Avocado & Radish Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing
- Mexican Beef Taco Salad
- Citrus, Fennel, Avocado & Shrimp Salad
- Creamy Cauliflower Faux-Tato Salad
- Crispy Chicken Caesar Salad with Tahini Dressing
- Vietnamese Chicken Salad
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Tuna and Green Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lbs green beans stems removed
- 2 5-oz cans tuna fish
- 1/2 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives halved
- 7 oz cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup canned artichoke hearts roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh basil chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2/3 cup chopped feta optional (omit if dairy free/paleo/whole30
Instructions
- Place approximately 2 cups of ice in a large bowl and fill 1/2 full with cold water.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in the green beans and cook for exactly 2 minutes before removing the beans and placing them in the bowl with the ice bath. Leave the green beans to cool and then drain thoroughly.
- Place the green beans in a large salad bowl along with the canned tuna, thinly sliced red onion, kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, parsley and basil.
- In a bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately or transfer to an air tight container and store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Great summer salad! Very easy to make. I added garbanzos to help stretch it, and added chopped capers in to the dressing. I served it with garlic foccacia and it was a hit! Thank you for sharing it, this will be a summer go to for us
Delicious combination of flavours!
A warning that if you’re going to use marinated artichoke hearts (which I did), don’t add the full amount of salt and pepper to the dressing! I didn’t even think about it, and it was WAY too salty. I wound up grating up a zucchini and adding it to the salad to dilute the salt, which worked very well.
In the “What’s in the Salad Dressing” introduction, mention is made of chopped capers in the dressing; however, no capers are listed in the recipe ingredients.
Despite my many modifications it was still amazing.
I used cooked lemon dill salmon, Omitted the olives (can’t stand them), and the artichokes and the onion as I don’t tolerate them.
I replaced the onion with chopped green onions, substituted the basil for dill and so tasty.
The lemon dill and salmon combo was so flavorful!
Next time I will probably throw in some cooked frozen peas.
I’m planning to make this tonight but I don’t see the capers you mention on the ingredient list or in the instructions?
This is an amazing salad! I especially loved the fresh herb flavors from the dressing. Planning to make this salad again this week!