There is no reason that a dish that is good for you can’t also be absolutely delicious. This salad proves that without a doubt.
Albacore tuna is loaded with wonderful nutritional value. It’s flakey, delicious, and easy to find. Whereas our Best-Ever Tuna Salad makes a great sandwich or melt, this salad is wonderful on its own or served on toasted bread for a festive crostini.
How to Make Albacore Tuna and White Bean Salad
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The Ingredients You Will Need
Extra-virgin olive oil – For both the bread crumbs and the vinaigrette
Bread crumbs – Add crustless chunks of French bread into your food processor and process until fine.
Garlic – Minced.
Seasoning – Salt and pepper is all that’s needed.
Beans – Any kind of white bean will work. We often use Great Northern or Cannelloni.
Parsley – Fresh, chopped.
Celery – Chopped.
Onion – Red, and chopped. Can also substitute yellow or white onion. Or a shallot.
Tuna – Albacore is our favorite, but any variety will work. Quality is best. We prefer packed in water rather than oil.
Lettuce – Bibb lettuce, or green leaf lettuce, make for a lovely bed to place the salad on top of.
Toasted bruschetta – This is optional, but they are perfect for topping with the salad. This is also called a crostini.
EXPERT TIP: For easy preparation, add all of the vinaigrette ingredients into a small jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake vigorously until emulsified. If making ahead of time, you’ll need to shake again just before serving.
Tips for a Perfect Albacore Tuna and White Bean Salad
Use Top-Notch Ingredients – This is super important, especially for the tuna. We love canned albacore tuna from Wild Planet.
Chop Ingredients Uniformly – Do your best to chop all of the ingredients finely and similar in size. You don’t want large chunks of onion or celery to distract from the tuna or white beans.
Serve Fresh – This salad is still delicious a day or two after it’s prepared. But, if serving guests, we recommend preparing it within an hour of serving.
How To Serve
This is a truly spectacular salad. It’s not really best for sandwiches, but actually as a nice salad next to a quiche, roasted tomato basil soup, or Italian panini.
For serving, we get a small platter or plate, and line it with green leaf lettuce leaves. Make sure they are fresh and vibrant green for a beautiful presentation.
You can also serve this topped with slices of bread (bruschetta) cut from a baguette, lightly oiled and then toasted. This makes a delicious and gorgeous appetizer.
Other Delicious Salad Dishes to Try and Serve
As beautiful salad is so stunning when placed on a nice platter along with other food items. Here are some of our favorites that we think you’ll love and what to serve at your next gathering:
Best-Ever Lobster Salad
Pesto Pasta Salad with Potatoes and Green Beanss
Thai Beef Salad
Best-Ever Chicken Salad
Watermelon Cucumber Salad with Feta and Basil
Fresh Strawberry and Spinach Salad with Avocado
Zesty Black Bean and Corn Salad
These are all absolutely amazing and such a hit whenever we serve them to guests. But, in the meantime, isn’t the tuna and bean salad calling your name?
We love this recipe for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it’s downright delicious.
But, it’s also versatile and makes a great side salad or a stunning appetizer on top of toasty crostini.
And, it’s healthy, too. What could be better than that?
Ready to make the best salad in town? Go for it!
And when you do, be sure to take a photo of it, post it on Instagram, and tag @HowToFeedaLoon and hashtag #HowToFeedaLoon!
Albacore Tuna and White Bean Salad
Equipment
- Food processor for making bread crumbs
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup bread crumbs Cut the crust from a baguette and process in a food processor.
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 15 oz can cannelloni beans drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley chopped
- 2 ribs celery finely chopped
- ½ medium red onion chopped
- 10 oz albacore tuna packed in water, drained, and roughly crumbled
- 1 head butter lettuce or green leaf lettuce, cleaned and leaves pulled from the stem
FOR THE VINAIGRETTE
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp whole-grain mustard
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp honey
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the bread crumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until crumbs begin to brown, about 4 - 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper each.
- To make the vinaigrette, place the lemon juice, whole grain mustard, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, pepper, and oil in a jar. Affix the lid and shake vigorously until emulsified.
- In a large bowl, gently mix together the beans, parsley, celery, onion, and tuna.
- Pour the vinaigrette over the mixture and toss gently to coat.
- Arrange the lettuce on individual plates or one large serving platter and top with the tuna and bean mixture.
- Sprinkle the toasted bread crumbs over the top and serve.
- To serve as an appetizer, cut 1/2-inch slices on a diagonal from a baguette. Bruch olive oil over one side of the slice and then toast until lightly brown. Top with the salad and breadcrumbs. Serve at once.
Notes
Nutrition
POST UPDATE: This recipe was originally published in January 2018, but was updated with improved tweaks to the recipe with the new tips and photography and a fabulous new video in September 2023!
