Tuna salad? Really? Doesn’t everyone know how to make it? (Well, apparently not how to make it a low fodmap tuna salad.) People go on the IBS support group crying about eating it and then suffering an IBS attack. They ask why this happened and there are several reasons.
Was the tuna packed in copious amounts of oil that wasn’t drained away? IBS folks can’t handle large amounts of fat. Even if the tuna was packed in water, adding too much mayo might cause the same fat overload as too much oil. Perhaps there was onion and too much celery – fodmaps that can cause triggers. Whatever you add to your tuna salad, check first to see if those ingredients are safe and in what amounts they are safe. Use the Monash University Fodmap App. Use the fiber cheat sheet from helpforibs.com
No one wants to make a tuna salad using dry-ish tuna, horrible tasting mayo substitute, and no onion or celery. I felt exactly the same way and kept trying to eat it the way I wanted it to be, but with no luck. It gave me an IBS attack every time. Then I found this wonderful recipe on the weight watchers.com website. It tastes delicious and does not trigger anything but a desire to make it more often.
While this recipe calls for only five main ingredients, it is the technique of combining those ingredients that makes the tuna salad moist and rich. I am not kidding. MOIST and RICH!!! Not to forget, low fodmap and IBS safe.
It begins with a can of tuna packed in water. The WW recipe calls for 12 0z of tuna or two cans, but since I am only one person, I use a 6 0z can. I like StarKist Selects Solid White Albacore tuna in water. Why? Because it lends itself to mincing much better than other brands. And why is mincing so important, you ask? Because mincing restores moistness to somewhat dry tuna that comes in water rather than oil.
In the WW recipe, the other ingredients are light mayonnaise, chopped onion chopped celery and some seasoning. My adapted version substitutes the chopped green part of scallions for the onion to avoid fodmaps, and limits the chopped celery to a fodmap safe amount. I use Hellman’s light mayo and Fage 2% Greek yogurt to keep the fat content down. My seasonings are cumin, salt, pepper, and chopped fresh or dried basil. I sometimes add capers and fresh or dried dill.
The techniques that make the above ingredients work are as follows:
-Drain the tuna, place in a bowl and mince with a fork until it is reduced to very fine flakes.
-Finely chop the celery and scallion stems.
-Mix the mayo and yogurt together.
-Put all the seasonings in a small bowl and stir together.
Then mix the finely minced tuna with the finely chopped vegetables, the yogurt mixture and the seasonings. Stir everything together until it is densely packed and moist. Add a bit more yogurt or mayo if it isn’t moist enough. Pack into a plastic container and chill until you plan to use it to make delicious tuna sandwiches, tuna melts, tuna stuffed tomato, etc.
Ingredients
1 or 2 cans of white albacore tuna packed in water and well drained
3 slender hearts of celery stems with fresh green leaves, finely diced
1 bunch of light green scallion stems, finely chopped
2 Tbsp 2% Greek Yogurt
2 Tbsp Hellman’s Light Mayo (or more if needed to moisten)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp chopped fresh Basil or fresh dill or 1/2 tsp dried
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tsp capers (rinse, if salted; drain, if in vinegar), optional
Directions
Drain the tuna and place it in a bowl. With a kitchen fork, mince the tuna until it looks crumbled and finely minced. Set aside.
Finely dice the celery. Add to the bowl.
Finely chop the scallion stems and add to the bowl.
Measure out the mayo and yogurt into a small cup and stir together. Add to the bowl.
Mix the seasonings in a small cup until nicely blended and then sprinkle over the ingredients in the bowl..
Season the bowl contents with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Mix everything together using a rubber spatula until the mixture is well blended and nicely dense. Pack into a plastic container and chill in the fridge until ready to use. Serving size is 1/3 cup.
Note: Here are some articles on IBS that you might find helpful.
Low Fodmap Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 1 can tuna, water packed white albacore tuna
- 3 slender hearts of celery, finely diced
- 1/3 cup light green, stem only, of scallions or spring onions, chopped
- 1 to 2 tbsp Hellman's light mayo
- 1 to 2 tbsp 2% Fage Greek yogurt
- 1/2 tsp cumin, chopped fresh basil, salt, pepper or your own preference seasonings
Instructions
- Drain the tuna and place in a bowl. Using a table fork, shred the tuna until it is minced and crumbled. Set aside
- Mix together in a cup the mayo, yogurt and seasonings. Add to the tuna bowl.
- Finely dice the celery stems, chop the scallion stems and add to the bowl.
- Mix all the ingredients together using a rubber spatula until the tuna is well mixed, moist and dense. Pack it into a plastic container and chill it in the fridge until you are ready to use it. Serving size is 1/3 cup.
