Vegan Tuna Salad – Seafood without the Sea
- Updated on Oct 27, 2017
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Well, this is a funny one. If you’re looking for vegan tuna salad, then you’re in the right place.
If you came across the recipe by accident, or were curious from the title, then you might want to stick around a little longer.
If you were planning to eat real tuna – you might want, or even need, to rethink it.
Vegan tuna salad – a step in the right direction?
Actually, I lied. This isn’t a particularly funny one. Whether or not we can see it, the world’s oceans are being overfished. Seriously overfished.
This leads to many problems – not only for the fish being fished of course, but through all walks (or swims) of marine life.
Too many top predators like tuna being taken away leads to a disruption at the lower end of the food chain, leading to an increase in algae, as well as multiple threats to coral reef life.
As if that wasn’t enough, an estimated 100 million sharks are killed by fishing or as bycatch each year.
Some are killed for food, others for leather, others have their fins ripped off and are thrown back to die in the ocean. It’s not a pretty picture.
Bycatch (meaning the wrong species, or size, or gender, or quality of fished animal) hits where you don’t expect it, too.
Each year around 100,000 albatrosses are killed due to fishing related causes. Sea turtles are also all too often unwitting victims of the whole fishing industry.
It’s not just animals that are suffering either. The images of local fisherman braving nearby seas in small boats to support families and local communities is long gone.
As with most modern industry farming practices, the fishing industry is one of massive scale. Ridiculous scale.
Fishing ships are now giant floating factories that use GPS to locate huge shoals of fish and take out thousands in one simple swipe.
Some ships can fish as deep as 170 kilometers, and have the ability to process and store huge numbers of fish onboard, meaning they don’t need to return to land for weeks at a time.
To give an idea of the scope they are capable of, every year a staggering 124 million metric tonnes of fish are caught – weighing the same as 378 Empire State Buildings. That’s insane!
What’s in it for me if I take the plunge and switch to vegan tuna salad?
The next time you’re thinking about a tuna salad, it might just be worth making it a vegan tuna salad instead. As well as not adding to the might of the fishing industry, it’s absolutely delicious.
To top it off, it’s based on chickpeas, and they’re high in protein. Oh, and fiber too. And help with type 2 diabetes, reduce some cardiovascular and cancer risks, and keep you feeling full and satisfied.
Sounds like wins all around to me.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups chickpeas, cooked
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ bell pepper, red
- 4 small pickled gherkins
- 2 spring onions
Optional
- parsley, fresh (for garnish)
- 4 slices wholegrain bread
Instructions
- Put the chickpeas, soy sauce, olive oil, mustard, and the lemon juice into a food processor or blender. Blend until it’s mostly smooth.
- Roughly chop the green onions and bell pepper. Add them together with the gherkins into the food processor. This time pulse gently – you want the salad to have a little consistency (it shouldn’t be a super-smooth sauce).
- Taste test – if you’d like it a little stronger add the more of the mustard and lemon juice.
- Garnish with parsley and serve on thick bread.
NOTES
Nutrition
Comments
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16 comments
I just made this today to bring to work and it’s so good! I got that same mouth watery feeling I used to from tuna salad just from the smell!
I love a bit of luck in my food so I used whole grain mustard with birds eye chilli from Sainsbury’s. Lovely!
Thanks for the recipe! It’s going to become a staple for me!
Ah that’s so cool to hear Erin! Glad you found we were able to sort of replicate a Tuna Salad Style taste 😀
The chilli mustard sounds awesome by the way!!
After coming across this recipe I was intrigued so I whipped up a batch today. It didn’t have the sweetness that I associate with tuna salad (that probably comes from the mayo?), but the combination of flavors was quite interesting and enjoyable. Very umami. For me it was a little strong on the soy, but I like soy so no biggie. It was a little on the runny side, I might consider using a touch less oil next time. Next time I would also rough chop the veggies and mix them in with a spoon (I underestimated my pulsing). I ate the mixture on bread, and topped it with hemp seeds and baby spinach. Thanks for the recipe and ideas!
Great feedback Sarah, cheers! The variations also sound very tasty – especially the hemp seed and baby spinach!
Wow! Just stumbled across your website and you have my attention! Been vegetarian for 5 years and now trying to go vegan. Needed something to make fast tonight and this was it! Love it! Thanks for sharing. I look forward to trying more recipes from your site 🙂
You’re very welcome Jaclyn, and we’re glad you found us too! I’m happy you ejoyed the salad so much 🙂 Look forward to having you around the site!
Really enjoyed this how long would you say you could keep this in the fridge?
Hi Maria! That’s great to hear, we’re quite proud of this one. Two days max in the fridge would do it! 🙂
I’ve made this twice now, and I really like it as is. But it also makes a very easy (and delicious) “dressing” for a pasta salad.
Cook about 250 grams of pasta (dry weight), drain, mix this salad through it, and refrigerate. You can thank me later.
Hahaha sounds good, Stuart! Will try and thank 😀
I would suggest crumbling a piece of nori sheet over the salad spread on toasted bread for even more sea deliciousness!! loved this recipe.
Oh nice touch! And you’re right, that absolutely fits to it. Thanks for the tip and I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This was SO good!!
I would probably put a tablespoon less of olive oil next time, but otherwise was so tasty, reminded me of a well seasoned tuna spread over crunchy bread.
I’ve been telling everyone at work how great the recipe is, because hey, a Good Lunch is such a mood booster for the rest of the day.
Thank you so much!
Hi Lisa, so glad you enjoyed it! Absolutely, you could cut down the oil a little, no problem. And I agree, a good lunch is important 🙂
Thanks for writing!
Love this as a healthy sandwich spread or dip! I make it for meal prep and use it all week long!
Awesome, isn’t it?! I’m glad you found it Shelby, thanks for the comment 🙂