Name: Tuna Salad with Apples, Walnuts, and Tarragon
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1/4 cup finely chopped onion; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 3 (5-ounce) cans solid white tuna in water; 1 apple , cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces; 1/2 cup walnuts , toasted and chopped coarse; 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise; 1 celery rib , minced; 1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon; 2 teaspoons lemon juice; 1/2 teaspoon sugar; 1/2 teaspoon table salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Why This Recipe Works

Tuna salad, so familiar and simple, is often watery, chalky, and/or bland. To achieve a moist and flavorful tuna salad, we first thoroughly drain chunk tuna and dry it with paper towels. We enlist the microwave to quickly cook some onions in oil and then stir the now-flavored oil together with some mayonnaise for texture, lemon juice for tang, and the tuna. The addition of apple, walnuts, and tarragon helped give us the Waldorf profile we were looking for. Be sure to use tuna packed in water for the most control over the flavor of your salad.

Before You Begin

Wild Planet Wild Albacore Tuna is the test kitchen’s preferred tuna.

Instructions

Combine onion and oil in small bowl and microwave until onion begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Let onion mixture cool for 5 minutes. Place tuna in fine-mesh strainer and press dry with paper towels. Transfer tuna to medium bowl and mash with fork until finely flaked.

Stir apple, walnuts, mayonnaise, celery, tarragon, lemon juice, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and onion mixture into tuna until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. (Salad can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.)